Puri Kanika…. a Odia Sweet Pulao
A simple, spiced, sweet Odia Pulao recipe…a part of the Mahaprasad of the Puri Jagannath temple and a festive speciality.
Vasant Panchami is a festival which highlights the arrival of spring season. Vasant means spring and Panchami refers to the fifth day and as the name suggests this festival falls on the fifth day of spring. On this auspicious day Goddess Saraswati , the goddess of learning, knowledge, wisdom,music and arts is worshipped.
In Odisha this day is known as Saraswati puja and is celebrated in schools, colleges and all educational institutions with fervour and gaiety.Traditionally on this day toddlers are taught to write their first words which is known as “Khadi Chuaan” in Odisha.
As I type this post out nostalgia filled memories of this day flash across my mind. The school Puja celebrations, Maa Saraswati’s beautiful idol in a yellow saree, the boondi prasad, the smell of camphor and the chanting of mantras during Pushpanjali, all my school friends in their new colourful dresses…this sure forms a nostalgic knot in my throat. The best part of this day was abstaining from studies, all our books were kept near the feet of Maa Saraswati’s idol for the Puja and the whole day we were not expected to study….in short a day that we always looked forward to.
The colour yellow holds a special meaning in the celebration of this festival as it depicts the brilliance of nature and vibrancy of life. My post today is a Odia speciality Kanika or fragrant, yellow, spiced, sweet, rice which is also offered as Mahaprasad in Puri’s Jagannath temple, infact a part of the Chappan bhog served for Lord Jagannath every single day and cooked in most Odia Kitchens during auspicious occasions.
Kanika or sweet rice goes very well with a bowl of dalma (odia style dal with veggies ), saaga(fried greens) , Tomato Khajur khatta (sweet tomato and dates chutney), and Chenna Bara tarkari ( cottage cheese patties in a no garlic onion gravy).
Sending this sweet pulao as an entry for the 77th Foodie Monday Bloghop for the theme Vasant Panchami.
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 3 helping | 5 minutes |
| Cook Time | Passive Time |
| 15 minutes | 60 minutes |
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A simple, spiced, sweet Odia Pulao recipe...a part of the Mahaprasad of the Puri Jagannath temple and a festive speciality.
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- 1 Cup rice Gobindobhog rice small grained fragrant or
- 3 tbsps Ghee butter Pure /clarified
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 2 Cups water Hot
- 3 - 4 cloves
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 - 3 cardamoms green
- 2 cardamoms black
- 4 - 5 black peppercorns
- 8 - 10 cashewnuts , broken
- 10 - 12 raisins
- 3 tbsps sugar
- to taste salt
- Wash and soak the rice in water for 30 mins .
- Drain and spread it on a sieve and let it dry for 5-10 minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp Ghee and the turmeric to the soaked and dried rice and mix well. Leave it for 30 more minutes.
- Heat a pan with the remaining ghee and fry the cashewnuts and raisins and fry till light brown ,drain and keep aside.
- Add the bayleaves, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns and cardamoms in the remaining ghee and saute for a minute till fragrant.
- Add the rice to the pan and saute with the spices and ghee on low flame for 2-3 minutes gently making sure the rice grains do not break.
- Add the hot water and salt to the rice and coverand cook it on medium flame for nearly 10minutes or till its three fourth cooked.
- Finally add the sugar and half of the fried cashews and raisins, give it a gentle stir,the rice will be mushy at this point. Cover it and keep it for 2-3 minutes more on low flame.
- Switch off the gas and serve the fragrant rice garnished with the remaining cashews and raisins.
Notes:
Sugar can be added to the pulao according to your taste .I have added 3 tbsp sugar which gives a medium sweet taste to the pulao.
That’s an interesting recipe, with the salt and sugar both present in the rice preparation. Love the information you’ve written about serving Kanika at the Jagarnath temple.
So glad to see your traditional recipe from orissa. Lovely Share.
Kanika is always a traditional favourite and great share
Fabulous post Saswati. It’s great to know about kanika. Kanika looks super yummy.
Wow, loved reading your memories. Zars school also celebrates this festival but I never knew why.
Beautiful and rich traditional delicacy share Sash!
How beautiful is this looking!!! Love this kanika the mahaprasad!!!
Sas, send some now… so amazing
kanika looks beautiful and yummy
The name of the recipe itself suggests how beautiful and delicate the recipe is… We also prepare the same at my my place and I completely relish all the flavors.. thanks for bringing the memories back!!
I do agree with all the concepts you’ve introduced for your post.
They’re very convincing and will definitely work.
Still, the posts are too short for newbies. May you please extend them
a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.
The step by step instructions helped me to cook the dish very well. The fragrance and taste, were exactly the same as Puri Mahaprasad…..brought back the old memories.
Keep guiding…. 😊
“Kanika” Unique name for a unique dish. It is a must have preparation that I always have at Jagannath Mandir and also at Ananta Basudev Mandir. Thank you for posting this recipe.