THE IEAF MOTIFThe endless variety of vegetable preparationslends itself to some i,ery symbolic meils.h typicalmeal set on a ieaf mrist-be served withoui'theslightest deviation from the established pattern

done nor over cooked almost withthd same reverence as thc ltall.rni prepare their pastas. Wheails to thir day used only in thepreparation of snacks and nevcrforms part of a normal mainmcal.

Gongura (embedl b{l) 3 giss6leaf lrom the hibiscus famllyrich in iron and closely resemb.ling the leaf of the lady's finger(okra) plant ls a must in the dallydiet. When the gonguro is ioreason it is cleaned, wiped freaoi moisture and then made into,a chutney with oil. Thls ls pre-served for the whole year andthen used either on lts own orIn combination with other in-gredients to make a variety ol

Kandi Subba Rao in his'Pakas-astramu' published in 1915 givesa clear description of how a typi-cal meal has to be served. Evena slight deviation from this esta-blished pattern would be re-garded by the purists as an of-fence to the traditions so care-fully handed donrn from gener-ation to generation.

On an ordinary day lunch inAndhra would consist of rice, arnolst vegetable dish (kura), agravy called pulisu with veget-ables or rasam, a dish of rhicklentils and a chutney. Chutneysare prepared from ingredientsused in other states for entirelydifferent purposes. Two itemscompulsorily on the table arethe bowl of curd -and a jar of

ble. The Andhra yam, pink incolour when cut, is priced overall other Indian varietibs.

Kura vadia not unlike theVadl from the north of the coun-try is prepared from- urad dal andthe ash gourd. lt is dried, stor.ed for the whole year and friedJust before use. In years goneby the raw dough used for mak-ing some of the vadias wat serv-ed on festlve occasions but thisis no longer done today.

RECIPES FROMANDHM PRADESH

ARATTIKAI KURE

a Itccil bemner4 rcd chllllcr, brokcn lnto bltrI tbrp uded delV2 trp. muilerd powdcr1" plccc glngcrI tbrp. channa drl-Some cuny leever t

1 lfunc+lzcd ball lamarlnd1 trp. murterd, rorkcd end

ground2 grecn chilllcrGlngclly (rll) oll

Rbast channa dal, udad dal, redchillies, curry leaves, and mus-tard powder. Grind with gingerand set aside. Peel and slice the

and set to cook withfuBt enough water. \'Vhen thpbdnanas are cooked add theground masala. Soak the tama-rind in a cup of water and ext"ract the juice. Add this to theveeetable and cook for a littlelvhile more. Takeofff ireand addthe final seasoning of groundmustard and chilli rvith a littleti l oil.

PESRATTU

Dosas made with greenSram2 copr g?een tram (noong6 green chillier, .2 onlonr (optional)7" plece glngerI trp. cummin seedrSomc cuny leave

Soak the geeen gram for twohours. While this makes grind-ing more difficult it helps to en-hance the llavour. Crind thegram with chillies, ginger andonion, if being used. Just beforeremoving add the cummin andthe curry leaves. Form into aconsistency in between that fordosa and idli.' Grease an iron

Contlnucd on ptge !5

I N Andhra Pradesh, theI tate in the coastal arear

I around VirakaPatanam,- Kakinada and Machili'

patnam is different fiomihat in the interior districts ofKurnool and CuddaPa whlle thokitchens around Hvderabad Pra-pare variations of a stYle that italmost Moghlal.

Several decades ato, vetetableswere scarce in the area and thconty plant that thrived well walthe'chil l i . From the daY thechilli ripened, to the daY it dri-ed, people made all efforts to useit as much as Possible. ln the to-bacco growint areas of Gunturdistrkt one comes across the mostpungent food with the chilli of'ten playing the lead role in thepresenfatioil. lt ls also In Gunturdi$rict that koraivikaram fiiter'elly meaning a flaming stickl-' lrprepared from the lush red chi['lies freshly plucked from thrplanl This is pounded coarselvwith salt and golden colouredtamerlnd to a paste that ls Pre-serted for the whole vear andthen added to chutnevs or.eatdnes it is with boiled rice and ghee.It is surmised that the tabactochewing habit may perhaps h4vegiven rise to the use ol larFe

-$utneys.

quantities of chillies in thebut there is nothing to supportthis opinion. There areYarieties of the chilli: whileMadns chllli is used in

Tamarind makes its appeara(ce..both in the green form and inits dried state in practically everypreparation. Tamarind growrabundantly all over the .state,

Very often it is soaked, the juiceextracted and- then, added tothe dish without cooking be-cause it is firmly believcd thalat tastes better raw than whencooked. Vinegar is conspicuourbv its absence.

. During the man.

go season tamarlnd ls often rubs-tituted with the raw frult

Nellore and Krishna districtrform the rice bowl of the stiteand the Nellore kichdi (a yarletyof rice) is the first choiie for thetable. Rice is prepared ln An-dhra either plain or In anv onoof many ravoury ways. ,Care lrtaken to see that the gralntremain separate neither under.

Gingelly oil is the cookiqg 1ne-dlum all over the state. Ci-nfettyItil) seeds are also used in.thepreparation of vegdiiiles andlike in several othei statiiiusedto rprepare laddoos on".tffi: dayof Karthika Paurnaml. The uraddal used is atways thi"thmilledvariety wlth the black skin re-tained while soaliiffio keepthe nutrients to the maximum.Even though a vaiiifti8f dals aregrown all over rlhe state, whena dal ls cooked for the table ltll most otten only the tuvar.dal.Whereas the lEftgl is the thick-ening agent ;.hr..other areas ofthe louth, in An?hra, lt is most-ly mashed vegetables that helothicken the g?ivy in differentpreparationJ.

&.

ghee both of which are used incopious quantities to help thertomach brace and then coolitself. As in other areas of thesouth the meal ends with curdand rlce llke a peace offeringafter a fiery encounter.

The tender jackfruit (kathalphanas) is a treasured delicacyand when the season s:arts inearly February the special panas.akatti (iackfruit knife) is takenout and kept ready to cut andfinely qhop the vegetable in amanner that is quite unique andspeeial. Cummin is added gener-ously to the fare but care istaken to see that it is added forfrying, broiling or grinding at theend so that the flavours are asftesh and as aromatic as possi-

THE LEAF MOTIF

Contlnued from page 58

tava or griddle. Spread a spoon-ful of the mixture. Add a little tiloil. When one side is done turnover and fry the other side. Pes-rattu is eaten ln many homeswith upma and ginger chutney.

PUUSU

100 gnt. red pqnpkln100 $n. vegetable marow

(doodhl)100 gm. cweet potatocg100 gm. brlnfalr2 drumstlckrFrerh cashew frult, when In

SCillotlI trp. lumcdcSelt to terleROAST AND POUND:

Bp.corlarder reedrtbrp. chrnne daltrp. ricctsp. methl reeds (fenugreck)tsp. hlng (arafoetlda)red chillles .trp. musterd

FOR THE SEASONING:I tbrp. oil

EATING MAHARAIA STYLE

'Contlnued from page 55

in one and a half tablespoons ofghee. Cover the dekchi againand let it cook till the meat lstender. Remove the lid and frynicely.Remove the membrane from theorange, shred and put in the mi-nce when it is being fried. Grindginger, garlic, red chillies, cinna-mon, cloves, peppercorns, po-megranate seeds, cummin andcoriander seeds. Add thisground paste along wlth the wa-ter, taken out after washing thegrinding stone. Blanche the al-monds. Cut the almonds andcashewnuts into thin slivers. Putthese in the above mixture atthe last stage of frying. Whenthe mixture is al,most dry, re-move from fire. Chop the mintleaves and spinkle over. the mix-ture.Peel the potatoes and mash themalong with pepper and a teas-poog salt. Apply a little ghee tothe palms and shape potato intoballs. Make a depression In the

t tsp. mustardI tsp. udad dalf Ep. fenugreekA pimh asafoettdaFor curry leavesI llme-slzed ball trmarlnd

Cut the vegetables-and cook withthree cups of water, salt andturmeric till well done and al-most mashed. Add the poundedmasalas. Soak tamarind in onecup of water and extract theiuice. Add this to vegetables andcook for some time'more work-ing in some of the vegetablesinto the gravy. Heat a table-spoon of oil and fry the must-ard, udad dal, fenugreek, asafoe-tida and curry leaves and add topulisu as seasoning.

Dry the mustard and remove asmuch of the outer black skin aspossible. Dry the salt andpowder finely. Mix the mus-tard and chilli powder withthe salt adding oil till themixture holds shape like aladdoo. Now place the mixturewith the cut mangoes in a stonejar and let it remain till the wa-ter starts to come out. Check tosee that there is adequate oil inthe jar, this should stand atleast three to four inches overthe mangoes. Add the whole fe-nugreek seeds and keep for afew davs before using. The oills added fresh and never heated.lf the quantity of chillies is feltto be too much reduce lt, tak-ing care to see that at all timesequal quantities of chillies andmustard are added.

I tsp. tunnerlc15 green chilllcs, rllt lclrgth

wiceI cup rice flour

FOR THE SEASONING:

I tbsp. olt,I lsp. murtardVt tsp. fenugreekA pinch esrfoetide2-3 red chillierCurry leavcc

Cut the vegetables and cook ina large vessel with salt, turmerlcand four cups o! water. Extractjuice from the tamarind aftersoaking in a cup of water andadd to the cooked vegetables;add the green chillies and thejaggery also. let the mixturecook well. When the vegetableare ready, mix the rice flour Ina cup of water add to the vege-tables and stir. When the flourhas cooLed, remove from heat

4and season.

Heat oil. Add mustartl, fenugreel -

asafoetida, red chillies andwhen fiied pou; over the dhapa-lam. lf green coriander ir

"bviilable this too may be addedto the dish at the beginning.

T. V. l.

lulce of I lfunc3 curry leaver3 trp. ollI trp. thee

'

Ghoppcd corlmder-fbr gerntfi

Grate the corn and pour in themilk. Add salt, pounded pepper-corn and mix. Chop the greenchil l ies finely.

Place a heavy-bottomed dekchibn medium fire. When hot, sea-son it with mustard and . cum-min seeds. When the mustardseeds begin to splulter, add thegeen chillies and curry leaves.lf desired to have yellowish col-our a little turmeric may be add-ed. Put in the grated corn, mix-ed with other ingredients andmilk. Stir for a while, lower thefire, cover the dekchi and let itcook. Remove the lid and put inthe grated coconut, sugar andlime juice. Stir, add gheb andcover the dekchi for a few min-utes. Transfer to an attractiveserving dish. Garnish with chop-ped coriander. Serve hot as asnack with bfternoon tea or servewith parathas .during lunch ordinner.

AVAKKAI PICKLE2t

I

rnengoes, well malurcd endroutkg murtard

1 kg. fine red chllll powdcr800 gm. coarse kitchen ralt100 gm. fenugrcek (methl) reedrGingelly (tll) oil

€ut the mangoes Into piecestlrrough the seed and wipe witha clean cloth without washing.

middle of the ball and stuff ltwith some of the mince mixture.Make into oblong shapes. Thus'make all the patties and roll eachoi them in breadcrumbs andlry gently over medlum heat, toa golden colour. Serve hot

ANDE-KA-ACHAR

I level cup thick curdr4 eggs1 cup treen pear, fiellcd1 tbsp. lime fuice!, |a;p. chilll powder% tsp. turmeric1 tsp. salt1 tsp. coriander, chopped% tsp. asafoetlda4 large cloves gerlic, fhkcd3 green chillies1/e tsp. cummln seeds% tsp. fenugrcek reedr% ctp oll

ln a nice sewing bowl, put Inthe thick curds, salt, choppedcoriander, turmeric and chilli po-wder. Pour the lime juice andbeat until very smooth. Set asideclose to the stove for at leasttlrree hours before serving.Slit the green chillies and re-

DHAPALAM

This dish is made on festiveoccasions.I k& vetetables (red pump

ldn, brinjelr, drumrtlcla,rpinech, bhendl, yem)

2t gm. feggcry25 gm. temarindSelt to trste

move the seeds. Bring four cupsof water to a rol&n6. boil, slip theeggs in and boil for eight min-utes. Rinse the 6$gs in cold wa-ter. Shell and .l5eep aside.Cook thi green peas In boilingwater. r,vilh a oinch of soda-bi-carb. DiFh ln a colander andadd to the previously preparedcurds. Ffeat the oil in a kerahland pu5[p fenugreek seeds, cum-min se6ds, green chillies, flakedgarlic and lastly the asafoetida.l.mmediatey pour over the, curdsin theteryving bowl. FolQg theboiled .gggs in the curd mixfure.Leave to marinate for an hour ortwo and-serve at room tempir-ature. *.

BHUTTE KA KEES

6 to 0 blg-siz-cd cobg of corn tomake ab&t 3 lwel cupr,when grated

1/z lsp. mustafff1 tsp. cumrniri reedr6 peppercoms, pdbnded3 or 4 green chillies2 tsp. 3ugar1 tsp. s.ltt/t lrcsh coconut, gre&d7r cup mllk

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