Uttarandhra with Onamaalu: Exploring the Bold Flavours from Northern Andhra Pradesh

 Onamaalu, an initiative by The Culinary Lounge Hyderabad 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.

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.

A lovely meal – so simple and so good. A big shout out to the Onamaalu team for doing what they are doing, bringing out the culinary gems from different regions of Telugu states. Look forward to many more such events from them, showcasing food and culture of different nooks and corners of the state.