Travel Secrets September - October 2015 | Page 80

Mustard Seeds & Curry Leaves Four leading food bloggers from South India invite us to savour the unique flavours of their regions Name: Sreevalli Emani Bio: Sreevalli loves exploring different cuisines, and this led her to start a food blog. She is a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but says that has never limited her from experimenting with a variety of dishes. Blog: ammajirecipes.blogspot.com Cuisine: Andhra Signature Dishes: Ulava charu & paneer dishes In Andhra cuisine, ghee is served as a side to boost flavour. It helps reduce spice and also aids digestion 80  Travel Secrets September-October 2015 On My Plate: Andhra cuisine is an integral part of South Indian cuisine. Its signature appeal is in its hot and spicy food. The cuisine of Andhra is divided into coastal Andhra & Rayalaseema dishes as they vary widely in preparation and taste. Rice is staple in all regions of Andhra, but when it comes to Rayalaseema they enjoy raagi sankati, raagi roti and rice as main course. The pickles of Andhra are one the spiciest and delicious condiments, served along with rice. Apart from spiciness, Andhrites do enjoy tangy tamarind-based and sweet jaggerybased dishes too. An Andhra household meal consists of rice, dal, veggie fry, pickle, spice powder andrasam or sambar accompanied by yoghurt. Ghee is served as a side to flavour up these dishes. It also helps in reducing extra spice in the food and improves digestion. Every region has its own unique delicacies but some dishes are enjoyed across the State. Popular Andhra dishes include pulihora or tamarind rice, gongura pachadi which is also known as Andhra Mata, avakaya or mango pickle. Ulavacharu is a rasam made of horse gram, kandipodi or gun powder, pesarattu with upma, mirapakaya bajji, arisalu, putharekulu, bandaruladoo, Kakinada kaja and many more. In this pic, you see a typical Andhra spread. Th e first round of dishes on rice are dal, bhindi fry, toor dal powder or kandipodi. Second round features Gongura pickle (Andhra Mata), Rasam & Avakaya (Mango Pickle). The last round is yogurt and ghee.