Telangana Day: Your starter guide to exploring the food of Telangana and its uniqueness

The beauty of India's diversity is that every region boasts of its own unique culture and food. While some are more popular than the other, there is a lot to explore when it comes to different Indian cuisines. While Hyderabad is among the most popular cities in India not only for being the IT hub, it is also known for the Hyderabadi biryani, which gives tough competition to all other biryanis in the country not only from south but also north India.

Earlier this month, June 2 was celebrated as Telangana Day to mark the 10th anniversary of the separation from the northwestern part of United Andhra Pradesh on the same day in 2014. Interestingly, the latter also got its new government in the same month as N. Chandrababu Naidu became the chief minister of the state. Before the separation, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were one but every one of us knows that the cuisines in India change every few hundred kilometres. Just like that Telangana has its own identity not only as a state but also as its food which may seem similar to Andhra Pradesh but is vastly different and much more than the city of Hyderabad, which is its capital.

Exploring Telangana's food
Chef Prakash Mohanarangan with Dakshin at ITC Grand Central in Parel, shares, "Telangana cuisine is spicy and strong compared to Andhra Pradesh's cuisine with more tamarind-based dishes." The Mumbai-based chef who has been an integral part of the south Indian-themed restaurant at ITC all over the country, says it serves food from all the south Indian states including Telangana in different forms. So, what does the cuisine of Telangana consist of? "Hyderabadi biryani is one of the many famous dishes. However, there are many other local signature dishes in the cuisine such as Ruchulu, Kodi Pulusu, Boti, and Sarva Pindi." At the restaurant in the five-star property, they serve a Telangana Kodi Roast, which is a slow-roasted spring chicken, marinated with chef's special masala and then pan-tossed.

However, he says beyond that some of the lesser-known dishes in Telangana's cuisine are Pachi Pulusu, Kandi Podi, and Thunti Koora - making it a region to explore, especially with the popularity of Hyderabad, which is not only a tier-1 city but also the capital of the state. The cuisine of the southern state says Mohanarangan is considered unique as it has more resilient flavours that have a spicy and tangy taste. "One of the most common misconceptions people have about Telangana's food is that it is only known for its biryani but in addition, it also has more tangy and sour flavour-infused dishes in the cuisine."

Helming food at We Idliwale Barrom out of Pune's Balewadi, Abhishek Joshi, head chef and co-founder at the Pune restaurant and bar, has explored the depths of south Indian food, which is served at the restaurant in a variety of different ways. Anand says, "Telangana cuisine has the influence of Nizams; haleem and mirchi ka salan are special to Telangana. Its local foods such as jowar roti, bajra roti and sarva pindi are also unique to the region." It is not only this, but Joshi has noticed that Telangana food also has minimalism. "If you take some dishes like Pachi Pulusu for example, the dishes are made with minimum ingredients and cooking process," he adds while highlighting that Telangana food is influenced mostly by Deccani and Mughlai styles.

While the Sarva Pindi is among the lesser-known dishes, she believes many people also do not know much about Sakinalu, Boti and Garijalu - all of which are delicious and definitely worth experimenting if you are exploring the cuisine. Some of the signature dishes of the cuisine, according to Anand, are Hyderabadi Dum Biryani with Mirchi ka Salan or Dalcha, Pattar ka Ghosh, Murg Mussallam, Bagara rice with spicy Mutton curry are some of the popular dishes. He further adds, "The quick bites include Irani chai and Osmania biscuits or Roat, and Malai Bun. In desserts, the qubani ka meeta, double ka meeta, kadhu ka kheer, phirni, apricot delight and mulberry malai are tasty."

Simplicity of Telangana's food
Dr. Satyanarayana Dyavanapalli, who is the joint director of the Tribal Welfare Department with the Government of Telangana in Hyderabad believes that more often than not people believe in the misconception that "Telugu food means Andhra food". However, there is more to the food eaten by Telangana locals than most people know even as Hyderabad, which is known as the city of biryani, haleem, kebabs and nihari, received UNESCO's ‘Creative City of Gastronomy' award in 2019. "Telangana people prefer to consume spicy (more mirchi and salt), meat in combination with toddy. They also consume Hyderabad biryani and Sakinaalu on any special occasion," says the 48-year-old who has written 20 books over the last 17 years about Telangana's heritage; he also has a personal affinity towards food history which he believes is a "typical Telanganite", and likes to consume the healthy food of Telangana like moy.

Closely working with the tribal department and beyond the popular food in Telangana, Dyavanapalli says Telanganis and Lambadi tribals prepare sattu and moy made of rice flour, sugar, ghee on special occasions for instant energy. "Lambadis are known for their roti and suloy (sheep, goat blood mixed with its intestines). Gond tribals prepare more than 20 food items out mahua flowers and seeds. Koya tribals cook boddi curry during summer for coolness." However, it seems like not many of these dishes beyond the classic biryani, sakinaalu and Lambadi suloy usually find their place on the restaurant table out of Andhra Pradesh due to the lack of awareness and waiting to be explored.