Dalma

Odisha's temple dal: split pigeon peas cooked with raw banana, pumpkin, aubergine, and yam, tempered with the five seeds of pancha phutana, and finished with roasted cumin and grated coconut

Origin: Puri & Coastal Odisha, India

From the journey of Pigeon Pea.

Dalma is Odisha's everyday dish and its holiest one. It is split pigeon peas cooked with vegetables until the pulse breaks down around them: raw banana, pumpkin, aubergine, elephant foot yam, sometimes raw papaya or drumstick. It is finished with a tempering in ghee of pancha phutana, the five whole seeds of the eastern Indian kitchen (mustard, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, and nigella), with dried chilli and bay leaf, and scattered with roasted, ground cumin and chilli and a little grated coconut. It is eaten over rice. In Puri it is part of the mahaprasad, the sanctified food of the Jagannath temple. The temple kitchen cooks it daily in stacked earthen pots over wood fires, without onion, garlic, potato, or tomato, and it is shared by devotees of every caste. A tradition credits dalma to the Savara, the forest people said to have been the first worshippers of Jagannath; the story cannot be dated, but it suits a dish built on the pulse of a forest shrub. For dalma is cooked in the country where the pigeon pea began. Its wild ancestor grows in the forests of eastern peninsular India, and charred seeds from the Neolithic villages of Gopalpur and Golbai Sasan in Odisha, some 3,400 years old, are amongst the earliest evidence of the crop anywhere.

Ingredients

Dal

  • 150 g split pigeon peas (arhar or toor dal), rinsed and soaked for 30 minutes
  • 1 raw green banana, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 150 g pumpkin, peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 small aubergine, cut into chunks
  • 100 g elephant foot yam (or taro), peeled and cut into chunks
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Tempering

  • 2 tbsp ghee
  • 1 tsp pancha phutana (equal parts mustard, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, and nigella seeds)
  • 2 dried red chillies
  • 2 bay leaves

To Finish

  • 1 tsp cumin seeds and 2 dried red chillies, dry-roasted and ground together
  • 2 tbsp freshly grated coconut

Method

  1. Drain the pigeon peas and put them in a heavy pan with 700 ml of water, the turmeric, and the salt. Bring to the boil, skim, and simmer for about 15 minutes, until they are soft but still hold their shape.
  2. Add the yam and banana first, then after 5 minutes the pumpkin, aubergine, and ginger. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes more, adding hot water if needed, until the vegetables are tender and the dal has broken down into a thick sauce around them.
  3. Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the pancha phutana, chillies, and bay leaves, and when the seeds crackle pour the tempering over the dal.
  4. Stir, taste for salt, and finish with the roasted cumin and chilli powder and the grated coconut. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Notes

The temple dalma of Puri contains no onion, garlic, tomato, or potato; home cooks sometimes add a little tomato or onion, and some finish with a spoonful of ghee. Any firm seasonal vegetables work: drumstick, raw papaya, ridge gourd, and sweet potato are all common. Dalma keeps for a day in the fridge and thickens as it stands; loosen it with hot water.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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