Recipes from Andhra Pradesh

Karanam Shobha Rani

All the recipes have been actually tried and served. Taste is highly individual and the proportions
of the ingredients may vary to suit one’s taste

Recipe: Mango rice (Maamidikaya Chitraannamu)

Serves for 2
Rice = 200 g.
Raw mango = 1 medium size
Green chillies = 5
Curry leaves = 10
Asafoetida = 0.25 tea spoon
Groundnuts = 2 table spoons
Mustards = For seasoning (0.25 teaspoon)
Split black beans = 1 teaspoon
Split Bengal gram = 0.5 teaspoon
Turmeric powder = 0.25 teaspoon
Raw fenugreek powder = 0.5 teaspoon (dry roast and powder)
Dry red chillies = 2 (make into 6 pieces)
Salt = to taste (1.5 teaspoon)
Sesame seed oil = 4 teaspoons
Cumin seeds = 1 teaspoon

Peel of the outer layer of mango and grate into a fine pulp. Cook the rice and transfer while hot
into a wide steel dish. Spread uniformly and make a small trough at the centre. Pour the grated
mango pulp into the trough and cover with rice. Sprinkle fenugreek powder and salt.
Pour sesame seed oil into a frying pan and heat. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. After they
crackle, add, groundnuts, split black beans and split Bengal gram fry to light golden colour. Add
red chilli pieces, turmeric powder and finally asafoetida. (Time is the essence here. Sense of
proper seasoning comes out of experience!). Remove the pan from over the fire and pour onto
the rice. Allow 5 minutes. Mix the rice thoroughly (be careful it may be still hot).
Your mango rice (maamidikaya chtraannamu) is ready. Enjoy!!

Recipe: Onion pacchhi pulusu (I am sorry I do not know the English word but assure you it tastes
fantastic and you love it.)

Ingredients for preparation of Gojju podi

Split black beans = 1 tablespoon
Split Bengal gram = 1 tablepoon
Coriander seeds = 0.75 tablespoon
Dry red chillies = 8 (break into pieces)

Ingredients for onion pacchhi pulusu

Fresh onions = 4 fresh ones
Green chillies = 3
Tamarind = ≈ 30 g
Jaggary = ≈5g
Mustards = For seasoning (0.25 teaspoon)
Split black beans = 0.5 teaspoon
Split Bengal gram = 0.5 teaspoon
Curry leaves = 6
Salt = to taste (1.5 teaspoon)
Groundnut oil = 2 table spoons
Turmeric powder = 0.25 teaspoon

First take all the ingredients needed for gojju podi in a frying pan and roast them lightly in a little
groundnut oil. Then fine powder in a mixer. Keep this gojju podi aside
Soak the tamarind in hot water.
Grate the onions and the green chillies into fine pulp.
Pour groundnut oil into a frying pan and heat. Add mustard seeds. After they crackle, add, split
black beans and split Bengal gram fry to light golden colour. Transfer the fine pulp of onion and
green chillies. Fry to reddish hue. Reduce the flame. Add salt and turmeric powder. Mix. Squeeze
the tamarind kept for soaking to get tamarind juice. If needed pour some more water and squeeze
thoroughly. Add the juice and the jaggary into the contents of frying pan. Allow to cook. Add curry
leaves and 2 teaspoons of gojju podi. Mix thoroughly and cool. Thorough cooking is indicated
when oil starts floating. Remove and transfer into a bowl. Onion pacchhi pulusu is ready for
serving. You can take with rice or chapathi.

Recipe: Gongura pachhadi

Ingredients
A bunch of Gongura leaves (use only leaves and not stems) about 200 g
Dry red chillies 7
Coriander seeds 0.25 teaspoon
A pinch of asafetida
Mustards 0.25 teaspoon
Fenugreek seeds 0.25 teaspoon
Turmeric powder 0.25 teaspoon
Groundnut oil 2 table spoons
Salt to taste

1.First of all, rinse and wash the gongura leaves thoroughly under running water. Spread them
over a dry cloth for removing water.
2. In a frying pan add a little groundnut oil. Add chillies, coriander seeds, asafetida, mustards and
fenugreek seeds and dry roast them (do not burn!!). Put them aside
3. Now add fresh groundnut oil in the frying pan and then add gongura. Fry over slim fire. Mix
thoroughly. Gongura gets fried fast and becomes a lump. Remove the gongura lump.
4. In a mixer, add the dry roasted stuff from step 2. Add salt, turmeric powder and the gongura
lump and grind thoroughly.
5. Collect in a bowl to serve the tasty Gongura pachhadi.

Instead of dry red chillies, one can use green chillies also for this pachhadi.

People fond of onions, may cut onions into tiny pieces and sprinkle over gongura pachhadi and
eat along with rice.

Recipe: Pulusu Podi

Ingredients
1. Coriander seeds 50 g
2. Dry grated coconut 10 g
3. Asafetida a pinch
4. Split Bengal gram 1 Tablespoon
5. Split Black gram 1 Tablespoon
6. Cloves 3
7. Cinnamon bark (Dalchini) 2g
Dry red chillies 100 g
Groundnut oil 1 teaspoon
1. Add a little oil into the frying pan and the ingredients 1-7 (as shown above) and subject to mild
roast. Keep them aside.
2. Next dry roast the dry red chillies (be careful they are pungent. Wear some protection to nose if
you are allergic). Keep them aside for cooling.
Transfer the roasted red chillies into a mixer and grind them to medium. Then add the roasted
stuff from step-1. Grind thoroughly to fine powder.
Store the Pulusu podi in an air-tight bottle or dabba.
Use 2 tablespoons full every time you prepare pulusu.

Recipe: Bombai Chutney

Ingredients
For seasoning
1. Groundnut oil 2 table spoons
2. Mustards 0,25 teaspoon
3. Split black grams 0.25 teaspoons
4. Split Bengal grams 0.25 teaspoons
5. Cumin seeds 0.5 teaspoon
Main
1. Curd somewhat mild sourish 250 g
2. Bengal gram flour 4 tablespoons
3. Turmeric powder A pinch
4. Finely cut onion 1 bulb
5. Green chillies 4 (cut to pieces)
6. Tomato 1 cut to pieces
6. Curry leaves 5-8
7. Coriander leaves to taste
8, Salt to taste

1. Add a little water to the curd and churn it vigorously. Add turmeric powder, salt and Bengal
gram flour and mix thoroughly. Keep aside.
2. Add groundnut oil into a frying pan. After it is heated, add the seasoning material. When they
start turning reddish, add cut onion pieces, cut green chillies and cut tomato.
3. allow them to soften.
4. Slowly add to the contents of the frying pan with continuous mixing the curd mixture from step
1. DO NOT stop mixing until the entire curd mixture is transferred. Reduce the flame to simmer.
5. Add curry leaves and coriander leaves. The material starts curdling. DO NOT allow complete
curdling.
6. Remove the pan from over the flame. Transfer the contents into a bowl.
7. Eat with chapathi or puri.

Recipe: Tomato Pachhadi

Ingredients
1. Ripe tomatoes 500 g
2. Tamarind Medium lemon size (remove the seeds)
3. Dry red chillies 3 cut to pieces
4. Asafetida Two pinches
5. Sesame oil 4 tablespoons
6. Fenugreek powder 1 teaspoon
7. Mustards 0.25 teaspoon
8. Turmeric powder 0.25 teaspoon
9. Red chilli powder 1.25 taspoon
10. Salt To taste

Wash the tomatoes under running water, wipe with a clean cloth and keep aside for drying. Cut
them into small pieces.
Pour sesame oil into a frying pan and heat. After oil gets heated add mustards, asafetida and dry
red chilli pieces. Mix.
Slowly add the tomato cut pieces. Mix and allow them to mild fry.
Take tamarind and add bit by bit over the frying tomatoes.
Add turmeric powder and salt. Mix. Reduce the flame to simmer. Close the lid.
Intermittently remove the lid and mix the contents. The mix starts becoming viscous.
Add fenugreek powder and red chilli powder. Mix thoroughly. Close the lid.
That the tomato pachhadi is ready can be understood when you see oil drops floating on the
mass.
Remove the pan from over the fire. Transfer the contents into a bowl.
It is a versatile pachhadi. Take with any stuff: rice, chapathi, paratha or puri.

Curry leaf podi

Ingredients
1. Fresh curry leaves 250 g (Don’t get scared by the volume of leaves!)
2. Asafetida 0.25 teaspoon
3. Split Bengal gram 0.25 teaspoon
4. Split black gram 0.25 teaspoon
5. Black pepper 0.75 teaspoon
6. Dry red chillies 7 or 8 (cut into pieces)
7. Tamarind half lemon size (remove the seeds)
8. Salt To taste
9. Groundnut oil 2 teaspoons
Clean the curry leaves with water and dry them over a clean cloth for about 30 minutes.
In a frying pan add 1-teaspoon groundnut oil. Heat. Add split Bengal grams, split black grams
and black peppers and oil roast them.
Add another ½ teaspoon oil, curry leaves and asafetida. Mix the contents. You get the sweet
flavour of curry leaves.
Then add another ½ teaspoon oil, and tamarind bit by bit. Oil roast the contents until they become
dry brittle.
Carefully transfer the contents to a mixer grinder. Add turmeric powder and salt. Grind to fine
powder. Your curry powder is ready.
Eat with hot rice. It tastes superb.

Recipe: Alasanada-Bajji
Ingredients
1. Alasandalu (Black eye-peas) : 1 kg
2. Onions : 4 (cut into fine pieces)
3. Green chillies : 7-8 (cut to fine pieces)
4. Coriander leaves : Take out leaves from 40 strands and grate
5. Salt : To taste (for 1 kg alasandalu, one full teaspoon)
6. Groundnut oil : enough for frying
First soak alasandalu in water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water and grind to fine dough in a
grinder. Sprinkle water as needed during grinding to get fine dough. DO NOT add too much
water. The dough does not come out correctly.
Add to the dough, the cut onion pieces, green chillie pieces and salt. Knead uniformly.
Make large marble size spheres out of the kneaded dough.
Add oil into a skittle (frying pan) and heat.
Fry the dough spheres in the heated oil. Carefully turn them with a perforated ladle around for
uniform frying to reddish colour.
After frying, remove them from oil carefully.
Eat with tomato pachhadi.

Recipe: Common bajjis

Ingredients
1. Semolina (Rava) : 200 g
2. Maida flour : 200 g
3. Split black grams : 50 g
4. Onions : 4 (cut into fine pieces)
5. Green chilles : 6 (cut into fine pieces)
6. Coriander leaves : Take out leaves from 40 strands and grate
7. Salt : To taste
8. Groundnut oil : enough for frying
9. Baking soda : A pinch
First soak the split black grams in water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water and grind to fine dough
in a grinder. Sprinkle water as needed during grinding to get fine dough. DO NOT add too much
water. The dough does not come out correctly.
Take out the dough in a bowl, add semolina, maida flour and baking soda. Knead thoroughly to
uniformity. Add water as necessary during kneading. Kneaded dough should be able to be
shaped into small lemon size spheres.
Ferment for 3 to 4 hours.
Add the onion cut pieces, green chillie cut pieces, grated coriander leaves and salt. Mix
thoroughly.
Add oil into a skittle (frying pan) and heat.
Fry the dough spheres in the heated oil. Carefully turn them with a perforated ladle around for
uniform frying to reddish colour.
After frying, remove them from oil carefully.
Eat with any pachhadi.

Recipe: Rasgulla (courtesy a Bengali friend)

Ingredients:
Milk : 1/2 litre
Refined flour (maida) : 2 teaspoons
Citric acid : 1/4 teaspoon dissolved in 1/2 cup water
(Vinegar or lemon juice 2-3 tablespoons may also be used instead of citric acid)
Sugar : 1 cup
Water : 1 cup
Rose essence : 2-3 drops
Cardamom powder : A pinch
A neat muslin cloth
Heat milk in a pan and bring it to slow-boil. Remove scum from top. Reheat to boiling point. Add
citric acid or lemon juice or vinegar.
Stir slowly and gently until white curd forms on the surface and separates from whey.
Now spread the muslin cloth over a wide-mouth bowl. Hold it and carefully pour out the curdled
milk on to the cloth.
On straining this milk in muslin cloth, the curd that is obtained is called "chenna". Wash chenna
well under cold running water and twist the cloth to extract water completely.
Knead chenna to make smooth even dough.
(Take care to avoid oozing of fat from chenna during kneading operation. To avoid this, especially
in summer, the vessel in which the kneading is done is kept on a tray containing ice or chilled
water. If required a small quantity of maida may be added to avoid cracks in the finished
rasgullas.)
Add flour and cardamom powder and knead again to mix them thoroughly.
You may take a single raisin or small cashew or even a single cardamom seed, put it in the
middle and wrap dough over it. Now make small balls by gently rolling between your palms. Balls
must be of equal size.
(The consistency of the kneaded mass should be such that when made into small balls, it has a
smooth surface without any signs of cracks.)
Keep them aside.
Next make sugar syrup. Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and bring it to boil.
Add chenna balls to the syrup and cook for 15 minutes with lid partially covered. Chenna
dumplings will puff up. Put the balls in half of the boiling syrup for 10-15 minutes over medium
heat. When the balls float to the surface, remove from heat.
The softness of rasgulla depends on how well you knead the chenna. The more you knead, the
spongier will be the rasgullas. Drain and put the rasgullas in the remaining syrup.
On cooling, add rose essence or saffron, or you may even garnish with chopped pistachios.
Refrigerate and serve chilled.
Saggubiyyam upma

Saggubiyyam (Sago) : 0.25 kg

Mustards : ½ teaspoon
Cumin seeds : ¼ teaspoon
Onion : 1 cut into fine pieces
Green chillies : 6 cut into fine pieces
Potatoes : 4 cut into small pieces
Groundnuts : 200 g
Groundnut oil : For seasoning

Wash saggubiyyam in water thoroughly. Drain out the water. Leave for 3 hours.
Mild roast the groundnuts. Grind them in a grinder to fine powder. Keep aside the powder.
Deep-fry the potato pieces in sufficient oil. Keep them aside.
Add 3-4 spoons of fresh oil in the skillet for seasoning. Add the seasoning ingredients.
After seasoning, add the soaked saggubiyyam into the skillet. Mix thoroughly.
Add salt and again ix thoroughly. Cover the skillet with a lid. Keep it over a low flame for 5
minutes.
Intermittently keep mixing.
Towards the end add the fried potato pieces and groundnut powder. Mix thoroughly.
Your Saggubiyyam upma is ready or serving.

One variety of Samosa

(Courtesy y acquaintance. It was not prepared at our house)

Maida flour 250 g

Groundnut oil as required
Salt for taste

Stuffing ingredients
Onion 1 bulb. Cut into in to pieces
Carrot 1 stick Cut into in to fine pieces
Green peas 2 teaspoons
Grated cabbage 4 tablespoons
Ginger and garlic pulp 1 teaspoon
Red chillie powder 0.25 teaspoon
Pudina (mint) leaves Take out leaves from 10 strands and grate them into fine pulp
Coriander powder 0.25 teaspoon
Table salt to taste
Mix all the stuffing ingredients (stuffing mix)

Add salt for taste to the Maida flour. Add a little oil and knead into dough. Make small round
pieces out of the dough.
Roll the rounds to chapatti size and cook on a griddle (Chapatti Penam)
Cut these Maida chapattis into three long pieces
Make cone shape from the cut pieces of Maida chapatti.
Slowly stuff the cone with stuffing mix. Roll the edges over the stuffing mix delicately in the form a
triangle.
Close the edges with Maida dough.
Deep-fry the triangles in oil to reddish hue.
Samosas are ready.

Pudina (mint) Chutney

fresh pudina bunches 3 (or mint leaves - 4 cups)

grated fresh coconut 0.5 teaspoon
Udad dal (split black beans) 2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds 0.5 teaspoon
Mustard seeds 0.5 teaspoon
Green chillies 6 cut into pieces
Fenugreek seeds 0.25 teaspoon
Tamarind half a lemon size
Soak the tamarind in little water and keep aside.
Heat oil in pan and add the seasoning seeds (urad dal, cumin, mustard seeds,
fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds). Fry them slightly and keep aside.
3. Fry the chopped green chillies.
4. Fry the mint leaves in little oil.
5. Blend the seasoning seeds and green chillies in blender.
6. Add fried pudina leaves and blend again.
7. Add grated coconut, soaked tamarind and blend again.
This chutney tastes great with hot rice or dosas.

Brinjal-Tomato curry (courtesy Manohari)

To serve 4
Ingredients
Seasoning ingredients
Groundnut oil for seasoning
Mustards 1 Tablespoon
Cumin seeds 1 Tablespoon
Coriander powder ½ Teaspoon
Split Bengal gram 1 Tablespoon
Split black gram 1 Tablespoon
Curry leaves 5 or 6
Dry mirchi 1 (suiting to one’s taste) break into three or fours pieces

Vegetables
Brinjals 6 (cut each brinjal into six or eight pieces)
Tomatoes 4 (cut each tomato into four or six pieces)
Salt to taste
Dry mirchi powder ½ teaspoon
Turmeric powder a pinch

Take two teaspoons of groundnut oil in a skillet and heat over stove.
Add the seasoning ingredients and gently fry in the oil.
Add dry mirchi pieces.
Then add tomato pieces into the skillet and allow them to get fry-cooked
Add the brinjal pieces. Thoroughly mix.
Add a little water (careful!. No excess just a little for fine cooking!)
Gently cook over a small flame for 10 minutes. Feel the cooked brinjal.
Add salt, mirchi poder and coriander powder and a little turmeric powder.
Wait for three minutes.
Brinjal-tomato curry is ready. Serve hot.