Chingudi Besara

Freshwater or coastal prawns cooked in besara — mustard-coconut-garlic paste thinned with water and sharpened with raw mango or tomato. The prawn version of machha besara is considered the richer, more celebratory preparation; the natural sweetness of the prawn against the pungent mustard paste is one of Odia cooking's most celebrated flavour contrasts. Made in coastal Odisha households and fishing villages from Puri to Berhampur.