What to Eat in Puri Today?

Mahaprasad

The Jagannath temple kitchen is often called the largest in India. Hundreds of cooks prepare rice, dal, vegetables and sweets in stacked earthen pots over wood fires, and the food is offered to the deities before it becomes Mahaprasad. It is sold at the Ananda Bazaar inside the temple walls, which only Hindus can enter. Some mathas and shops outside sell dry prasad such as khaja and sweets; ask your hotel if you are not able to go in.

Khaja and chhena poda

Khaja is Puri's sweet: layers of thin dough, deep-fried until they shatter, then soaked in sugar syrup. Rows of shops on Grand Road sell it in paper packets and boxes that travel well. Chhena poda, baked cottage cheese with a caramelised crust, is said to be Jagannath's favourite. Honey Bee on CT Road and the Grand Road sweet shops sell both.

Dahibara aludam

The breakfast and evening snack of coastal Odisha: soft lentil dumplings soaked in thin spiced yogurt, topped with a spicy potato curry, a spoon of yellow pea ghuguni, onion and sev. It is messy, cheap and eaten standing. Carts near the beach and CT Road serve it through the day.

From the sea

Fishing boats land at the northern end of the beach each morning. Prawns, pomfret and crab turn up in light Odia curries with rice. Wildgrass on VIP Road and Chung Wah, a long-running spot on the same road, both cook seafood; ask what came in that day.

Eating well in a pilgrim town

• Many places near the temple are strictly vegetarian and cook without onion or garlic.
• Non-vegetarian restaurants cluster along VIP Road and CT Road, away from the temple.
• Eat sweets on the day you buy them if you can; khaja softens in the humidity.

For kitchens known for each dish, see where to eat.