Eight-day Pakahala Fest at SOA from Monday

Bhubaneswar: An eight-day ‘Pakhala Festival’ would be held at the SOA (Deemed to be University) from Monday marking the Utkal Divas. ‘Pakhala’, the quintessential Odia cuisine, will be showcased at the School of Hotel Management (SHM), SOA’s faculty of hospitality and tourism management from April 1. “The main objective of organizing the festival, which will continue till April 8, is to popularise this delectable Odia dish among the food lovers of the city who can savour a spread of ethnic food, including vegetarian and non-vegetarian items,” said Prof Sitikantha Mishra, Advisor and Dean of SHM. ‘Pakhala’, Mishra said, has been popular in eastern India, particularly during the summer and is known to be a part of the lifestyle of the people of Odisha. It also helps to prevent heat stroke when the temperature rises. The festival would be offering a variety of ‘Pakhala’ items including Dahi Pakhala, Lembu Pakhala, Ada Pakhala and fruit-flavoured Pakhala. It would be accompanied with fried vegetables, saga bhaja, badi chura, katha kasa, aloo bharta, machha bhaja, chingudi bhaja, patrapoda machha, chuna machha, pohala bhaja, sukhua bhaja, mansha tuktuka, achari kukuda masala etc, a SOA release said adding the price had been fixed at Rs. 200 per thali. SOA would continue to promote Odisha’s culture and heritage through such activities in future, it said.