Konchem Kaaram

Sure..you can get manchurian, noodles,pizzas and burgers ---things kids of nowadays seem to be fond of.. and get fat on---...at Bandar...Why not?...The trend seems to be the same everywhere....At every nook and corner village, a red color stall is erected , a chink in tight tea shirt stands in the counter with two enormous pans, in which he keeps tossing an equally enormous amount of noodles...and many youngmen and women keep eating them with relish...

Me,..personally i prefer mirch bajjis to noodles and pizzas on any day of the week....though that does not mean i can not do justice to a plate of manchurian..:D...i do..i do...May be just that people of our generation, brought up on jantikalu, pakodilu, and mirch bajjilu tend to stick to the same tastes...And nowhere can one indulge in the ethnic andhra foods than at Bandar...There are specific places for specific food items..

You have to go to the Navakala talkies center ofcource,to get that right stuff for mirch masala buffs.....muntha kinda pappu,...tomato masala,..aratikaya bajji with masala....mirch bajji masala...wow...Essentially it is all lots of onions, murmuralu,bomboyi channa,coriander leaves, grated carrots,lemon, and an array of aromatic powders.....The magician just juggles with all these and produces a variety of mouth watering snacks....He places onion rings and tomato rings on one another, fills them up with sev (sanna karampoosa),channa, may be some boiled potato pieces,liberally sprinkles jeera podi, dhaniala podi, masala podi,lemon juice,coriander leaves and calls it tomato masala......or he may cut mirch bajji to pieces,add all the masala stuffs, and if you want so, would add the yellow colored sour curd that is kept aside and offer this as mirch masala...The curd gives it a peculiar taste akin to dahi vada ..oooooooh

For those who hanker after the famous Punukulu of Bandar..---Poets have waxed eloquent on the pesara punukulu of Bandar pronouncing that you can get such tasty ones nowhere else...If you do not believe me, read malladi ramakrishna sasthry...----there is a joint in front of the Brindavan talkies... All the connosseirs of Bandar tend to patronise it ...

I daresay you can have the usual idlis, dosais, and vadas everywhere and they are almost same everywhere all over south india..well..Is that so?..?...May be...But visit Ammayi Hotel....As the name denotes, it is maintained by a woman, and people throng this eatery just for the divine pesarattu, this woman makes...Now...few words on this item...---for those who do not know----A pesarattu is a dosai made with the batter of ground whole green gram sprouts...This is an exclusive andhra dish as the name itself proclaims....May be the other states are also preparing it nowadays...i do not know..But thirty years back, when i arrived in Hyderabad as a young bride, most of my telangana and other south indian friends were not in the habit of making them and i well remember them asking me for it"s recipe...



At Ammayi hotel, they make it biiig,.70m.m size,, garnished with finely cut onions , jinger pieces,jeera,coriander leaves,and,,roasted with fresh butter.---ghee would not do, you know...it gives a burnt out smell---..Upma is it"s best accompaniment, and ofcource coconut chutney, ginger chutney,and kaarampodi...
You got to have a light idli as the first tiffin... you know. if you are going to have it for breakfast....A heavy pesarattu is too much on an empty stomach.. and makes you feel thirsty afterwards...So, you tuck into both and beleive me , till night fall you will not have thoughts of food again...

When the dusk is settling in,..at about 5.30 or so, the place to head for is Vani General Stores...In front of this eminent establishment ---where you can get every exotic food item..from appadala pindi vundalu to gummadai vodiyalu,...Do not snicker...They get orders to export---kind of Arugulu are there..By this time, a party of three or four men descends on to these arugulu carrying huge stainless steel containers...Usually three to four savoury items and two or three sweet items....

As soon as they arrive, people rush in and in just an hour and half or so, all the items are sold out like a chiranjeevi movie tickets.....These are actually meant for the businessmen and shop keepers at the square who after the lunch at one "O" clock are feeling low, and have to prop up their sagging blood sugar levels and to gear up to meet the evening rush.....Rawa pulihora,perugu vada,sada vada,curd rice,..sometimes pulao,chakkera pongali, rawa kesari,....oooooh...tasty, wholesome as if cooked at home, and very , very, reasonably priced...not only the shopkeepers but even others join in and relish.... I do not think one gets to see this kind of thing everywhere..

Well...i think this has already become a lenghthy post ..and i still have got to say a lot about pappu chegodilu, appadala pindi vundalu, gatti pakodilu, kasingayalu...........