India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) (391 page)

Where to Dine

Ignore the seedy neighborhood and dour look of the lodge where this upstairs eatery,
Venus Inn
(217 Bapuji Nagar;
0674/253-1908
), is and you’ll find a good location for a quick South Indian
dosa.
Soft Hindi music fills the neat, clean interior as you dine on butter paper
masala dosa
(crepe-thin filled pancake), the onion
rawa masala dosa,
a
dosa
stuffed full of potato
,
or an
uttapam
(thicker pancake) with coconut. For the best chicken in town,
Cook’s Kitchen
(260 Bapuji Nagar;
0674/253-0025
) is the place to be—chicken
tikka
butter masala is for those who can handle their spices. Order an Orissan thali at Swosti Plaza’s
Chandan
(
0674/230-1936
through -1939;
www.swostiplaza.com
), where waiters can talk you through the evening’s selection while old Hindi film music provides prerecorded entertainment. The menu changes daily, but a typical selection might include fragrant dry Oriya mutton
(mangsha kasha);
Rohu fish (beware of the fine bones) cooked in a mustard sauce
(sorisa machha);
traditionally prepared mixed vegetables
(santula);
and soft
paneer
(Indian cheese) cooked under charcoal and then caramelized
(chhena poda)—
all served with breads and condiments on a brass platter.

Hare Krishna
VEGETARIAN You won’t find garlic or onion (Hare Krishna culinary no-nos) in the vegetarian dishes served at this surreally decorated restaurant reached via a series of Art Deco linoleum steps. The food is rich and flavorful, so don’t overorder. Lord Krishna’s favorite is apparently Govinda’s Pasanda, a
paneer
(Indian cheese) based dish that’s heavy on the spices and includes cashew nuts, tomato, and fresh vegetables. Also spicy, but with an added hint of sour, is Chaitanya’s
Pasanda, made with
paneer
as well. We can heartily recommend Nanda Moharaja’s
palak paneer,
which makes good use of mineral-rich spinach and is accompanied by thick, warm, fresh
naan.
The steaming-hot vegetable
biryani
is known as Bhaktivinod’s Delight, and it’s good.

1st floor, Lalchand Market, Jan Path.
0674/253-4188.
www.harekrishna.com
. Main courses Rs 50–Rs 125. No credit cards. Daily 11am–3pm and 7–10:45pm.

Shopping

Sixteen kilometers (10 miles) north of Puri,
Raghurajpur Crafts Village,
a quaint rural village of thatched-roof houses, offers a variety of traditional Oriya crafts. Craftspeople will meet you as you emerge from your taxi or auto-rickshaw and lead you to their homes, which double as production centers for specific art forms. Along with a cup of
chai,
you’ll be given a thorough account of the creative process.
Patachitra
paintings, the best-known of Orissa’s handicrafts, fetch up to Rs 15,000 and are created on a cloth canvas, using a brush made from mouse hair. Vibrant colors are used to create extraordinarily detailed depictions of mythological events—most of these revolve around the life of Krishna. Also impressive are traditional palm-leaf drawings made with an iron pen. These are typically presented as a concertina-style fold-up poster made from palm fronds and featuring concealed erotic images and Sanskrit inscriptions. Those who want to watch artisans at work can spend time at the
Pattachitra Centre Handicraft Museum
(
0675/224-508;
daily 9am–7pm;
www.pattachitracentre.com
).
Note:
Although prices are reasonable, they are slightly inflated, and you shouldn’t feel pressured to buy something you don’t want. You can also try and get these at any of the
Utkalika
showrooms present in all the cities within the state. Although Sambalpur is the right place to pick up tons of gorgeous
ikkat
(traditional weaves from the region), if you can’t manage going to this small town (77km/48 miles from Bhubaneswar), drop in at any
State Emporium
(Priyadarshini, V.I.P. Rd., Puri;
06752/22-9982;
or Western Tower Market Bldg., Bhubaneswar;
0674/253-2140
). Both the delicate
silver filigree work
(tarakasi)
as well as crude
brass and metal work
crafted by tribal folk using traditional casting methods
(dhokra)
are extremely popular not just in India but abroad as well. While they are sold with almost a 200% markup internationally, in Orissa you will get them at far more reasonable rates. If you are traveling to Konark by road, you will come across a sudden splash of color spilling on to the blue tar—welcome to
Pipli,
a tiny village where almost everyone is involved in appliqué work. The street is lined with shops on both sides selling massive umbrellas, cushion covers, bedspreads, wall hangings, and lampshades, all in bright colors and bold patterns. Every shop has a couple of tailors (often the owners themselves are on the machines), and it’s fascinating to watch them at work. Finally large scale village fairs and
haats
(markets) held periodically (Ekamra haat Nov–Dec; Bali Yatra Jan) in Bhubaneswar as well as neighboring Cuttack, are simply delightful in atmosphere and the range of goods is bewildering. Ask the OTDC for further information if you want to time your visit with these.