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Dig in to some native delicacies of the state

HOME FOOD An array of delectable dishes from `mana' Andhra

Grandma used to make it, the neighbours make it occasionally, roadside bandis have it; the one thing common to the food is it is not available when you want it. We are talking about food items like: ullavala kodi, kanda bacchali koora, jonna rottelu and pesara punugulu. If your food memory nerve has been tingled enough, head for the ITC Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers for its Hidden Treasures of Andhra fest.

In the Dakshin restaurant, redolent with the delicate fragrance of neyyi (ghee) dripping on a hot pan, Chef Chalapathi Rao passionately explains the source of meat, the origins of cooking styles and the wherewithal that goes into the creation of what were once home-cooked food items.

He begins at the end: Seemapuri Attu. "When the newly-wed groom visited his in-laws place in Nellore, he would be served with Seemapuri Attu which is a sort of dosa with chutney and chapa pulusu," says Chalapathi Rao. Is this the answer to appam and stew? Maybe.

Served on a silver platter covered with a plantain leaf, you start your lunch or dinner with real earthy stuff like miriyalu kodi vepudu or mirapakayi bajji and move on to chikkudu ginjala talimpu or vankkai karapakai or gongura mamsam or chapa vepudu and tuck everything in with pulihora or ragi sangati.

You have heard of gourmands singing paeans to natu kodi (country chicken), a similar if lesser-known thing is potla lamb, a lamb that grazes the dry grasslands of Telangana and stays lean and succulent. This is the secret of podi mamsam and palleturu mamsam, which are at once delicately fragranced and tenderly cooked.