Dalma — Odia Lentil and Vegetable (ଡାଲ୍ମା)

Odisha; the Jagannath temple in Puri has been producing dalma as part of the mahaprasad (temple food) for over a thousand years; it is a protected recipe tradition

Dalma (ଡାଲ୍ମା) is the daily staple of Odisha and the emblematic preparation of the Jagannath temple (ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ) kitchen in Puri: toor dal (pigeon peas) cooked together with a variety of seasonal vegetables — raw banana, yam, pumpkin, raw papaya, drumstick — in a single pot until everything is tender, then tempered with a ghee-based tadka of cumin, dried red chilli, and grated coconut. Unlike North Indian dal preparations that separate lentil from vegetable, dalma is a unified entity where the vegetables mellow in the lentil's starch and the lentil absorbs the vegetable's sweetness. It is the original Odia one-pot.

Eaten with rice as the primary daily meal across Odisha. The dalma is poured over rice and mixed; no separate dal or vegetable is needed when dalma is well-made. Papad and raw onion alongside are traditional.