Know Procedure Behind The Divine Tatse Of Jagannath Temple’s Sweet Daal

While the offerings for the deities in other temples in India are called prasad, those made for Lord Jagannath and his siblings are called Mahaprasad.

There are 56 types of Bhog offered to deities on a daily basis which is popularly known as Chhappan Bhog of Shree Jagannath.

Among all those 56 items, Sweet dal or Meetha Daali (in Odia) signifies the uniqueness of Mahaprasad.

Unlike various daal recipes across the world, the meetha dal tastes slightly sweet, and the tempering part in this dal is quite unique.

This mildly sweet dal can also be prepared at home but the authentic taste of this daal comes in Puri temple only. The earthen pots make this daal more notable because the process of cooking as done in the kitchen has some peculiarities.

The procedure of making Sweet Daal

First the toor dal / arhar dal is washed and cleaned in regular water. In a deep pan / earthen pan the dal is taken along with water. Over medium heat, the dal is then allowed to boil.

When there is a boil, the heat is lowered down and turmeric powder, salt are added. After some time when the dal seems to cooked perfectly, add jaggery and crushed ginger.

Meanwhile in a small bowl hing (asafoetida) is mixed with 1 tbsp of water. Then this hing water is added to the cooked dal after 1 minute, the heat is turned off.

Few cumin seeds are sprinkled on top of the dal followed by pouring of some hot ghee. Finally, the mitha dali is ready to serve.