My Food Story: A traditional Odisha recipe dedicated to underprivileged pregnant women

Special dedicated to underprivileged pregnant women, this traditional Odisha recipe, often made by my grandmother, has been innovatively adapted by me with a unique chutney.

It is an affordable and healthy option for disadvantaged women, utilising readily available ingredients and minimal oil. Rich in fibre and iron, it helps combat malnutrition-related issues during pregnancy, such as constipation and low haemoglobin.

Banana Blossom Millet Patties

Ingredients

For cutlet

Oal/sweet potato /raw banana

Beetroot

Some vegetables like carrot and capsicum

Onion

Green chilli

Banana flower chutney

Banana flower

Tamarind

Ginger garlic paste

Drumstick for slurry/sauce

Foxtail millet for coating

Drumstick – 4 pieces

Salt

Method

Cut all the vegetables. Sauté and boil in oil. Add kalami saag. Roll in foxtail millet, make a cutlet shape and shallow fry.

For chutney, clean banana flower and grind it. Add the spices in oil and then add turmeric, salt and all other ingredients.

For slurry, boil /burn the drumstick. Take out the pulp and grind it. Add some butter and some black pepper powder to the pulp.

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

Join us as we showcase the recipes shared with us by the participants of a recently concluded recipe contest.

Sabita Mohalik is a nutritionist from Jharkhand