Love For Aloodum Dahibara To Travel Worldwide!

Love For Aloodum Dahibara To Travel Worldwide!

Hot and sweltering days are almost here and so is the season of Pakhala and all dahi-pani dishes, an intrinsic part of Odia cuisine and culture. Summers in Odisha are almost incomplete without the quintessential Pakhala lunch and aloodum dahibara snack (both in mornings and evenings). But there is a difference in the status accorded to these two mouth-watering dishes. While Pakhala has been put on the global map through a social media build-up culminating in celebration of Pakhala Dibasa on March 20, the humble aloodum dahibara is yet to have a day of its own, even though it is a hugely popular street food, cheaper and easily available. Well, that is set to change, courtesy the foodies of the twin cities who are all set to introduce March 1, 2019 as World Aloodum Dahibara Dibasa.

Now, talk about aloodum dahibara and Cuttack automatically comes to mind because the Millennium City is the first claimant to this savoury snack. Cuttackiyas are not only sentimental but very possessive about aloo dum dahi bara. However, Bhubaneswar too has fast caught up with treating its citizens to aloodum dahibara. That is why, popular foodies from the twin cities – Rohit Srivastava, Tanya Singh, JustVish and Pankaj Motwani set out to explore the dahi delight in Bhubaneswar and made a vlog about it. In the course of the journey, the idea of introducing World Aloodum Dahibara Dibasa came to their mind. Shares Pankaj, “We shot two vlogs. While the first one was on the popular breakfasts of Cuttack, including aloodum dahibara, the other vlog on Bhubaneswar aloodum dahibara happened when Rohit and Tanya came over to Bhubaneswar and we decided to explore the best aloodum dahibara joints in the capital city. The idea just bounced off our heads that we should have a special day dedicated to it, just like we have for pakhala.”

Pankaj and JustVish had put up a video on aloodum dahibara some two years ago which received an encouraging number of views and likes. The response to the video was so good that JustVish thought of collaborating with Rohit Srivastava, founder of FoodFindo for the eternal love for aloodum dahibara! “I happened to casually drop the idea of introducing an aloodum dahibara dibasa in one of my videos last week which met with a lot of positive response. The people encouraged us to go ahead with the idea,” says Vish.

“We decided on the first of March since by that time, summer comes in its full form to the state. Also, people can easily remember the date. Then, we began promoting it across social media. Aloodum dahibara is the soul food of Odisha. Hailing from Cuttack, I have a soft corner for the dish. This dibasa is just a form of celebrating the dish,” shares Rohit. Though Cuttack and Bhubaneswar have incomparable aloodum dahibara styles, there was no such comparison they had in mind while scouring for the dish in the capital city. “We had no such preconceived notions. I begun exploring aloodum dahibara in Bhubaneswar with an open mind, without comparing it to the ones available in Cuttack,” insists Rohit.The dahi delight of Odisha is one of the most underrated cuisines in the country. The four foodies are aiming to put the dish on the national as well as global map through various social media channels. “It is an effort to create awareness about our culture. Aloodum dahibara is an emotion for our people. We have a lot of people involved with us like Rohit Srivastava, Rachit Kirteeman and Harsh Singla,” informs JustVish.The idea of celebrating the dish on March 1 was jointly decided by Rohit and Vish. Since this will be the first World Aloodum Dahibara Dibasa, it will have more of a virtual promotion. “We need this to resonate with the people before it can be turned into something way bigger. This year, we are inviting members and people associated with the campaign to go out and enjoy the dish at their favourite aloodum dahibara stalls. They can also prepare the dish at home, especially the ones living outside the state or overseas. We have asked FoodFindo members to spread the word in the US community as well. The initiative has gone all the way to the US and London via social platforms. Once this resonates with people, we will take it to the streets next year onwards where we can ask the outlets to organise something special for people to come and celebrate it,” reveals Rohit.

Social media has made aloodum dahibara extremely popular. But somehow, Odisha is yet to catch up with its western counterpart, Maharashtra for instance, as far as popularity of a particular dish like aloodum dahibara is concerned. “Our initiative is for the vendors as well. The dish is popular on social media but it has to benefit the vendors who prepare aloodum dahibara for us. We are exploring many other options to popularise this dish, just like Vada Pav of Mumbai, pan India and across the globe. Overall, the popularity of the dish, especially among Odias living outside, is what we are targeting,” says Rohit. 

This pan-India initiative will be popularised via the social media communities across the country. The members are also planning to request Odia restaurants with their outlets spread all over the country to work towards popularising this savoury summer delight from Odisha.On March 1, people can go to their favourite aloodum dahibara stalls and post a picture with it on social media. “We have plans to come out with a Top 10 or Top 5 list of aloodum dahibara stalls based on the popularity of the pictures that the fans send us. Once the awareness happens, we will spread it over to other states,” says Pankaj. 

The hashtags for March 1 World Aloodum Dahibara Dibasa is #DahibaraAloodumDibasa and #AloodumDahibaraDibasa which the fans of the dish are required to use while posting pictures.All eyes are now on the very first World Aloodum Dahibara Dibasa to be celebrated for.