Festivals are often remembered through the food that brings people together — the shared plates, familiar aromas, laughter around the table and the sense of beginning anew. With Ugadi around the corner, the idea of celebrating a new year through traditional flavours feels particularly meaningful. At Culinary Lounge’s upcoming Telugu Routes, a culinary tourism initiative that explores regional food traditions, Sandhya Raju Linga will present a special meal rooted in her family’s culinary heritage. The food enthusiast and author also introduced her book From My Kitchen to Yours, a collection that documents her journey with food and the cherished recipes of the Linga family.
Speaking about Telugu Routes, Sandhya explains that the initiative is her way of celebrating and promoting Telangana cuisine. “It is like promoting Telugu roots through Telangana cuisine. From my side, I am presenting the Linga family feast. For the hi-tea, I prepared sarva pindi, which is a Telangana favourite, along with masala vada,” she says. She also shares that one of the dishes comes from her recently published book. “I wrote a book that has around 40 varieties of rasam. From that I have made one rasam that can also be enjoyed like a soup. Along with that, we have dishes like capsicum bajji, broken wheat halwa and makka jonna as well,” she adds.
Sandhya says her passion for Telugu food stems from the environment she grew up in. “I come from a background where my mother specialised in Telugu food — the whole spread of rasam, meals and many traditional dishes,” she recalls. Marriage into a large joint family further strengthened that connection with food. “My husband’s family are big food lovers and we generally enjoy Telangana cuisine. This is my small attempt to promote our cuisine for the younger generation. Today they are exposed to many global cuisines and their taste buds are very diverse, but I want them to stay connected to our cuisine and culture so that these traditions are not forgotten,” she explains.
Her book From My Kitchen to Yours also has a personal story behind it, one that began with cooking for her children. “When my kids were very young they were quite picky, especially when it came to vegetables. Even before that, I had a passion for making rasam because it is the most comforting food,” she says. For Sandhya, rasam represents home in many ways. “When we travel and come back home, we usually crave rasam. Even when we are sick, we want rasam. Every festival also has its own preparation of rasam,” she says.
Over time, her curiosity led her to experiment with different versions of the dish. “I started making different kinds of rasam for my children and they loved it more than the curries I served. Every day I would prepare a new one and I didn’t even realise that I knew nearly 30 to 40 varieties,” she laughs. The idea of documenting these recipes first came from her daughter. “About 10 years ago she told me, ‘You make so many different rasams and never repeat them, why don’t you write a book?’ At that time I had written down some recipes but didn’t take the idea very seriously,” she says.
Life soon became busy with family milestones. “My daughter started her business and later got married, so the book idea was forgotten,” Sandhya recalls. The project resurfaced years later as a birthday surprise. “On my 50th birthday she wanted to gift me the book but it couldn’t happen then. Later, when my son got married, my daughter-in-law saw my passion for food and took the initiative to make it happen,” she shares. Within a few months, the family turned the idea into reality. “Within three months we completed the book. She supported me in every way — we did a photoshoot and she also designed the book. I wrote the recipes and we did the editing together. In the end, we included 40 rasam recipes.”
Initially, the book was meant to be a personal keepsake. “My first intention was to author the book and give it only to family and friends. But when the book came out so well, we decided to print 1,000 copies and start promoting it,” she says. For Sandhya, the purpose goes beyond publishing. “We want people to know that we have our own traditional cuisine and it deserves to be known and celebrated,” she notes.
Looking ahead, Sandhya hopes to continue sharing Telangana’s culinary traditions in more ways. Future books are also part of her plan. “My next books will focus on pachadi, vepudu and other traditional foods,” she adds, determined to ensure that the flavours of her region continue to be remembered and passed on.