Bhubaneswar/Beijing: A riveting platter in a gorgeous setting set the tone for Pakhala Dibasa celebration in Beijing, China, albeit a day before Odisha trends its favourite summer dish of fermented rice across social media platforms.
“It was for the first time that we prepared an entire platter of Odia food. The event celebrating the cuisine of the east Indian state was first-of-it-kind in this east Asian country,” said Sk Rabiul Baksh, owner and head chef of Dastaan, a restaurant serving Indian cuisine.
Incidentally, Rabiul along with restaurant captain Abrar Khan and tandoori chef Srimanta Giri have their roots in Odisha’s Balasore district and so also the restaurant manager Shaikh Sahajuddin Hossen.
Though a native of Digha in West Bengal, Rabiul’s maternal grandparents are from Jaleswar in Balasore district, where he spent most of his childhood and all his vacations. “Though I learnt the art of cooking food from my father, I consider Amanula Khan, who is an executive chef at a Bengaluru restaurant and a native of Jagatsighpur, as my guru and it is his recipes that I follow,” he said.
Pakhala Dibasa was an appropriate occasion to introduce China to rich food culture of Odisha, he added.
“We served three variety of Pakhala – Chunka Dahi Pakhala, Mitha Pakhala and Basi Pakhala. The starter had two prawn dishes, aloo chop and piyazi and the main course included maccha besara, mutton aloo jholo and Cuttack style chicken briyani with Odia khiri, cheena poda and khasta gaja as desserts,” he said.
The menu also had the quintessential Odia fare – dahibara aloodum, tanka torani, amba khatta and tomato khatta.
“Had not had Pakhala since coming here in 2019. Really loved the food and experience. I hope we can have more of Odia food festivals in the coming days. They really created magic. Of particular delight was the chhena poda. It was less sweet because the Chinese don’t take sweets. I saw the locals here loving it while Indians gorged on the extra sweet gulab jamuns,” said Tareq Zahir, a native of Cuttack working in Beijing.
Another customer, whose maternal grandparents are from Cuttack, said that he was having Pakhala almost after 40 years. “It took me back to my childhood when we used to binge on Pakhala prepared by my grandmother on hot summer afternoons. I never thought I would get to taste Odia food here. I will be sending some snaps back home to my mother,” he added.
However, this was not the first time that Dastaan served Odia food in Beijing. “We had Dahibara Aloodum among the variety of India cuisines at our stall during the recent Vasant Mela at the old chancery premises of the Embassy of India which was attended by over 2500 people,” said Rabiul.
“The Ambassador is regular at our restaurant and so also other embassy officials. We serve authentic Indian cuisine along with some fusion items,” said the restaurant manager, whose parents currently stay in Bhubaneswar.
He added that one more chef in the restaurant is also from Bhograi in Balasore district.
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