Bela pana (Wood apple drink)

A traditional drink prepare on the eve of Maha Vishubha Sankranti

Bela pana is a delicious , healthy and traditional drink made from the pulp of bela (wood apple).This pana has lots of meditational property also .Before sharing the recipe with you I want to share some history and tradition behind it. In Odisha bela pana generally prepare on the eve of Maha Vishubha Sankranti (pana sankranti).Maha Vishubha Sankranti is the traditional new year of Buddhists and Hindus in Odisha. In India months and years are counted on the basis of solar or lunar movement. according to the solar system the month is counted from sankranti to sankranti and in lunar system it is counted from purnima to purnima. Maha Vishubha sankranti is the first day of the month of baisakha as well as the solar year.

There are also some reasons why Maha Vishubha Sankranti is consider as the first day of the solar year. There are only two occasion i.e. Mesha Sankranti & Tula Sankranti ,the sun fully rest on the equator and on these two date the length of day and night remain equal. After Mesha Sankranti the sun move towards northern direction i.e. towards our country as our country situated on north direction. Therefore this day of first movement of sun new year is counted . On this occasion people of Odisha offer pana to God and after that consume the drink . So Maha Vishubha Sankranti is also known as Pana Sankranti in Odisha. The drink is generally prepared with wood apple pulp ,jaggery and black pepper powder. But on this occasion people of Odisha prepare the drink by adding some additional sweets , chopped fruits and cottage cheese .

Pana Sankranti is similar to new year festival observed by Hindus elsewhere in India such as Vaisakhi (North &Central India) , Bihu (Assam) , Poila Boishakh (Bengal) and Puthandu (Tamilnadu)

Now here I am going to share the must have drink on Pana Sankranti in Odisha.

Preparation time: 30~35 min

Cooking Time: 0 min

Total time: 35 min

Ingredients (For 3 servings)

• Bela (wood apple) -1medium size

• jaggery as per taste

• Water -2 medium glass

• Grated coconut - 1 cup

• Sweet boondi /Motichoor ladoo -2

• Cottage cheese / Rosogolla -2

• Grapes -12~15 chopped

• Banana -1 chopped

• Black pepper powder 1 tsp

• Raw mango chopped -2 tbsp

Procedure

Step 1

Break the bela (wood apple) spoon out the pulp. and remove the gum inside.

Step 2

Add water to it and mix well.

Step 3

By using a strainer strain all the seeds and unnecessary thing .Keep only the extract in a bowl.

Step 4

Add jaggery and mix properly. Add mango , coconut, grapes, small pieces of banana , mashed Rosogolla & ladoo,black pepper powder and mix well.

Now your bela pana is ready to be served.

Enjoy !

Nutritional Information per glass

Energy : 161 calories

Protein : 8.1 gm

Carbohydrates : 31.4 gm

Fat : 4.9 gm

Fibre : 1.5 gm

Above nutritional information will varry because of the addition of sweets and fruits.

If you like the recipe, please share with family & friends.