but having it does help you to eat. Several days ago I transferred money from my savings account into my travel account. The money came out of my savings account immediately but it has not yet appeared in the travel account. The bank assures me that they can do nothing about it and that these things can ‘take several days’: of course the reason it takes several days is because the bank chooses to make it take three days this way they can use it on short term money market to make even more profit on it. So while the bank is increasing its shareholder dividends I found myself in a foreign country unable to pay my hotel bill. I had hoped to pay this bill with my credit card but for some unknown reason the machine demanded a pin number for a card that I always sign for consequently I have no idea what the pin is. Another expensive international phone call to the bank’s ‘support line’ yielded no help beyond suggesting that I get someone in Australia to do a Western Union transfer. I then tried to directly access my savings account only to discover that that card had expired. My last hope was an international money transfer to the hotel bank account: I log into the bank, get into the transfer section and discover that a transfer requires the bank to send an access number to my mobile phone …which happens to be in Australia. I can see this now as comedy of errors but at the time I suffered a complete sense of humour failure and went into hysteria.

In the end it was a fellow Australian you came to my rescue. Claire and her husband run an ethical travel company based in Puri (amongst the many activities they offer is an Oriya cooking www.grassroutesjourneys.com). I had only met Claire once but I called her out of sheer desperation and asked to borrow some money from her: she kindly agreed and had it to me in twenty minutes. This solved my hotel bill problem.

 I am not completely penniless but I only have $20 on which to travel 1000 kilometers between Bhubaneswar and Varanasi. To ensure I have enough cash to get from one to the other I have had to compromise on food. Because I spent hours trying to sort out the money situation I reached Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa, late in the afternoon in a snappy mood being both hungry and wrung out from the earlier hysteria. I did a reccy in the area surrounding my hotel hoping for some street food but there was none to be found. In the end I ate bananas, cake and namkeen (salty, crunchy snacks) from a tea stall/cum corner store. This did not improve my mood.

Then I was helped by a stranger for the second time in the same day. Chef Debashis at Swosti Hotel came to my culinary rescue by plying me with delicious Oriya specialties for dinner: mutton cooked with potatoes in an onion gravy; fish in mustard sauce; dalma (see Puris in Puri); a gentle vegetable stew called ghanto; badi churra, a mix of crisp fried lentil cakes crushed and mixed with thin slices of onion and chopped garlic that is used to add additional flavour and texture to other dishes (the onion also acts to aid digestion of heavier meal components such as mutton) and eggplant in yoghurt. This last dish was exceptionally good and I was surprised to discover how simple it is (I am going to give you the recipe below). It was also made with green eggplant, which was only the second time I have seen/eaten a green eggplant (the first was when Claire – see above – used one in the dalma she made for me). Apparently the green eggplant have been genetically modified to stop a particular worm from burrowing into them.

 Dahi baigono (eggplant in yoghurt)

Serves 2 greedy people or 4 more restrained ones

Ingredients

2 eggplant cut into fingers*

Oil for frying

1 cup plain yoghurt

2 tsp mustard or vegetable oil

8 curry leaves

1-2 whole red chillies or to taste

Salt to taste

Method

Heat enough oil in a fry pan over medium-high heat to cook the eggplant to a golden brown. Drain these on kitchen paper and set aside.

 Beat the yoghurt with a fork until it is smooth (if it is thick yoghurt add a little water while beating it as it should be ‘soupy’).

Heat the 2 tsp of oil in a heavy based pan over a medium-high heat. When it is hot add the curry leaves and red chillies. Stir around until the curry leaves change colour (this will happen quickly) and pour this temper into the yoghurt. Season with salt and add the eggplant pieces. That’s it. Enjoy.

 *If you want to decrease the amount of oil that eggplant absorbs when it cooks zap the eggplant pieces in the microwave for 40 seconds or quickly steam them until barely softened. This starts to break down the cellular structure of the eggplant which stops it taking in so much oil.

One of the scientific methods I use to discover and identify local food species is observation. I start by wandering the streets and bazaars of cities and towns. When I spot a food stall or café I hone in and have a look at what is cooking in the pots or on the grill and/or see what people have on their plates. If it is something I have not seen before, or it looks like a good version of an already categorized item, I order some and tuck in: this methodology has rarely let me down.

Yesterday I was wandering the streets of Puri in Orissa when I spotted a roadside café where there were several tables of Oriyas (locals) eating: the first promising identifying feature. As I got closer I could see they were eating from plates made of large leaves: I started to get excited as this was another promising feature. I went in and looked in the cooking pots; the contents were appealing so I pointed at everything I wanted to try and took my seat. The other patrons looked somewhat bemused at the appearance of a foreigner at such a humble stall but I got smiles and nods of approval when I demonstrated my expertise at eating with my hand. As I had anticipated the food was delicious. My meal consisted of a generous ladle of dalma, a stew made of lentils and seasonal vegetables that is eaten everyday in Orissa; a small pile of sweet boonda, which are small balls of fried chickpea flour which had been soaked in sugar syrup and a stack of piping hot puris, deep fried flat breads the size of a drink coaster. I do not like puris (but it’s a lonely stance as most people find them delicious) so they remained in their stack and I later fed them to a passing cow, but I very much enjoyed eating the spicy dalma with the sweet boondi.

Oriyas are people of my own sugary inclination as they do not consider a meal complete without a sweet dish, or two. To finish this meal I had a piece of a type of cheesecake called chennapoda which is a speciality of Puri (whereas puri the bread is found all over India). This sweet is made from solid milk curds (very similar to ricotta cheese) that have been blended with a little semonlina , cardamom and sugar wrapped in banana or sal leaves and baked in charcoal for several hours. The resulting ‘cake’ has a caramelized crust and a moist dense interior that tastes and feels (in the mouth) like a hybrid between a baked cheese cake and crème caramel: let me state the obvious – delicious.

Dalma

Serves 4

Oriyas make this dish all year round changing the vegetables with the season. In winter radishes and pumpkin are in season so these are an essential addition at that time. Other vegetables that are commonly used include green papaya and green banana (which are available all year round), eggplant, potato and bottle gourd ( a small striped vegetable that for which you could substitute cucumber – yes you can cook it). You can use whichever vegetables are available to you but chose ‘firm’ varieties as they need to stand up to a reasonable cooking time so that they meld with the dal but do not lose their shape and individual texture: carrot, cauliflower, beans or tomato are not used to make dalma in Orissa. A classical dalma is made with moong kid dal and tempered with ghee. You will find moong ki dal at your nearest Indian grocery store. Asian grocery stores also stock it.

 Ingredients

 ¾ cup moong ki dal

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

750gms chopped vegetables

2 dried red chillies or to taste

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ghee or mustard/vegetable oil

2 tsp black mustard seeds

Method

Wash the dal and pick it over to remove any stones or other debris. Put it into a saucepan large enough to hold the dal and the vegetables. Add three cups of water and bring to the boil. Skim off any foam/scum that rises. Once the dal has come to the boil reduce the heat to medium high and add the turmeric and salt and leave to cook for five minutes. Add all the chopped vegetables and cover and cook until the dal is tender.

I have eaten several dalmas over the past few days, one was thin the other two were thick. You will need to decide how you want it to be. If you like it thinner then you might need to add more water. If you want it thicker then you might need to remove the lid during the cooking process to allow some of the water to evaporate. There is no right or wrong with this dish so make it how you like it.

While the dal and vegetables are cooking put the chillies and cumin seed into a frypan without any oil and dry roast them until the cumin releases an aroma and/or the chilli starts to slightly change colour (be careful not to burn these). Allow the spices to cool and then grind to a powder in a mortar and pestle or in an electric spice grinder. When the dal is ready add the ground chilli and cumin seeds and stir through the dal. Keep the dish over a low heat to allow the spices to flavour it.

Heat the ghee in a frypan and when it is hot drop in the mustard seeds, when they start to splutter ( this will happen fairly quickly) pour the contents of the frypan into the dal and vegetable mix and then stir it through. Serve hot with rice or bread or just enjoy a big nutritious bowl all by itself.