The latest, most recent and best pictures of Chilika Lake, Berhampur (Bramhapur) Odisha

A train journey to Bramhapur from Bhubaneswar is a true-blue Indian treat for the senses, although this treat may pan out to be slightly more unusual than you had imagined.

So you wake up one fine morning to catch an early train. You get yourself a window seat and wait for the journey to begin. The train starts to roll and you lean by the window to soak in some fresh, dewy morning air. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strong, thick, retching odor of urine hits you. 

And if you underestimate it as just a minor inconvenience, think again. Cause this isn't just some old, bad smell; it's that heavy-duty, pungent reek which has enough horse-power to knock a pair of iron lungs out, and if inhaled twice, could cure the worst case of consumption. Worst of all, this reek trails the train for atleast five minutes.

Anyways, a more welcoming treat is reserved for the senses of touch and taste once your reach Balugaon Station. There, towards the end of the platform, is a small stall that serves some of the most flavourful fritters. Pakodas, vegetable chops, black-lentil baraa, aloo chops (that's the way aloo bondas are known here), you name it.

Hot and tasty, their aroma will flush out any of those poisonous residual fumes that you might be carrying in your nasal cavity from that five-minute "passage through hell" near Bhubaneswar.

Similarly, there's the pure, rustic, cuss-ridden dialogue native to the people of this place, that does a good work of warming your ears, but more on that here.

And as for the eyes, few sights can match up to the beauty of Lake Chilika on a winter morning. When the sun rises and shines on the wide-spread vista of water, you would feel as if somebody has lain a huge mirror underneath the sky. 

The calmest lake in the country

Check out the dazzle off the lake's surface.

Quoting S.T Coleridge-"A painted cloud on a painted sea"

The mist adds to the mystery, and is half the charm of this snapshot.

Best homemade and home-cooked biryani in Odisha: Best home-cooked mutton biryani, chicken biryani and emu biryani in bhubaneswar, Odisha, India

Few sights in world are as comforting as a plate of steaming hot biryani. High eyebrows drop, creases on foreheads smoothen, bodies unwind and smiles sprout forth on seeing this aromatic dish being served on the table. The world suddenly seems a marginally better place, and life more bearable.

However, in today's world of rampant adulteration- where you are more likely to find stones in rice, pebbles in lentils, potato mash in "shuddh ghee", margarine in butter and molesters among ‘babas’- it's impossible to find purity in food as well.

So imagine my surprise when I was strolling around the city in search of something (if not someone) interesting, and happened to chance upon this place that serves some of the most unbelievably delicious biryani. Just have a look at the color, the gloss, the steam, the long grains of rice... I mean, splendid.

And I haven’t come to the best part yet- It's purely home-cooked. Just in case you weren't able to believe what you just read, let me repeat:

Yes, 100% home-cooked!

So you don't have to mortgage a kidney to afford a sumptuous biryani meal in a posh eatery. You also don't have to risk purchasing biryani from that seedy roadside stall and chomping down on a chicken leg, which tastes like a chicken leg, but somehow reminds you of a slippery frog.

Prices are steep, though- A single serving costs upwards of Rs. 150. However, once you tuck one spoon of biryani in and let the cooking cast its spell, I assure you that the only other time you would open your mouth is when you would feel the craving to order another plate. But that is, if your belly has the space for it. One serving can feed two easily.

And what's more, there’s good news also for those who are cholesterol-conscious. This place also dishes out a superb emu biryani, which is simply another name for “heavens on earth”.  Low on fat, ghee and oil but high on flavours, it’s a foodie’s dream come true.

You see, that’s the magic of home-cooking. You can actually taste and distinguish the ingredients that have gone into the preparation, as opposed to dining in a restaurant, where practically anything you order tastes the same- what with the biryani, pulao, fried rice, mixed rice, etc, etc. It’s the same big, bland, over-puffed mold of stale rice, with a few pieces of meat that seem to belong to the Dark Ages. You are left to figure out the ingredients by reading from the footnotes of the menu-card. 

The final frontier is religious sentiments, which have always come in the way of a good meal, hence the following info- The meat is pure halaal. The chicken and mutton both, are dressed by a Muslim butcher, however, all the cooking is done by a Hindu lady. I don't think you could get anything more secular than this, apart from Manmohan Desai films.

And vegetarians, you don't need to sulk- Place serves delicious veg biryani as well! Just replace the meat with paneer, aloo, soyabeans and raw jack-fruit. Yumm...

All said and done, I highly recommend you to try it when you get the chance. Rs. 150 may not be that big a deal for most of you, but getting a 10-minute trip to paradise and back is a big deal, indeed.

Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Bhubaneswar, Odisha: Look at that!

Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha: This is the tastiest biryani I have tasted in Odisha

Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha, India: And this is the mutton biryani

Best home-cooked, home-made biryani in Odisha: And this is a nicely-prepared mutton curry that can be ordered as an accompaniment to the biryani