Lemon Rice, Curd Rice and Tamarind Rice with Curry Leaves Chutney - Andhra Special
Day : 1
State: Andhra Pradesh
Indian
cuisine is as diverse as its culture, regions, languages, and its
climate. It's history can be traced back thousands of years. Every
region of India brings its own unique dishes and subtle variations to
popular dishes. I have always been fascinated by this diversity and to
think a dish can be called by a different name with bare minimum
variation in ingredients. It truly is amazing.
For the
month of April, we a group of bloggers are running a marathon, where we
shall be cooking from Indian states in alphabetical order. This month
long marathon has been organised by Srivalli of Spice your Life.
Valli, as we all fondly call her is a lovely lady with multiple talents
and with lot of patience.She conceived the idea of marathons and some
of us are totally hooked on to them.For those of you who would like to
know more about these marathons , please check here.
I have tried
my best to give you some authentic recipes from Indian states .While
searching recipes from a particular state, I realized that each state
has at least two to three different cuisines , which makes it all the
more difficult to choose.
Today being Day 1 , we begin with Andhra Pradesh.
Andhra
Pradesh is acknowledged for being the largest producer of rice in India.
Moreover, rice is also the staple food grain that is consumed in large
quantities in the state. Most of the traditional food and dishes in
Andhra Pradesh are rice-based.
Rice
goes with both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals also. Coconut,
spices and fresh herbs are often added to flavor the basic dishes like
rice, sambhar, other lentils and steamed vegetables. Rice is boiled and
eaten with curries, or made into a batter to be used in dosas, idlis.
Andhra
food is one of the most spicy cuisines and pickles and chutneys are
made with almost every vegetable, including tomatoes. I remember one of
our relatives used to send a particular Andhra mango pickle, which was a
super hit.
Hyderabadi
cuisine is another branch of Andhra cuisine which was influenced by the
Muslims, who arrived in Telangana in the 14 th century.Much of the
cuisine revolves around meat and Hyderabad offers the royal recipes of
the 'Nawabs'. The Hyderabadi Biryani , Mirch ka Salan
are popular dishes from this part of the state. Chilli powder, oil and
tamarind are liberally used in it, making the food really spicy and
tangy.
For
today I have cooked three popular varieties of rice from this
state.These are simple rice , but since these are not on our regular
menu, they were a treat for the family. I served them with Curry leaves
chutney.
