Telangana cuisine

This article is part of the series
Indian cuisine
Regional cuisines North India Awadhi Bhojpuri Punjabi Kumauni Kashmiri Rajasthani Uttar Pradeshi Bihari Mughlai South India Main article Telugu Karnataka Kerala Tamil Telangana Hyderabadi Udupi Mangalorean Saraswat Mangalorean Catholic East, North East India Arunachalese Assamese Bengali Jharkhand Meghalayan Manipuri Naga Odia Sikkimese Tripuri West India Goan Gujarati Marathi Malvani & Konkani Sindhi Parsi Other Indian Chinese Nepali Jain (Satvika) Anglo-Indian Chettinad Fast food Malaysian Indian cuisine Indian Singaporean cuisine
Ingredients, types of food Main dishes Desserts Bread Drinks Snack foods Spices Condiments
Preparation, cooking Handi Karahi Tava Tandoor Uruli Other
See also History Etiquette Indian chefs Cookbook: Cuisine of India
Related cuisines Nepalese cuisine Sri Lankan cuisine Bangladeshi cuisine Pakistani cuisine Bhutanese cuisine Tibetan cuisine Afghani cuisine
India portal Food portal

Telangana cuisine is a food culture unique to Telangana region. The Telangana state lies on the Deccan plateau and its topography dictates more millet and roti (unleavened bread) based dishes. Jowar and Bajra features more prominently in their cuisine. Due to its proximity with Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and northwest Karnataka, it shares some similarities and differences of the Deccan plateau cuisine.^[1]

Style of cooking

There are many styles of cooking in Telangana. In the villages, people still employ the traditional methods in cooking. This includes wood-fired and masonry ovens.

Staple food

Telangana in its cuisine, there is special place for roti's made from millets, such as jonna rotte (sorghum), sajja rotte (penisetum), or Sarva Pindi" and Uppudi Pindi (broken rice). In Telangana a gravy or curry is called Koora and Pulusu (Sour) in based on Tamarind. A deep fry reduction of the same is called Vepudu. Kodi pulusu and Mamsam (meat) vepudu are popular dishes in meat. Gutthi Vankaya (Brinjal), Aloogadda (potato) koora & fry are some of the many varieties of vegetable dishes.^[2] Telangana palakoora is a spinach dish cooked with lentils eaten with steamed rice and rotis. Peanuts are added as special attraction and in Karimnagar District, cashew nuts are added.

Popular Telangana curry dishes (known as Koora) include Boti (derived from mutton) and Thunti Koora made out of Red Sorrel leaves. Potlakaya pulusu, or Snake gourd stew is one of the daily staple dish. Sakinalu is the most popular snack made of rice flour during festivals like Dusshera and Sankranthi makes it very delicious and one of its kind fritters of South India. ^[3]

Ingredients

The locally found ingredients are mainstay in the cuisine. Fresh vegetables like tomatoes, brinjal, bitter gourd, pulses, tamarind play a big role in the vegetarian dishes. The dishes based on goat and lamb are preferred over chicken in the dishes. As the region does not have a coast, only fresh water fish like korra matta is occasionally prepared.

Vegetarian food

Pachi Pulusu

Various types of Lentils (Pappulu) and millets for sale in market

In Telangana regions Tamarind, red chilies (koraivikaram) and Asafetida are predominantly used in Telangana cooking. Roselle is a major staple used extensively in curries and pickles. ^[4]

• Sarva pindi, a spicy pancake, is a staple breakfast, made with rice flour, chana dal, ginger, garlic, sesame seeds, curry leaves and green chiles.^[5]
• Puntikura Chana Dal: A vegetarian alternative to 'Gongura Ghosht', chana dal is cooked in spices and tempered with mustard and curry leaves.
• Bachali Kura: A tangy spinach curry cooked with tamarind paste.
• Pachi Pulusu: A spicy, raw rasam made with tamarind, chili and onions. Prepared mainly in Summer.
• Pappu chaaru
• Saaronkaya koora
• Aloogadda kurma
• Saaronkaya
• Dosakaya - Dosakaya Pappu, Doasaya Thokku
• Bagara annam
• Kattu Chaaru

Popular delicacies

• Sajja Rotti
• Makka Rotti
• SarvaPindi
• Upudu Pindi
• Kudumulu
• Rail Palaram
• Passham (sweet) – done in 2 ways; one with jaggery and milk and the other with talukalu prepared of dough.
• Odapa
• Pyalalu
• Sabhudhana upma
• Antuvuls also called as Bajji – (Pulusu with vegetables)
• Kadambam
• Makka Gudalu
• Bebarla Gudallu
• Salla chaaru
• Pachi Pulusu
• Challa Charu – A dish prepared by tempering buttermilk.
• Atukulu – Poha
• Makkajona Garelu
• Ponganallu
• Sajja Kudumulu with onion chutney
• Sadhulu – varieties of Rice, mainly cooked for Sadhula Bathukama Festival different flavors are as follows- Sesame(Nuvulu), Groundnuts(Palilu), Bengal Gram (Putnalu),Coconut(Kobari), Tarmarind (Chintapandu pulusu), Lemon (nimakaya), Mango (Mamidikaya), yogurt(Perugu)
• Guddalu – prepared with different beans, Blackeye beans, corns, Chana, Sprouts along with some spice and onion
• Kallegura(a.k.a. kallegalapula Kura ) – mixed vegetable curry generally prepared during Sankranthi Festival
• Sakinalu – rice flour Snack
• Garije – a sweet filled with a combination of either sugar or jaggery, with lentils.

Pickles

• Rotu Tokkulu – generally, they are prepared by semi fry the vegetables and grind it on a stone grinder tools, or in a mixer with adding thadka to it.
• Mamidikaya thokku (Allam and ava)
• Chintakaaya thokku
• Chintapandu thokku
• Osurugayq thokku
• Munagaaku thokku

Non-vegetarian food

• Ooru Kodi Pulusu: Telangana’s special flavorful country chicken curry.
• Golichina Mamsam: A spicy Mutton fry
• Ankapur Chicken, a fiery country chicken curry
• Boti curry
• Kaalla kura (paya)
• Mutton curry
• Mutton Kheema mutteelu
• Dosakaya mutton
• Meka thalakai koora
• Goat liver fry
• Chinta chiguru mamsam

Sweets, Snacks & Savories

Sugar madugulu is a sweet made with milk and butter with sugar coating, and pharda pheni' is another sugar-coated crispy wafer sweet. Boondi laddu and Ravva laddu are popular sweets. Saboodana kheer with poori is also a popular sweet.

Recent years has seen a resurgence of Telangana cuisines in restaurants around Hyderabad with the availability of Telangana thali dish for lunch.^[6]

References