HYDERABAD: Ugadi is all about spending time with family and going nostalgic about the big, fat festive lunches back in the ancestral home. Rayalaseema Ruchulu, the Seema cuisine chain of restaurants in the city, is hosting ‘Pakka Telangana Ruchulu’ this week to give us all a slice of the homebound Ugadi. “I know most people ask why we are hosting a Telangana festival. But we felt that festivals are when we truly miss home and that’s why the local touch to the food,” says Uttam Reddy, owner of the restaurant who also has an ancestral connection to Nalgonda.
“Jyothi Valaboju, author of two cookbooks and an expert in Telangana food, is curating the first ten days and the menu will change after 10 days,” he adds. While the Jubilee Hills outlet has a buffet meal, the Himayathanagar, Ameerpet and Lakdikapul ones will have a thali.
Says food expert Jyothi, “Telangana food is less tangy as compared to Andhra and we are also one of the few cuisines that loves a lot of veggies even in our mutton and chicken delicacies.
The locals here also have a taste for liver, tongue etc. Among the interesting delicacies of the fest were pesara gare with venna (vada with butter) Chenaga Gudalu (both veg and non-veg, made of soaked and boiled chana dal), Kodi guddu miram (a rich gravy dish with full boiled egg), Kodi Miryala Vepudu along with summer specials such as Mamidikaya Pappu.
All the dishes had a homely flavour without much food colouring or oil. However, it was mamidkaya royyalu cooked to perfection and kakarakaya podi, the spicy, dry powder with deep fried bitter gourd discs, that were the universal favourite. Homely dishes such as roti pachhadi and bajji vesina salla charu also were delicious. While the desserts had the regular ones such as double ka meetha and pheni, the traditional ones such as bellapannam and gummadikaya halwa truly ushered the Ugadi spirit.
The fest ends on April 20. Price: Rs 599 onwards.
kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com @mkalanidhi