Share
Ask a person from Odisha what heaven tastes like and he would introduce you to the ultimately delicious ‘Chhena Poda’. It is one of the most popular sweet delicacies that translates to baked cheese in Odia. Made up of mixed cottage cheese, sugar and semolina, this sweet delight has huge fanbase not just in Odisha but the whole country. Some local people believe that a sweet maker in Daspalla accidently created ‘Chhena Poda’ when he forgot sweetened chenna in warm oven overnight only to find it baked the next morning. After some modifications, he created a new dish called ‘Chhena Poda’ that gained popularity in no time.
‘Chhena Poda’ has a new fan, and he is none other than our favourite Ayushmann Khurrana. Let us tell you that Ayushmann Khurrana had recently visited Odisha to perform at Jajpur Mahotsav. During that time, Khurrana took to twitter and expressed his love for ‘Chhena Poda’ that originates from Odisha’s Nayagarh district. The actor wrote “The dark side of chena poda successfully dilutes the dark side of mine.” His appreciation tweet towards the Odisha’s popular sweet, garnered thousands of like and hundreds of comments. Odisha Tourism thanked the actor by tweeting ‘Thanks @ayushmannk. We believe our USP is our uniqueness, be it our cuisine or destination. Hope you had a chance to look around & enjoyed your stay here. We look forward to welcome you again’.
Image credits: @ayushmannk/Twitter
The people of Nayagarh were already demanding for GI tag for the sweet and after the actor’s tweet, the demand for GI tag has gained momentum. Recently, the residents of Odisha’s Nayagarh district expressed their displeasure and alleged that the State Government has not been taking any initiative towards ensuring that ‘Chhena Poda’ gets a GI tag. The residents urged to the government for taking appropriate steps towards their demand as early as possible.
What do you think? Should ‘Chhena Poda’ be given a GI tag? Do let us know!
