The Feast
History Forgot.
Long before anybody claimed the east, long before the Mughals rewrote India’s kitchen … there was Kalinga. It sent sailors to Bali a thousand years before Columbus set sail, fed its gods 56 dishes a day, and kept its greatest secrets not in stone, but in the kitchen.
Somehow, no one wrote them down in one piece. Until now.
About the Book
Our food is not a footnote. It is fundamental. It is where history meets hearth.
The Orissan is not merely a cookbook. It is a reckoning and a love letter — a restoration of what was always ours. Across 376 pages, it traces the history of one of India’s oldest civilisations through the living language of its food: from the world’s largest temple kitchen in Puri, to the tribal heartland of Koraput, to a grandmother’s ladle in Cuttack.
“Until the lions write their own story, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.”
— An Old African Proverb
This book was born from longing — a daughter in New York searching for roots, a father reclaiming nostalgia, and a storyteller keeping alive the memory of an old cuisine. It began with a Zoom call. It became a movement.
From the Kalinga Empire
A Land Older Than Its Own Myths
Long before the world called it Orissa — and now Odisha — this land was Kalinga. In 261 BCE, Emperor Ashoka waged his bloodiest war upon it. Moved by the carnage, he renounced violence and embraced Buddhism. In defeat, Kalinga achieved a moral victory that changed the world. King Kharavela later avenged it — and possibly brought the downfall of the Mauryan Empire itself.
The Maritime Legacy
Sailors Who Shaped Southeast Asia
Long before the Silk Route turned westward, Odisha looked east. The Sadhabas sailed in Boitas across the Bay of Bengal to Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, Sri Lanka and other Southeast Asian regions- carrying rice, textiles, spices, crafted goods and even elephants from Kalinga’s shores. Echoes of Kalinga still linger in Bali—in temple forms, dance traditions, rituals, and the shared stories of the Ramayana. This ancient maritime connection is celebrated every Kartika Purnima as Boita Bandana.
Root to Fruit Philosophy
In an Odia kitchen, to waste is sin
"Odia cuisine celebrates balance. It respects the seasons, embraces slow cooking, and balances taste with nourishment. It's grandma-approved, microbiome-friendly, and rooted in rhythms that modern nutrition science is just starting to validate."
— Alka Jena, The Orissan
The Chapters
Seventeen chapters,
living history.
The Orissan may be read cover to cover, like a memoir — or dipped into at leisure. Each section reveals its own tale. Each dish is steeped in story and sentiment. Each recipe is a doorway into an unseen world.
01
Annapurna's Cauldron
The Alchemy of Odia Cooking & Kitchens
From the mud chulha and chakki grinding stone to the masala dabba’s seven sisters — mustard, cumin, panch phutana, turmeric, chilli, coriander, and salt — the ancient techniques of patra poda, bampha, bati basa, and chakata bharta.
02
The Juggernaut
Food for the Lord — Jagannath's Temple Kitchen
The world’s largest temple kitchen: 32 rooms, 320 earthen ovens, 600 cooks. The divine Chhappan Bhog — 56 sacred offerings — prepared without onion or garlic. Only pure devotion, ghee, and time. The word Juggernaut in English derives from this very place.
03
Bāra Māsare Tera Parba
12 Months, 13 Festivals
From Pana Sankranti’s cooling sips at New Year to Boita Bandana’s miniature boats at Kartika Purnima. The Odia culinary calendar is a river of ritual — every month a new dish, every moon a new prayer.
04
Pithas
Steamed Rice Cakes & Festive Puddings
Poda Pitha for Raja Parba — charred, jaggery-sweetened, slow-cooked. Chitau Pitha laid on paddy fields during Chitalagi Amavasya. Saptapuri Pitha with seven sacred fillings. Each pitha is a ritual. Each bite, a season’s prayer.
05
Whispers of the Bay
Odisha, Where Seafood Is a Religion
Chilika’s river prawns, Hilsa chosen by the redness of its gills, fish roe croquettes. Alka bargains at Unit 4 Fish Market like a pro — pointing out what’s fresh by the cloudiness of an eye. Here, knowing your fish is a rite of passage.
06
The Essential Odia
Our Tales, Memories, Discoveries, Magical Lessons
“Kana Khaibu?” — What would you like to eat? In Odia homes, it is never just a question. It is an act of love. Pallavi writes of family-style feasts on banana leaves, eating with five fingers, and what Odissi dance taught her about belonging.
The Juggernaut
The World's Largest
Temple Kitchen
The Rosha Ghara at Jagannath Temple, Puri: 150 feet long, 100 feet broad, 20 feet high. Water drawn from two sacred wells named Ganga and Jamuna. Despite serving thousands daily, the kitchen never runs short — a miracle attributed to Jagannath himself. Food is cooked in earthen pots stacked over firewood. No tasting allowed.
A selection from the Chhappan Bhog
- Kanika — sweetened rice with ghee and raisins
- Khechudi — dal and rice khichdi, the humblest of sacred dishes
- Dahi Pakhala — fermented rice with yoghurt, Odisha's probiotic staple
- Chhena Poda — roasted cottage cheese, Odisha's beloved dessert
- Rasabali — fried chhena patties soaked in reduced, spiced milk
- Ghee Anna — plain rice adorned with sacred ghee
The world’s oldest and largest chariot festival. Lord Jagannath’s chariot Nandighosa stands 44 feet tall with 16 wheels. Three grand chariots are pulled by thousands of hands through 3 kilometres of Puri. The English word Juggernaut — a force that crushes everything before it — derives from this very procession.
Bāra Māsare Tera Parba
In twelve months,
thirteen festivals.
Baisakha · Apr–May
Pana Sankranti
Odia New Year. Sacred cooling beverages offered to deities and ancestors as the summer heat begins.
Asadha · Jun–Jul
Raja Parba
The menstruation of Mother Earth. Women swing on dolls, sing folk songs, and feast on Poda Pitha — the charred, jaggery-sweetened rice cake left to mature for days.
Asadha · Jul
Rath Yatra
Three towering chariots pulled by thousands through Puri. The oldest and grandest chariot festival in the world.
Bhadraba · Aug–Sep
Nuakhai
The first grain festival. New paddy offered to Maa Samaleswari and then shared among family — the earth before the self.
Kartika · Oct–Nov
Boita Bandana
Rivers become seas of light. Miniature Boitas of banana bark float at dawn, honouring the Sadhabas who once sailed to Bali.
Margasira · Nov–Dec
Manabasa Gurubar
Every Thursday, women decorate thresholds with Jhoti Chita — white rice paste art — honouring Goddess Lakshmi with grain and light.
Pausa · Dec–Jan
Samba Dashami
A mother’s prayer for her children through the Sun God. Pithas of rice, sesame and jaggery, offered at sunrise.
Magha · Jan–Feb
Makar Sankranti
The Sun’s northward journey. Makara Chaula — new rice with coconut, banana and jaggery — is offered at the Jagannath Temple.
Phalguna · Feb–Mar
Dola Purnima
Odisha’s Spring Festival. celebrating Krishna’s playful love through colours, processions, and shared community rituals.
କଣ ଖାଇବୁ?
"Kana Khaibu?"
Translated, it sounds like a simple question — “What would you like to eat?”
But in an Odia home, it is never only about food.
It means: I’m thinking of you. I made this for you. I’m emotionally here.
— Pallavi Das, The Orissan
The Authors
Three voices.
One homeland.
The Wayfaring Daughter
Pallavi Das
The Odia girl in New York — Sandip Das’s daughter, who dreamt and conceived this book. Growing up across Mumbai, Malaysia, and New York, Pallavi reconnected with Odisha through Odissi dance. She found Alka Jena on Instagram. Her father flew to Bhubaneswar the following week. The book was born. “I’m no historian or chef,” she writes, “but possibly, a storyteller.”
“Why hadn’t anyone written about Odia cuisine the way Ottolenghi writes about Za’atar? Our food is not a footnote. It is fundamental. It is where history meets hearth.”
Celebrated Business Leader
Sandip Das
Global entrepreneur, proud son of Odisha. Sandip’s chapters are an act of reclamation — tracing the unsung truths of a civilisation whose grandeur was never adequately told. He writes of his grandfather Braja Bandhu Das, who studied under streetlamps in a village called Patia, and of his own baptism into Odia food culture: learning to choose fish by the redness of its gills.
“The eye of the fish — that is how an Odia man is baptised into the epicurean world of Odia cooking.”
The Food Chronicler
Alka Jena
Celebrated Food Blogger, Researcher and Photographer, who joined the father and daughter in exploring history, tradition and flavours of Odisha. She curated “A Feast from the East” at The Bombay Canteen — 30 dishes from Odisha — and has hosted many pop-ups across the country to bring the flavours of Odisha into contemporary spaces. She brings the visual language and memory of the cuisine to this book, preserving its stories through recipes, and narrative.
“Odia cuisine isn’t just what we eat. It’s who we are. And this journey, this story, begins with you.”
Limited First Edition · Coffee Table Book
Own a piece of
living history.
The Orissan is a collector’s edition — 376 pages of archival-quality photography, bespoke fine-art design, and recipes spanning temple kitchens to tribal hearths. It is Odisha’s first culinary coffee table book of this scale. Reserve your copy before the first print run closes.