Andhra kanoon: Eat On

Tongue-twister of name, tongue-sizzler in taste

WHAT WOULD YOU CALL an Aus-tralian8217;s desire to explore Andhra cui-sine? Adventure? Well, then that8217;s ex-actly what Mathew Conn, the head of Hutch International8217;s marketing and sales coordina-tion, embarked upon one rainy afternoon. Nothing had prepared Conn for the spicy spread that awaited him at Dakshin, the south Indian specialty restaurant at Mumbai8217;s ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton Hotel and Towers.

With lots of coconut, garlic, tamarind, red and green chillies, dry fruits and spices, the typical Andhra cuisine, though mouth-water-ing, is not for the faint-hearted.

Broadly categorised as Kosta Circar, Telen-gana, Rayalseema and Hyderabad, these cuisines have emerged from the varying food habits across the four regions they represent.

At Dakshin, you will be served with pappu fresh vegetable curry, charu and pachadi tangy chutneys and steamed Nellore rice. Of course, hot and spicy non-vegetarian fare will not be missing. Papadams and fried crunchies are also regular features, and so are thokkus and uragais pickles. Giving company to these will be premium wines like the legendary Australian Brokenwood 2002 Cricket Pitch Red or the deep-flavoured and boisterous Beelgara Es- tate Silky Oak 2004 Red. 8216;8216;We serve authentic Andhra food and even use hand-ground spices for jaasti kaaram more power,8221; says Chef Kasi of Dakshin. 8216;8216;The idea is not to mellow down, but to present the cuisine the way it is appreci-ated and savoured in its home state.8221; A small helping of miriyala kodi vepudu spicy tender chicken morsels and mirapakaya bajji spicy Jalapeno chillies and you8217;ll agree with Kasi.

Ullavala kodi a delicious blend of gram gravy and chicken, pithala eguru seawater crabs in poppy seed gravy chapa pulusu a Nel-lore- style dish where fish is cooked in tomato and tamarind gravy, and palleturu mamsam Telangana potla lamb curry might be tongue twisters, but they are tongue-sizzlers as well.

Vegetarians will also be spoilt for choice. Chikkudu ginjala thalimpu seeded beans tem-pered with red chillies and vankai karapakai tender brinjals cooked in dry coconut masala will leave you asking for more.

Whenit comestoauthentic Andhracuisine, Vindhyas8212;the peninsular cuisine restaurant by sous chef Devwrat JategaonkarofTheOrchid8212;is also a must visit. 8220;Andhra8217;s fascinating culture has influenced its cui-sine, making it a mix of rural flavours laced with Hyderabadi colours and Mughlai ove-rtones,8221; says Devwrat.

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Apart fromrice and sambar, Vind-hyas offers unique preparations like bangda dumba vapudu spicy potatoes, pull hara tamarind rice, mirupakkai kodi tradi-tional Andhra chilly chicken and pesserattu green lentil pancakes. For dessert, you can choose between paal payasam milk and co-conut kheer and badam halwa seera a sweet madeof almondandcardamompaste.

Andhra fare is popular in butter chicken-obsessed Delhi also. A rather sarkari version of the cuisine is served at Andhra Bhavan. It8217;s lim-ited menu offers an 8216;Andhra thali8217; comprising puri, rice, sambhar, rasam, chutneys and a sweet dish. To spice up the fare, there8217;s Andhra-style chicken fry, mutton fry. During weekends, you get authentic Hyderabadi biryani.

Barbara Cartland once said that spicy food enhances the intellect. So chew on.

SMITA AND KISHORE IYENGAR