Besara

Odisha’s exquisite cuisine is generally under-explored by the rest of the country. One of their popular dishes, present at festivals and feasts, and as prasad, is Besara, which is essentially mixed vegetables cooked in Odisha’s trademark mustard paste. A specialty of Odiya cooking is that the mustard oil is stirred in after the dish has been cooked, which imparts the oil’s flavour in the dish. Besara also uses this technique. It can be paired with rice. And proof of the dish’s versatility is in the fact that a variety of vegetables can be used in Besara.

When cooking the Besara, there are a few different components one must prepare. For the mustard paste, one needs black mustard seeds and water. For the urad dal badi, soaked urad dal and ghee are required. The famed Odiya panch phutana (five spice mix) requires mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, and kalonji (nigella). And for the base dish, Besara requires coriander powder, ground black pepper, green banana, gourd, drumstick, moringa leaves, turmeric powder, ginger paste, jaggery, water, salt as per taste, grated coconut, and ghee.

The Besara is one of the dishes of the Puri Jagannath Temple’s Chhapan Bhog, an offering of 56 dishes to the deity. Every day of the year, 56 dishes are offered to the deities, and then distributed as Mahaprasad to everyone, being an important meal for several people. Besara, being one of these dishes, is proof of its importance in Odisha’s cuisine and marks its traditional heritage.