Aaj Oriya ho jaaye?

A visit to Dalma, a new eatery serving Oriya cuisine leaves us with a pleasant palate, but not one that would lure us to go back for another visit

A visit to Dalma, a new eatery serving Oriya cuisine leaves us with a pleasant palate, but not one that would lure us to go back for another visit

A date at Dalma, at Koramangala would be completely a no-frills affair. This building that juts out of nowhere on a bustling 80 feet road changed name recently.

Called Odyssey a few months back, you will now see a prominent board that reads Dalma. This small eatery serves East Indian, home-style food.

Nothing fancy here, but the only reason why anyone would flock to this new eatery would be because of the promise of home food and the fact that there are hardly any other restaurants serving Oriya cuisine in Bangalore.



And at prices as low as Rs 25 for a dish of Saaga, healthy greens (read: green methi) cooked just like the way your Oriya friends' mom would, we think it's a steal.
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Though Oriya food is only a tad different from its other neighbours like Bengali and Assamese cuisine, it's still quite wholesome and full of subtle flavours.

Don't go expecting a fine dining restaurant. It's not even close to that. The interiors are extremely simple, uncluttered, in fact it's more of a bachelor's mess than anything else.

But thankfully the service is brisk and efficient. You might just have to wait it out a bit for your orders to come, what with the hordes of young Koramangala crowd flocking here for a quick meal.

Though Orissa is famed for its Konark temple and Jagannath Puri, the cuisine really hasn't been able to make much noise.
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It is characterized by a variety of seafood, owing to its proximity to the sea. At Dalma, seafood lovers might get floored with a host of prawns and lobster on the menu.

Also, the distinct taste that you get in most of the veggies cooked in Oriya style comes from the pungent mustard oil that imparts a smoky flavour to food and is used as cooking base. The flavours are delicate and devoid of any fuss.
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We began our meal with the Fish Fry (Rs 75), a small piece of Seer fish deep-fried in mustard oil. There are a few thali options like the veg thali, fish thali and chicken thali.
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Giving it a skip to know the repertoire of the place, we pinned down on the Aloo Patala (Rs 40), a curry made of potatoes and gourd much like our Parwal Aloo ki Sabji.

It turned out to be quite piquant, with the subtle flavours of the gourd coming alive in a light masala curry. We scooped that and a small plate of Chicken Kassa (Rs 75), again cooked in a similar kind of masala, but with a tamarind base, with the luchi.

The masalas in most of Oriya curries are a mixture of mustard, cumin, fenugreek, aniseed, turmeric and red chillies.

Also, we found the use of tamarind and curry leaves interesting in these east- Indian dishes, which are generally used in regions in Orissa close to Andhra Pradesh.

Those closer to Bengal use more of mustard paste and kalonji (onion seed), which gives a very distinct flavour to the dish.

Sadly, though most of the dishes that sit proudly on the menu that could well be flaunted as authentic Oriya style are not available at all.

When we wanted to try the Chena Kofta from the menu, we were told we would get only Paneer Masala. But the dish turned out like any regular masala curry with small cubes of not-so-creamy paneer.

The Dalma (Rs 50) had to be de rigueur; after all, the restaurant is named after this traditional Oriya dish.

Dalma, soul food for Oriya is made with at least two to three kinds of pulses combined with veggies like pumpkin, potato, brinjals or papaya and was surprisingly not too heavy with oil floating all over.

The dessert section lists about six desserts but on the day we stopped by, there was only Kheer available and we weren't in any mood to try it, when there was Malpua, Rosogulla and the likes listed.

Substituting Rosogulla with Kheer, however wasn't much of a compromise after all.

At: Dalma, 37, 6th block, 100ft road, Koramangala, Bangalore.
Call: 4166 0921u00a0
Meal for two: Rs 300.
Dalma didn't know we were there. The GUIDE reviews anonymously and pays for meals.

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