As spicy, tangy mutton slowly boiled in a mud pot, over a wood fire, the aroma just invited you home. The very thought of that bubbling curry takes me back to Warangal, Telangana, where I was born and raised. Before the partition of the two states (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana) not many focussed on Telangana’s rich food. Rice made a daily appearance on our tables, but it was the millets that were the clear favourite. In fact, we only got to eat wheat rotis when guests came home.
The highlights of the cuisine, however, are the meat dishes mutton and ooru kodi (country chicken). Telangana had a high number of people who reared goats and that was one of the reasons mutton ruled. A family would go to the shepherd and pick a goat. The animal would be cut, and whatever was needed was kept, and the rest divided among other families. Almost every portion of the goat barring the skin is used; the intestines too, which is one of the most important dishes.
The head too is made into a spicy curry called the Talakaya kura. Most of the vegetables used were grown at home and we never used any that were off season. And so, we learnt to make the best use of what we had, from curries to pacchadis (pickles and chutneys) of vegetables like the bottle gourd. But our daily menu had dishes like pappu (lentils) and pachi pulusu (a broth of tamarind pulp).
This combination of food was extensively prepared when there was a death at home. After the funeral when people would return, these dishes would provide the nourishment they needed. For weddings, each function had a particular dish. There was the most important dish baksham (sweet rotis) during the pellikuturu/pellikodaku function (haldi ceremony) and weddings saw a huge number of meat dishes along with vegetarian ones. One must also have a strong stomach to handle the fiery curries from Telangana.
The writer is the host of cookery show Telangana Shakam
— As told to Priyanka Praveen
Talakaya Kura
Ingredients
1 kg of mutton (only the head)
1 tbsp garam masala
Paste of three onions
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste
Chilli to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
100 ml of tamarind pulp
1 tbsp dry coconut, grated
Oil for cooking
Method
Make sure the head is neatly cleaned and chopped. In a pan, heat oil and add the garam masala, add the onion paste and fry till golden-brown. Then, add the ginger-garlic paste and fry till the smell of the paste disappears. Then add turmeric, followed by the pieces of mutton. Close it for a while and let it cook. Then transfer this to a cooker and add water as required, then add salt and chilli powder and let it cook in a pressure cooker. Once the meat is soft (usually after three whistles) take it off the heat and serve hot.
Boti fry
Ingredients
½ kg of boti (a mix of large and small intestines and gizzard of goat)
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
Salt to taste
Chilli to taste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tbsp dry coconut,
grated (optional)
Oil for cooking
Coriander leaves for garnish
Method
The pieces of botti need to be cleaned thoroughly. Once done, boil the meat and make sure you get rid of the water. This should do away with any kind of meaty smell. In a pan heat oil and add the masala, to that add the ginger-garlic paste, and saute. Then add the meat pieces, mix well and saute. After that, add the turmeric, salt and chilli powder and continue frying. You can also add the dry coconut powder. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.
Pachi pulusu
Ingredients
100 gm tamarind
A small piece of jaggery
1 onion, chopped roughly
3 to 4 green chillies
A sprig of coriander leaves
For the tempering
3 to 4 red chillies
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)
A few curry leaves
Method
Soak the tamarind in water for a while and take the pulp out. Roast green chillies and cool them. Take the roasted chillies, onions, coriander leaves, salt, red chilli powder and jaggery, crush it a bit, and add it to the tamarind juice. Heat oil in a pan and add the tempering ingredients. Add that to tamarind mixture, close the lid once the tempering is added.
Bonam
Ingredients
½ kg rice
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp split yellow moong dal
100 gm jaggery (optional)
Method
Boil the rice along with the dal, turmeric and the jaggery. Let it cook for a while, once the rice is cooked, take it off the heat. Serve hot. This delicacy is prepared as prasad during the festival of Bonalu and is served as an offering to the Goddess.
