Hotel Dalama, Bhubaneswar

When travelling to a new town/city/country, I am always curious about their food and lifestyle. It is therefore fun to spend time with the locals, talk to them, visit their homes [if possible] and even eat some of the local dishes.... This time during my visit to Bhubaneswar, while I kept collecting notes on different local dishes, I got the opportunity to have a meal a few days into the trip. When I enquired with an auto guy and the hotel room service staff member, they both recommended this hotel called Hotel Dalma. 

On that day, when I was heading to the market place, the auto guy told me Dalma was in Unit 8, Madhusudhan Nagar, not too far from the market. The place looked small and nondescript, but then such places offer the best fares and so I went looking for the restaurant. It was located in a slightly run down building on the 1st floor. 

Walked in, found a table and asked for the menu... It had quite a few items, but then I went for the Special Thali with extra curd [surprisingly, in their Thali they don't give curd] I was served a plate with freshly made papad first followed by the thali platter. 

It had a cup of plain rice, yellow rice [ which I later discovered was peas pulao but quite sweet], Dalma [ dal with veggies], korma [tomato, drumstick brinjal], potato brinjal dry sabzi, another daal, bhoondi raita, and sabudana payasam/kheer [which was out of the world]. 

All the dishes were yumm, the spice factor was low and it was not doused in masala or oil... I was quite surprised at the flavours, each one tasted different and I quite enjoyed it. Do wonder why this region has a lot more brinjal than other cities....  This thali was priced at Rs180 and the place did not charge tax or service charge... I walked out smiling, ready to take on the rest of the day... 

Pretty much every table in the hotel had thali platters on it, and people were happily digging into their plates, and some even asked for more rice.. *gulp*

At another hotel, I ordered a dish that was a mix of potato and brinjal[both had been deep fried] and cooked with mustard paste in mustard oil.. Loved loved the flavours... :)