A new wave of Andhra food in Delhi

If there is a place that exemplifies the essence of Andhra food in Delhi, it’s the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan canteen.

For years Delhi has tasted delicacies from Andhra at this state bhavancanteen, which serves countless customers who come for a taste of the famous Andhra thali, or meals as they call it, and succulent mutton fry.

“I’ve been in Delhi since 1979. Since I am an Andhraite, I mostly love the food at my place but the food at AP Bhavan is also good. I first visited the canteen there in 1982. Even their breakfast is nice,” says Shanker Dutt Vedula, 55, who hails from Visakhapatnam and works in the digital printing business and has been frequenting the bhavan for several years. “But I feel it’s important to tell the customer how certain Andhra delicacies are supposed to be enjoyed. You can’t leave items like gunpowder or gongura pickle on the table and not tell them how to eat it. People end up eating the pickle with rotis, when it is best enjoyed with hot rice and sliced onion on the side,” he adds.

Not far away from the Bhavan though, hidden behind the Georgian-style white pillars of Connaught Place, a new restaurant is trying to do just that—serve Andhra food like it’s supposed to be. Bagundi is located on a stretch that has places serving Tex-Mex, north Indian cuisine, and pan-Asian cuisine.

In Telugu, bagundi means good or achha hai. “It connects well with all the people from Andhra. It will also be catchy with the people from the north. They’ll be inquisitive about the place and what bagundi means,” says one of the investors of the restaurant, who did not want to be named. We are meeting at Bagundi on a national holiday and all the while people keep walking in for an early dinner. The restaurant has a small, yet authentic menu with items like home-style Andhra chicken curry, gongura chicken and mutton that would grasp the attention of any Andhra cuisine connoisseur. The cosy interiors, that add to the whole experience, include paintings and murals based on the theme of Sankranthi, which is one of the main festivals in Andhra.

In her book Feasts And Fasts: A History Of Food In India, food writer Colleen Taylor Sen talks about the three essential ingredients in Andhra cuisine—tamarind, red chillies and gongura (hibiscus) leaves—and the classic Andhra dish, gongura pachadi, a pickle of fried gongura, chillies and other spices. Andhra cuisine is reputed to be the “hottest” in India, she writes. “The state’s most famous dish is a green mango chutney called avikkai, which is so hot that it has sent unsuspecting visitors to hospital.”

“The most important thing when we were finalizing the menu was to keep the heat level mild. The amount of spice in the food is not to the levels you find in Andhra cuisine. Not everyone in Delhi will be accustomed to eating really spicy food,” says Bagundi’s executive chef Naveen Rawat.

Guests can choose from six types of thalis at the restaurant, which sources ingredients locally from south Indian stores in Delhi. Some staples are sourced from specific regions of Andhra—like the sona masoori rice used in the thali from Nellore. Among the pickles, other than the fiery avakkai and gongura pickle, the chicken pickle is also delectable. The restaurant soon expects to start serving prawn pickle as well.

With three types of pulusu (a tamarind-based curry), biryani in Hyderabad and Andhra styles, starters such as mirchi bhaji, regional specialities like the ragi sangati (a wholesome meal made using ragi or finger millet) and seafood delicacies, the restaurant is trying to get dishes from across Andhra. “One of the ideas behind serving food at Bagundi was to make it as authentic and homely as possible,” says the investor. “Once we progress, we’ll add more regional specialities to the menu,” he adds, saying that the Andhra Bhavan canteen was a source of inspiration.

Another stop for Andhra food in Delhi is Amma’s Haus, a gourmet delivery service based in East of Kailash. Set up in 2017, it delivers food from the southern states across the Capital. Amma’s Haus is a subsidiary of FoodCraft India, which also owns other gourmet delivery services: Asian Haus, Dilli Haus and Sushi Haus. Tomato pappu (dal), mini gunpowder idlis, Andhra chilli prawns, Hyderabadi mutton biryani and the gongura fish—a mix of familiar and experimental delicacies—are some of the Andhra items on their menu.

Source:-https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/6YNkeGFmVsVRw3IpE9yNHP/A-new-wave-of-Andhra-food-in-Delhi.html

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