Zafrani Pulao/ Saffron Rice/ Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter Z
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Zafrani Pulao/ Saffron Rice/ Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao

I can't believe today's the last day for our month long Blogging Marathon. This month flew by so fast and I've enjoyed cooking dishes from my home state of Andhra Pradesh. It has been quite a culinary journey that involved learning new dishes that I've never known or made before (like Vegetarian Haleem or Sheer Qurma) and making some traditional dishes that I've grown up with (like Lauju or kobbari kura or these comforting dals).
A big THANKS to Valli, our gracious host and organizer for the amazing ideas and being the driving force behind all of this action. Thanks to ALL the lovely ladies who did this month long marathon for your constant support. Thanks to ALL my blog readers. Last but not the least huge thanks to my family for all your ideas and encouragement.

For the final letter Z, I made Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao. This dish was almost set in stone and never changed throughout the marathon planning. I couldn't think of any other dish with Z and was happy the minute I found this recipe on Vahrehvah site.

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Yakhni Pulao (Hyderabadi Vegetable Yakhni Pulao)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter Y
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Yakhni Pulao (Hyderabadi Vegetable Yakhni Pulao)

Letter Y means we are almost close to the finish line, that is we are almost at the end of the month long marathon. Y was a little find a dish for and as I was discussing with my mom, she said make something with 'Yam'. Yam in India means Kanda (Telugu) or Suran (Hindi). But Yam in US is a variety of sweet potato. Because of all this ambiguity, I wanted to make something else.

Once I found this recipe for Yakhni Pulao, my search ended. Yakhni means 'Stock'. Traditionally Yakhni Pulao is made with stock made with meat, but I used vegatables to make stock. Recipe adapted from Veg Recipes of India and Paaka Shaale.

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Xperience Hyderabadi Irani Samosa & Chai

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter X
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Xperience Hyderabadi Irani Samosa & Chai

For letter X, I was thinking of (e)xperimenting with a new ingredient or a new dish. But as I mentioned in my previous post, it has been a busy month and by the time I started to think of what to make that would fit the Andhra dishes theme, I drew a complete blank. My mom suggested couple of traditional Andhra dishes that we could try, but as luck might have it, we didn't have enough time to make them.

As I was thinking of different words that start with 'X', I stumbled on (e)Xperience and then I thought of Hyderabadi Irani Samosa & Chai experience. The main reason for me to associate (e)xperience with tea is my 1 year old daughter. Recently she started saying 'aaaaahhh' everytime she drinks something, be it her milk or water. I guess she saw one of us say it when we drink our morning coffee/ milk. It looked so cute to me that she's really enjoying the experience of drinking. And that is how I thought of doing Hyderabadi Irani Chai & Samosa.

Hyderabad is famous for its Irani cafes that are scattered all around the city and mainly in the old city. People sipping hot, milky Irani Chai, munching on crispy, crunchy onion Irani Samosa and gossiping with friends is a very common site at these cafes.

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Wadiyala Pulusu (Sun dried Lentil Crispies Stew)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter W
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Wadiyala/ Vadiyala Pulusu (Sun dried Lentil Crispies Stew)

In Telugu, there is only one letter with the sound 'va', so for the letters V & W I didn't know how to choose the dishes. After thinking of all the appropriate words starting with w and the sound 'va' in Telugu, I decided to change the word Vadiyalu into Wadiyalu and made this lipsmacking pulusu/ stew.

This recipe is again courtesy of my mom. Every household has the tradition of making (w)vadiyalu or sun dried lentil crisps every year. My mom usually keeps me stocked up with fresh ones every time we visit India.

Today's pulusu uses (v)wadiyalu almost like a vegetable. Usually pulusus/ stews are made with a assortment of veggies, but here vadiyalu give this dish the texture and taste. This dish tastes great with some steamed rice with a dollop of ghee and a curry -- such a filling and comforting meal.

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Veg Dum Biryani (Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter V
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Veg Dum Biryani (Hyderabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani)

Letter V stands for my all time favorite vegetable Vankaya (brinjal/ eggplant), but I stopped myself from making yet another vankaya recipe (I already posted 4 recipes with eggplant in this month). So I made yet another favorite of mine, Vegetable Dum ka Biryani.

The first time I ever had veg dum biryani was some 8 years ago when my MIL made it when she visited us. It was quite a lengthy and time taking process -- marinating the veggies, par boiling the rice, layering and then cooking on dum. I tried to make the process a little bit simpler and slightly faster than my MIL's dish. 

Instead of marinating the veggies, I cook them with spices so they don't taste bland in the final dish. I either microwave basmati rice or pressure cook for only 1 whistle, so rice still holds its shape and does not turn mushy.

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Upma-Pesarattu

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter U
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Upma-Pesarattu

The final 6 letters were quite challenging to find dishes for. I had to play around with the names a little bit to come up with dishes to match.

Letter U stands for Ullipaya (onion), Uppudu rawa (idli rawa). I was kind of stuck for a long time on what to make for letter U. Then I thought of Upma, but upma is not Andhra special, pair it with Pesarattu, it definitely is Andhra special. So I finally settled with Upma-Pesarattu (hopefully the purists will forgive me for reversing the order in the name).

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Thelaga Pindi Kura

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter T
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Thelaga Pindi Kura

Letter T stands for Thotakoora (amaranth leaves). I actually made a dish with thotakoora for today, but changed it a more traditional and lesser known dish at the last minute because my mom brought Thelaga Pindi from India.

To be honest, I've never heard about Thelaga pindi while in India. It is only recently that I started seeing it on Telugu cooking shows.After extracting oil from sesame seeds, the pulp that is leftover is ground to a powder and that powder is called Thelaga pindi. It has all the nutrients present in sesame seeds and is considered especially good for new-mothers. Infact as per my mom, today's dish is made on the 11th day after delivery for the new mom.

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Sheer Qurma/ Khorma/ Korma (Hyderabadi Kheer with Vermicelli & Dates)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter S
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes of Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Sheer Qurma/ Khorma/ Korma (Hyderabadi Kheer with Vermicelli & Dates)

Today we are starting the final week of our month long A-Z themed blogging marathon. It has been quite an experience cooking and posting Andhra dishes for the past 18 days. As a group, we have been planning the event for almost 4 months and so most of my dishes were thought out, cooked, clicked and scheduled to post well in advance except for the last week. I only made 2 dishes for the last week and the posts are still pending :-(

September has been the busiest month so far. 2 birthday parties planned and executed, sending a first grader back to school, family from India visiting, entertaining my 1 year old and my 3 year old niece during the day.. phew.. a lot has been going on and the last of week BM suddenly had to be put on the back burner. Added to that some of the letters for this week were also quite challenging (hello U,V,W,X,Y & Z-- thank you). But I'm sure I'll figure everything out and complete the marathon, thanks to my mom for all the help :-)

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Mamidikaya Pappu (Andhra Style Raw Mango Dal)

Bonus Dish for Week 3:

Theme: A-Z  Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: M for Mamikidikaya Pappu (Raw Mango Dal)

This pappu for my first pick for the Letter 'M', but it fell off the regular A-Z Vegetarian dishes from A.P. truck because of various reasons. One reason was that I made 'Nuvvulu-Mamidikaya pachadi' for N and I didn't want the same ingredient (mango) to be used in the dishes that I was posting on consecutive days. So for M I posted Menthikura pappu.

Mamidikaya pappu screams summer for me, even though we get good quality raw mangoes in the Indian store almost all year long. It is one of the dishes that is made on special occasions, festivals, when guests are visiting etc. If your mango is not sour enough, then feel free to add some tamarind paste.

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Mirchi Baingan Salan (Hyderabadi Chili-Eggplant Curry in Sesame Peanut gravy)

Bonus Recipe for Week 3
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: M for Mirchi Baingan ka Salan

I made this very famous Hyderabadi Mirchi ka Salan to go with Qabooli. This is my 2nd bonus recipe for this week. This dish is similar to the Mixed vegetable salan I have already posted, but the spices used are slightly different. I tasted this at a restaurant long time back and wanted to recreate at home. I used eggplant and mirchi (chilies) in this recipe, but you can use just mirchi too. Recipe is from Zaiqa.net.

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Ragi Barley Sankati (Finger Millet-Barley Soup)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Day 10

Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: R for Ragi Barley Sankati 

Letter R stands for ingredients like Raagi (finger millet), Rawa etc. Today's dish Ragi-Barley Sankati is a slight modification to Ragi Sankati that is made widely in A.P.

I didn't taste ragi sankati until a couple of years ago when e were visiting India, my aunt brought us hot ragi sankati for breakfast one day. I've seen it on many blogs, but never tried to make it myself. Once I tasted my aunt's version I was hooked. I bought a packet of ragi flour to try in my own kitchen. Then I found Valli's quick and easy pressure cooker version of ragi sankati and have been making it ever since.

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Qabooli Biryani (Hyderabadi Chana dal Biryani)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter Q
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Q for Qabooli Biryani (Hyderabadi Chana dal Biryani)

Letter Q stands for Qubani (apricots). Qubani ka Meetha is a very famous Hyderabadi dessert that is made with dried apricots that are soaked and then cooked with sugar and drizzled with cream. I wanted to make it, but couldn't find good quality apricots. So I made Qabooli instead.

Qabooli is biryani made with spicy chana dal (split pea lentil) and layered with basmati rice. I used black chana/ chickpeas instead and it turned out quite tasty. This is a filling and delicious dish that is great to make when you have company.

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Pindi Miriyam (Andhra Style Vegetable Stew with Peppercorns)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter P
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: P for Pindi Miriyam

Letter P stands for veggies like Potlakaya (snake gourd), Palakoora (spinach). P also stands for Perugu (yogurt), Pachadi (chutney) etc.

Today's recipe Pindimiriyam is a very traditional dish made in Andhra Pradesh. It is basically a spicy, tangy pulusu or stew made with miriyam or peppercorns. It is a very filling and tasty dish that goes well with steamed rice. Recipe is from 'Cooking with Pedatha' cookbook.

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Nuvvulu-Mamidikaya Pachadi (Sesame-Green Mango Chutney)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter N
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Nuvvulu-Mamidikaya Pachadi (Sesame-Green Mango Chutney)

Letter N stands for veggies like Nuvvulu (sesame seeds), Nimmakaya (lemon), Nethi Beerakaya (fuzzy gourd) etc. N also stands for Neyyi or ghee which when added on hot dal and steamed rice makes it taste out of this world. 

For today, I made Nuvvulu-Mamidikaya pachadi (sesame-green mango chutney). Recipe is from my dear neighbor from India. I was raking my mom's brain for dishes that start with 'N' and then she gave me this recipe that my neighbor makes back home. This is a very simple, almost no-cook except for the sauteed tempering. It tastes great with rice, upma, idli, dosa or just about anything that needs a little something-something to dip.

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Menthi kura Pappu (Dal with fenugreek leaves)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter M
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: M for Menthi kura Pappu

Letter M stands for fruits & veggies like Mamidikaya/ Mamidi pandu (mango), Menthikura (fenugreek leaves) etc. For today's post, I made a simple dal with Menthikura. I planted methi in my container garden and used it to make this tasty dal. Methi is probably the easiest to grow, sow some methi (fenugreek seeds) and within a week you have tiny methi leaves growing.

Pappu or dal is the main source of protein in our diet and is made almost everyday. This is a very basic recipe and any greens can be used instead of methi.

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Kobbari Senagapappu Kura with Beans (Coconut Curry with Split Pea & Green Beans)

Bonus Dish for Week 2:
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: K for Kobbari Kura

This was the dish that I made for K, but as it turns out I had to make Lauju (coconut burfi) for letter L and since I didn't want two dishes back to back with the same ingredient K had to be changed to Kakarakaya Podi kura. So this simple, quick and easy curry recipe is my bonus recipe for this week. 

Any vegetable can be used to make this dish; carrot, cluster beans, cabbage etc being the best suited. There are no masalas and the flavor of the ingredients is what you taste. One of my favorite ways to cook veggies, no fuss recipe.

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Lauju/ Laskora (Kobbari Lauju/ Coconut Burfi)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter L
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Lauju/ Laskora (Kobbari Lauju/ Coconut Burfi)

Letter L was a little tough for me. I couldn't think of any fruits or veggies that start with the letter L. But the word Laddoo got stuck in my head. I was trying to find a laddoo that was made in A.P, but the one I knew that is from Andhra, Thokkudu Laddoo, I have already blogged about it. 

Finally I remembered Lauju/ Laskora that my mom used to make. This is basically coconut burfi, just with a different name. Whenever I buy coconuts, they end up being too tough, but this time for a change I got a coconut that was just right. So I decided to make this traditional sweet with it.

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Kakarakaya Podi Kura (Bittergourd Dry Curry)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter K
Theme: A-Z Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: K for Kakarakaya Podi Kura (Bittergourd Dry curry)

Letter K stands for veggies like Kakarakaya (bittergourd), lentils like kandi pappu (toor dal/ red gram) and ingredients like kobbarikaya (coconut). 

Today's recipe is from a cookbook, Vantalu Pindivantalu by Malathi Chandur, that I bought years ago in a small book shop in Hyderabad. I still remember taking my mom to Koti, Hyderabad to buy a cook book. After asking in couple of stores, I was slowly getting disappointed that I won't be buying a cookbook that day. But my mom took me to a dusty old store that had no windows and had a rickety broken stairs. The guy said he had some cookbooks in the back and the back was even more dusty and dark. Well finally one of the assistants came down from the attic with a couple of cookbooks and I ended up picking this one.

This book was first published way back in 1974, so there are no pictures and the recipes are written with no measurements, everything is written in terms of fistfulls and a little bit more. So here's a recipe with the measurements I came up with. The curry ended up super tasty, do give it a try. I'm sure that the masala would taste great with other veggies too.

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Jonna Pindi Kudumulu (Jowar Modak)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter J

Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Jonna Pindi Kudumulu (Jowar Modak)

Letter J stands for fruit like Jampandu (Guava) and I can't seem to think of any vegetable name that starts with 'J'!!!!!! J stands for Jonna Pindi/ Jonna Rawa (jowar flour/ rawa). Jonna or jowar or sorghum is a healthy grain that is now slowly being used more and more because of its health benefits. 

J also stands for snack items like crunchy Janthikalu.

For today's J dish I decided to make kudumulu or modak with jonna pindi or jowar flour. I saw this recipe on a Telugu cooking show. I was skeptical on how these would taste, because I've always used jowar in savory preparations and never in sweet preparations. I was pleasantly surprised how tasty these kudumulu came out to be. They had a very earthy and sweet flavor that was very addictive.

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Iguru/ Vankaya-Senagapappu Iguru (Eggplant-Chana Dal Curry)

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter I
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian Dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: I for Iguru/ Vankaya-Senagapappu Iguru (Eggplant-Chana Dal Curry)

Finding dishes that start with vowels is hard. Letter 'I' was even harder. All I could think of was Idli, but no matter how hard I thought I couldn't think of an Andhra spin to good old idlis. After a lot of thinking (out loud), the remembered the word Iguru. One of our dear friends back home used to call some of the curries 'igurus'. I didn't know what it actually meant, so I asked my mom to research.
She came back and said that the curries that are made by evaporating the liquid (igaradam) are generally called 'igurus'. I took it as the curries that are made slightly wet, but not necessarily with a gravy, fall into this category.

Luckily after that I watched an episode on a Telugu cooking show where the chef made this Iguru which I promptly noted down and made it for today. This is a spicy and flavorful dish that is perfect when served with steamed rice and rasam.

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