ANDHRA PRADESH SPECIALS

Like every state of India has its own specialty, Andhra Pradesh is famous for the rich seasoning and lots of variety. One can get vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian food. Though the tastes are different from place to other like Coastal areas, Telengana, Rayalaseema with in the state because of the influence of the existing traditional and cultural practices, the main features of Andhra food are: -
RICE:
Rice is the staple food of Andhra Pradesh because rice is produce here in large quantity. Idli, dosa, vada, payasam and uttapam and different types of snacks are made of rice and are mostly consumed with rice for daily diet. Preferably for the important Break-fast items like MLA Dosa (Pesarattu with Upma), Onion Dosa, Plain dosa, Masala dosa, Rava dosa, Rava idli, Masala idle, Upma etc,. the main item is Rice only.

There are many varieties that are being prepared from Rice, which are cooked with spices, vegetables and meat. (Pulihora) Tamarind rice is very popular.

The Andhra food is basically vegetarian, which is eaten on a banana leaf.
In the coastal region fish is eaten with rice. They make use of all the vegetables but brinjal, potatoes and tomatoes are quite popular.

A lot of spices are produced in south region and hence Andhra food is rich in spices.
They make use of cinnamon and black pepper. They are seasoned with a lot of herbs and the curry is served hot.

Hydrabadi biryani is the specialty of Hydrabad, which is seasoned with vegetable and meat.
It uses black pepper a lot.

You can find the influence of Indian and mughal taste in the Andhra food particularly in Telengana Region. A lot of variety is available in biryani. Kababs, keema and their types are also very popular.

They are famous for some instant and preserved pickles. The chutneys (sauces) of chilly, tamarind, mango, ginger, coconut and other vegetables are very popular. They are served with all the meals and also with breakfast. They are very tasty, aromatic and spicy.

Kheer and savayin are very famous which are specially made during the month of ramzaan.
Sweets made up of milk are widely eaten. Special sweets of Banana, almond, eggs, apricot, mangoes and other fruits are equally popular.

Ingradients:

Moong dal or Pesara Pappu (Green Gram) - 1/2 Kg, Ginger-1 small piece, Green chillies- 5, Onions- 4.

Preparation:

1. Grind Moong Dhal with some salt in a blender (with adding water in steps) into a bit coarse flour.

2. Cut Ginger, Green chillies and Onions into very small pieces.

3. Heat the pan and spread a drop of oil on it. When the pan is fully heated, take some flour and spread it on the pan into a round shape. Turn it over and spread the finely choped pieces of Garlic, chillies and onions all over it. When both sides are cooked well, turn it on to a plate. Ginger tamaring chutney can be side dish. Finally you add Upma on it. Pesarattu with Upma is known as MLA Dosa. An item by paddu_uss@rediffmail.com

Vegetable Biryani

Ingradients:

Basmati rice-2 cups, Beans - 100g, Carrot-100g, Onion-250g, Garlic - 3 pcs, Ginger - 1/4 inch piece, Ggreen chillies -2, Cinnamon -2 inch piece, Cloves - 4, Cardomom - 4, Andhra moggu, Bay leaves-1, Salt - 1/2 tsp, Cilantro leaves - 1/4 cup, Mint leaves - 1/4 cups, Salt bread - 1/2 cup.

Method:

1. Chop the beans, carrots, turnip into thin long pieces. Chop 1/3 of the onions into thin rings, one third into fine pieces.

2. Grind the remaining onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies into a fine paste. Dry roast andhra moggu. Grind this along with the cinnamon, clove and cardomom coarsely.

3. Heat oil and roast the bay leaf. Add the onion paste and fry. Then add the chopped vegetables and green peas and fry well. Now add the ground cinnamon masala.

4. Wash the rice completely and drain.Add thiss rice to the cooked vegetables and fry a little while. Add salt and 4 cups of water to the mix and keep it covered in low heat until the rice is fully cooked. Add finely chopped cilantro and mint leavesand mix.

5. Cut the salt bread into fine pieces and deep fry in oiluntil they become crisp and brown.Add these pieces to the rice a few minutes before serving.

South Indian Food - Rice special items

KARNATAKA - BISI BELA BATH

Ingradiants required:

Beans, Potato, Brinjal, Small onions (Sambar onions), Raddish, Green peas - all combined - 1/4 kg.

Preparation:

1. Cut all vegetable into evenly sized long pieces and steam them in a pressure cooker.

2. Take 2 cups rice and 2 cups toor dal and add 3 times water and steam it in the pressure cooker.

3. Grind 1 cup grated coconut with 6 tsp of Kari Masala Powder and keep this paste.

4. Pour 3 teaspoons of ghee in a frying pan and add 10 cashews and 2 whole cloves.

5. Add the steamed vegetables to the frying pan and fry a little. Add tamarind juice salt and half of the ground paste and bring it to boil.

6. When the raw smell of tamarind is gone add the steamed rice-toor dal mixture and stir well for about 5 minutes. Add the remaining paste at the end before removing from the stove. Add some green coriander (cilantro) leaves before serving.

VARIETY IDLIS

KANCHI IDLI

Ingradients: Par-boiled rice - 200g, Raw rice - 200g, Urud dal - 200g.

METHOD: Soak the dal and rice separately for 2 hours in the evenings.
Grind them separately to a coarse thick paste. Add 1/2 tsp salt and mix well. Keep it overnight. Next day, when you are about to make idli, add 1 cup of thick curd. Roast 6 cashewnuts, whole black peppers - 1/2 tsp, cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp, and a small piece of ginger in ghee and add it to the flour. Add about 1 cup of ghee to the flour. Take a deep plate and pour 4 laddles of flour in it. Steam it in a pressure cooker or idli cooker for about 20-30 min. Remove from the stove and serve hot with ghee.

RAWA IDLI

Ingradients: Rawa - 2 Cups, Urud Dal 1/2 cup, sour curd.

Method: Soak 2 cups of rawa in sour curd for 2 hours. Soak 1/2 cup urud dal for 1 - 11/2 hours and grind nicely. Mix the soaked rave and the ground urud dal , add salt and leave it for 1/2 hour. Take Idli plates and place a drop of oil in each idli mould and spread it over the entire mould.Heat 2 cups of water in a large vessel or pressure cooker and place the filled idli plates and cover the cooker with lid without weight. Heat in high for about 15 to 20 minutes.Remove the plates from the vessel and remove the idlis. Pour 2 tsp of sesame oil or ghee while serving. Side dish - Sambar, Idli power/Ginger & Tamarind churtney/Coconut chutney. While using pressure cooker for making idlis, the steam hole should not be covered by adding the cooker weight. Steam should escape freely.

INSTANT IDLIS

Ingredients: Rice flour- 2 1/2 ups, Urad dall - 1 cup, Yeast- I pinch, luke warm water- 2 tablespoons, salt - 1 teaspoon.

Method: First soak the urad dall in hot water for 45 Minutes and then grind it as a fine paste. Then Mix 2 1/2 cups of Rice flour in water to get the batter consistency and then add the urad dall paste and salt and the yeast soaked in luke warm water mix it well and keep it aside for 1 hour.

Take Idli plates and place a drop of oil in each idli mould and spread it over the entire mould.Heat 2 cups of water in a large vessel or pressure cooker and place the filled idli plates and cover the cooker with lid without weight. Heat in high for about 15 to 20 minutes.Remove the plates from the vessel and remove the idlis. Pour 2 tsp of sesame oil or ghee while serving. While using pressure cooker for making idlis, the steam hole should not be covered by adding the cooker weight. Steam should escape freely.

RAVVA IDLI

Ingredients: Ravva(soji)- 1 cup, curd (sour)- 1 cup, ghee- 1 tbl spoon, green chillies- 3 nos finely shopped, channa dal- 1 tea spoon, udad dal- 1 tea spoon.

Method: Fry Ravva till it is golden brown and remove from fire and then add ghee and set aside. In another pan add one spoon of oil then season it with mustard, urad dal, channa dhal, curry leaves and green chillies and little hing powder then pour this to ravva mixture when it cools down add salt and curd and set aside for 1 hour. This is the idli batter. Grease idli steamming plate add desired amount of batter and cook like ordinary idlis. Coconut chutney will be good with this idlis.

IDLIS

IDLI

Boiled rice - 3 cupsBlack gram (urud dal) - 1 cup.
Rinse and soak the above ingredients in water for about 2-3 hours. Then grind in a blender (with adding water in steps). Add salt and keep it aside (to get sour) for 6 to 10 hours.Take Idli plates and place a drop of oil in each idli mould and spread it over the entire mould.Heat 2 cups of water in a large vessel or pressure cooker and place the filled idli plates and cover the cooker with lid without weight. Heat in high for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove the plates from the vessel and remove the idlis. Pour 2 tsp of sesame oil or ghee while serving.Side dish - Sambar, Idli power/Ginger & Tamarind churtney/coconut chutney hile using pressure cooker for making idlis, the steam hole should not be covered by adding the cooker weight. Steam should escape freely.

For GHEE & SAMBAR IDLI: Make idlis using a idli plate for mini idlis as described in Idli while serving, soak these about 10 idlis in sambar. Add 4-5 tsps of ghee to this.

CABBAGE IDLI

Ingredients: Rice soaked for 3 hrs- 250gms, Grated cabbage - 150gms, Chilli powder- 3 tsp, Haldi powder- 1tsp, Asaphoetida- 2tsp, Salt- 2tsp.

Method: Coarsly grind all the ingredients except cabbage adding 1 cup water. The batter must be thicker than that of idli batter. Add the grated cabbage into the batter and mix well. Make idlis of this batter and cook for 15mns on simmer in an idli cooker. Pour a spoon of coconut oil over the idlis and serve hot with pickle or chutney.