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       Andhra Pradesh calls for some mouthwatering traditional delicacies. There are specific items served for snacks, lunch, dinner, etc. One cannot but stop getting tempted to the hot and sour recipes of Andhra. And however much you hate Brinjals, eat them at Andhra- and you will fall in love with them forever.

      The cuisine is largely vegetarian, with only the coastal areas showing a marked preference for seafood. Fish and Prawn are curried in sesame and coconut oils, and flavored with freshly ground pepper and eaten with rice. Rice, the staple Andhra food, is served with sambar, other lentil preparations along with vegetables.

      Snack time is synonymous with mean onion pakodas, vadas or savoury doughnuts dunked in steaming hot sambar and steamed rice dumplings called idli. Savories are murku, roundels of rice flour that are deep fried and appadams.

      Alternatively, desserts symbolise payasam(a pudding made with rice and milk and of course the famed Sheer Khurma- a Hyderabadi delicacy with dry fruits and dates).

      When going out for dinner one musn't miss the Chowki Dinner, an offering made by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism. It is a typically Hyderabadi multi-course dinner served on a low table (Chowki) around which 8 people can squat. Authentic Hyderabadi cuisine is served course by course, as the Nawabs were served with a Deccan ambience accompanied by traditional entertainment like Ghazals.

      Apart from these specifics, Biryani, one of India's finest foods, the Biryani is closely associated with Hyderabadi cuisine. However, Andhra food, in turn, is different from Hyderabadi, as day from night. It is a blend of rice and meat, kulcha, the charcoal-baked rotis, haleem made of coarsely pounded wheat and spiced mutton gravy are some of the regional specialties.

      The Mughal court and the predominant Hindu subculture influenced the kitchens of the Nizams so much so that even the brinjal takes the form of baghare baigan, embodying it with the flavor of a fine dish indeed. Influenced by the Mughals, but without the natural resources of fresh fruits, saffron and other ingredients, Hyderabadi cuisine is lighter, the taste more distinct and the fresh fruit normally used is replaced by dried fruits.

      Then there are dishes like nahari, pattar-ka-gosh, korma, salans, tamatar-ka-kat and baghare baigan are some of the special delicacies. The balmy weather helps grow a delicious variety of fruits like mangoes, anabshahi grapes, custard apples and a miscellany of the common ones.

      Like southern foods, the typical dosa etc., can be found in many restaurants, but the favourite remains to be pesarattu, a dosa (rice pancake) which has filling of upma made with semolina and onions in it. Rasam, fire-hot, is typical favourite of the southern region.

      Lamb is a great favourite not to be missed. The more famous muligatawny soup of the west is derived from the Telugu mullkigatanni or pepper water. Served in its original form, it is hot enough to burn your lips and scald your tongue. The spicy chutneys and pickles of Andhra, specially mango and shrimp, are a simply superb and count among hot favourites.

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