Point of Conquest - Dalma

Raiders on mission - Suhas, Sharada, Rajith, Sunny, Mike, Santosh, Pranav, Karthik, Mayank, Ashwin, Sudhakar, Anoushka (raider-in-training)

Overview of Ground Zero: Dalma is an Odissa cuisine restaurant and part of a chain that is quite famous in Bhuvaneshwar. Its been open a relatively short time but has become a phenomenon of sorts. Come a little after 12.45 pm and you will end up waiting for place. The food is homely. The name Dalma, is in honor of a dal-based dish of the same name. This is a dish that has a melange of vegetables (made at home with leftovers). It made for a great raid spot since there was ample choice for vegetarians and non-veggies alike

The Conquest: This was the largest gathering of raiders so far. A lot of us needed help in narrowing down our individual conquests. Sharada and Rajith stepped up. They have an Odiya cook whose cooking has made them masters of sorts. And this is how it all went down.

Mike and Sunny opted for the vegetarian thalis. This came with rice and dalma (but of course!), a vegetable stir fry of sorts with carrots, cauliflower and beans. A vegetable gravy made of chickpeas and pumpkin. A yogurt based semi gravy and Kheeri, the sweet. Pranav, the other vegetarian of the group opted for vegetable pulao and an aloo gobhi (potato - cauliflower) gravy. The opinion here was the food was good and wholesome and Pranav felt that the variety in the vegetarian thali was more than what us non-vegetarians had.

Most of the non-vegetarians opted for thalis and this way the conquest was complete. We ordered one of every type of thali. There were thalis in chicken, mutton, fish (rohu) and prawn. What each of got was rice, dalma, the meat we opted for and a cucumber salad. Though the meal looked compact, it was quite a quantity and you need to be really hungry to finish the meal completely. We all got a taste of each others meals and Suhas felt that each of the gravies had their own unique taste. That was good since you know the food is not made assembly line style with boiled meats dumped in a one-gravy-fits-all. 

Mayank, Ashwin and Sudhakar decided to go in for puris along with two versions of mutton. A dry dish - mutton kasha and mutton curry. Sharada and Rajith also introduced to the group to Badi Churma, a mix of quite a few things that I couldn't put my finger on - which was crunchy, tangy, sweet, salty all in one... it was so good that almost immediately another one was called for. We also ordered Aloo poshto, a staple in Bengal and often found in Odissa cuisine. The mustard levels were brilliant, pungent, yet good on the taste. As for the two versions of muttons - the gravy was more preferred over the dry version. 

With lunch out of the way, desserts had to be called for. With a lot of sweet tooths to be satiated, a few helpings of Chenna Poda (a caramelized cake) and kheeri, a thick heavenly version of kheer. Strange (to me), that Sharada, Rajith, Sudhakar and few others actually liked the caramelized (more like burnt part) of the cake more than the actual cake itself. But then hey, its an introduction to new tastes. 

The meal was brilliant as was the group. The bill came to Rs 180 a head. For an earlier recon of the restaurant, you can read another review here.