The cuisines of Orissa are delicious and simple. The people of Orissa cooks splendid dishes, which are liked by people across the country. During the festival season, Orissa turns out to be a gastronomic paradise of sorts. People of Orissa are fond of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. Sweet dishes also form a main part in the cuisines of Orissa.

Rice is the main staple food of the Orissa people. Their meals consist of a main course and dessert. Alu bhajia, alu dum, alu matter and charchari are some of the vegetable delicacies of the state. The pickles are also taken together with the main course. The cuisines of Orissa are spicy and tasty. The people take rich and creamy curd along with the main course of diet. The sea food is cooked traditionally in curd and coconut milk. They also cook brinjal and pumpkin in curd. They season the vegetables and pulses with panch-poron, which is a mixture of cumin, fenugreek and black cumin.

Fish and other sea foods are the other delicacies to be savoured in Orissa. As the state is situated on the coastline, the prawns, crabs and fishes are cooked in abundance. Some of the sea food delicacies are fish curry, prawn malay curry, crab kalia and chilly fish. The non-vegetarian foods are cooked deliciously by the people of Orissa. They also cook dishes like mutton curry, chicken curry, chicken masala and chilly chicken. They use less oil and their food is relatively calorie free.

Sweet dishes occupy an important part in the cuisines of Orissa, which are popular all over the country. The popular dessert rasagulla was invented by them, which Bengal had perfected into an art form. Most of the sweet preparations in Orissa are made with milk. Kheer and rice pudding are also inventions of Orissa only. The famous deserts of Orissa people are:
1. Chennagaja
2. Kalakand
3. Khaja
4. Kheer
5. Kheersagar
6. Laddoo
7. Rasamalai
8. Rasabali

The traditional delicacy of Orissa people is Mahaprasad or Bhog, which is offered to Lord Jagannath as food. It is cooked in the temple kitchen of Jagannath Temple. The temple kitchen is the biggest kitchen in the world. The kitchen has 1000 chefs and feeds almost 10,000 people each day.

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