There's more to Andhra cuisine that meets the eye, it would seem. Beyond the tantalising biryanis and kebabs that travellers make a beeline to
Hyderabad for, lies a feast of popular dishes that were, before this, hidden in the shadows. In great demand now, Andhra cuisine is sure to thrill the taste buds with its delectable flavours.
Its an explosion of myriad flovours the subtle flavour of the crackling mustard, the pungency of green chillies, the smart of red chillies, the crunch of coconut and the integral taste of the brinjal. That's why most Andhra food is served with plain white rice-so as not to detract from the flavours of the dishes.
Most people mistake certain
Hyderabadi dishes-kebabs,
bagara baingan, mirchi-ka-salaan and the ubiquitous biryani-for Andhra cuisine. In fact, food from the state cannot be so easily defined-it is region specific: Telangana, coastal Andhra, Rayalseema and Hyderabad. Most people have been sampling just a minuscule slice of a rather large pie.
In Hyderabad, there are several small restaurants that have no ambience whatsoever. However, the promise of delicious food-at any time of day or night-keeps patrons waiting uncomplainingly for the few minutes it takes to get a table. Till fairly recently, Andhra food was mostly a very small sideline in the scheme of Hyderabadi gastronomy. In the recent past, 5-star hotels and high and mid-range restaurants have begun to appreciate the variety and complexity of Andhra cuisine and have begun to offer some really choice fare.
THE ANDHRA DESSERT PLATTER
FOR THE SWEET TOOTH:
The Andhra dessert platter is as varied as its entrees-poornam boorelu, payasam, kajalu, bakshalu, gawalu, kajjikaialu, paramannam, ariselu,
kobbari undalu, pallila paakam, to name a few. Very often most of these are made as snack foods rather than desserts. And, of course, each festival has a separate dessert menu. Sankranthi is celebrated with kajjikaialu (half-moon of deep-fried purls that are stuffed with ground dry fruit, sesame seeds and dry coconut), sakkinalu (murukus made with rice flour) and laddus made with sesame seeds or puffed rice and jaggery and last but not the least, the great Andhra speciality pulihora (tamarind or lemon rice).
Ugadi or the Telugu New Year is celebrated with bakshalu (dal and jaggery stuffed parathas) and paramannam (tiny grain rice cooked with milk and jaggery; garnished with cashew and raisins).
Ganesh pooja, called Vinayakchaviti in the state, calls for preparations of poornam boorelu (deep-fried, dal and jaggery stuffed balls).
Dussehra and Diwali are festivals when the big guns are called in-arisellu (made with jaggery, rice flour and ghee) and coconut laddus called kobbari undalu.
Most restaurants serve just a few desserts such as kaialu or payasam.
The only consolation is that after a meal like that, you have no room for desserts. Enjoy a good sweet paan instead.
Andhra cuisine is a gourmand's delight but you won't know that till you get past that guardian at its gates; the Hyderabadi biryani. Head towards these lesser-known dishes and give your taste buds the time of their lives. Trust us, you won't be sorry.
