Onamaalu, an initiative to primote Telugu food and culture is doing a yeomen service in studying in depth the cuisines of different regions of the erstwhile United Andhra Pradesh. I have been associated with this initiative since the beginning, and really appreciate the work going on – visiting different districts of erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, researching the cuisine along with art, culture of the place, and coming back with a rich repertoire of knowledge, recipes and culinary practices of that area. These are further documented for the future.
Recently Onamaalu organized Uttarandhra Kathalu, a two-day
event showcasing the diversity of food from that region. On the first day at
Culinary Lounge, Ms Sowjanya Narsipuram from Swadhistam, curated a vegetarian
platter from Northern Andhra, ably assisted by The Culinary Lounge team who
added a few non-vegetarian dishes from that region.
For those who are not familiar about the Uttarandhra region,
I must state that it consists of the distinct areas of Srikakulam, Vizianagram
and Vishakapatnam with the tribal belt of Araku Valley thrown in. The cuisine
is diverse with a little influence of bordering Odisha state, as well as the
tribal areas. I have been to Vishakapatnam, Araku and Vizianagram multiple
times, and must confess that the local food has some delightful mélange of
spices, and being a coastal belt imbibes a lot of seafood (both fresh and dry)
in their platter. The tribal area has its own peculiarities that has similarity
with neighbouring Chattishgarh, one dish from here that has really broken out
on the national food scene is the Bamboo Chicken, where Marinated chicken is
stuffed inside bamboo and cooked on fire.
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| Junugulu Boorelu & Aavapindi Pulihora |
But here at The Culinary Lounge Sowjanya was weaving her own
magic. A native of Srikakulam, she has spent significant part of her life in
Vizianagram. The whole lunch was served on a banyan leaf, as per tradition. We
started with Junugulu Boorelu, a deep-fried ball of jowar stuffed with red
beans, coconut and jaggery. Aavapindi Pulihora a kind of lemon rice with
mustard seeds tasted very fresh. Matki Pappu, a tribal lentil preparation was a
perfect foil to this.
The other carb was Oodala Talimpu, a millet based
preparation, barnyard millets with ghee, curry leaves and curry leaves.
Typically, I would have loved to start my meal with this, as per folklore ghee
lubricates your esophagus to enable easier passage of food.
Now, let me come to the dishes that were highlights for me.
Minumala Pachadi was quite different from the usual Andhra pachadis, a coarser
preparation with black urad dal. And the other one that was my staple curry for
the afternoon, Jeedipappu Kobbari Palakura, a cashewnut and coconut milk based
dish that was simply unputdownable. Jackfruits are abundant in the belt, Guna
Chaaru, a raw jackfruit preparation with tamarind paid respect to one of the
most versatile fruits from a culinary point of view.
The Culinary Lounge team chipped in with Royyala Vepudu (or
Andhra style Prawn Masala with dry shrimps added to it) as well as a tribal
style Kodi Koora (Chicken curry). I have always been a fan of the Chef duo
Pavan and Somenath, as numerous discussions with them has revealed their deep
knowledge of Telugu food, that has been augmented further by their stint with
the Onamaalu project.
Sowjanya patiently explained every dish as they were served,
adding a whole lot of value to the food enthusiasts savouring the food. The
showstopper for me came last, Kala Bhatti Paramannam, a black rice payesham
served stylishly of a leaf. I have personally tried out a payesh with black
rice with nolen gur at my home in our own Bengali way, the flavours of black
rice, the slightly harder grains really add to the taste of the dessert. Here
it was no exception, and this was a fitting finale to the meal.
