The Odisha Millet Mission (OMM) collaborated with ‘Hotels and Restaurants Association of Odisha’ (HRAO) in order to extend the reach of millets to hotels and restaurants. On the proposal made by the Indian Government, the year of 2023 has been declared as the “International Year of Millets” or IYM2023 by the United Nations to increase awareness about millets.
Odisha Millet Mission (OMM) is the flagship initiative undertaken by the Odisha Government for revival of millets in farms and on plates in the state. A meeting was held at Krushi Bhawan, Bhubaneshwar with Hotels & Restaurants Association of Odisha in order to discuss the agenda and aim of the programme. Along with the meeting, a 2-day long training session was held in Bhubaneswar for the chefs to provide them with hands-on experience and standardise the millet recipes.
The meeting which had been held in the initial stages had been attended by numerous renowned hotels from all over Bhubaneshwar, such as Welcomhotel by ITC, TajVivanta, The New Marrion, The Empires and many more. Hotel Barjorjis BANJARA was the only hotel from Northern Odisha to be a part of this. Chef Mustaar Ali and Chef BrajakishorChanda were the two chefs from their hotel to have attended the interactive training session held at IHM Bhubaneswar.
Hotel Barjorjis BANJARA has planned a 10-day Millet Festival, titled as “The Millet Palette”, beginning on the 25th of August till the 3rd of September. They have curated a special menu which will be available throughout the 10 days along with the regular menu, 4pm onwards in the restaurant-Barjorjis BHOJAN.
The Inaugural Ceremony, held on 25th of August at Barjorjis BHOJAN, was graced by the presence of the District Magistrate and Collector, Mr.DattatrayBhausahebShinde. The Assistant District Medical Officer, Dr.Mrityunjay Mishra, President of Balasore Chamber of Industries and Commerce, Mr. Sanjay Das and the President of Press Association of Balasore, Mr.BiplabMohanty were the dignitaries and keynote speakers of the evening.
They have plans set in place to include millets in their breakfast buffets on a regular and long term basis. Along with the dishes which are presently available, a lot of other millet variations will be introduced in the future. Considering the health benefits of millets they have decided that they will be making it a part of their regular menu. A few of their speciality dishes are PodiRagiIdli, Ragi ghee dosa, RagiPuri, RagiGuddRasgulla, RagiBarfi, Proso Lemon rice and RagiLassi.
