PANASAKAYA BIRIYANI AND PACHEE JEEDEEPAPPU KOORA
We all enjoy indulgences. But the best ever indulgence is to be able to sit around and be served. Only a woman would understand this. With a group of persons where there are no pretenses.
I also found out the definition of Awesome. It means 'Impressive and sometimes frightening'. I am not using this word. I am feeling it. Because that is the first impression you get when you see Harinilayam, the home that Renuka and Harishchandra Mullapudi and their daughter Shivani have built for themselves at Tanuku. Amidst huge tracts of paddy fields being harvested, you drive through idyllic beauty, with banana trees bending down with the weight of the huge 'hand' of green bananas, even as the banana leaves slap around in the breeze. Technically a single banana is called a finger, by the way. The paddy stubs are being burnt here too and the smoke rises from the ground to look like fog, where it stands still in the afternoon mild. Birds in plenty, bees, wasps and dragon flies landing on a single lily, mynahs flying high chattering, finches, sparrows and crows. My heart soars when I see a crow. Miss 'em in Hyderabad.
The backwaters on one side form a canal adding that element of romance, as wispy vines flutter in the air. Palm trees, toddy trees abound in this region, where greenery is the hallmark. All across this side of the river Krishna. Coastal Andhra, especially, the Rajahmundry belt is known for its searing summers, deliciously spicy food and a people who by nature are enterprising, highly educated and intelligence is second nature to them.
This is a house with red tiles and sliding glass doors, surrounded by rice fields, dotted with toddy trees. And by all kinds of colourful flowers. And orchids in a special display. Then we went to Kadiam and bought some more.
Inside is like a green house with plants everywhere, with Renu's carefully collected items over the years, during her various travels. And I had thought she was merely shopping. Every item has a story, a place and an address.
And throughout our stay, all tables in the house groaned with food. Of course we overate. We had to taste every little bit of deliciousness. By the way being a vegetarian in the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh is like being in a strip joint looking for a lost full-sleeved pyjama top.
There were delicacies for us vegetarians also, including a raw jackfruit biriyani, which has the texture of a mutton biriyani. And a curry made of young cashews, peeling off their tender skin and yet keeping the nut whole. Spicy and keeping your senses awakened. Like in many regional cooking, this part of Andhra Pradesh uses a lot of flair to cook all kinds of sea food and meats also. They also use a lot of garam masala. The majority of the group ate non- vegetarian food and looked sated. We shakaharis also were a satisfied lot with our specials. The curds were to die for.
It is the special care and attention to details that will stay with us girls for a long time.
It is as if Renuka Mullapudi had taken it upon herself to indulge us in the two days and nights that we spent with her. While the dining table did it's own groaning, we carried ourselves from the table to chairs outside without tripping. The two folding manchachalus added their rural flavour with their fluttering white sheets. Many, who had the courage, spent a couple of peaceful moments.
The house has high ceilings with phenomenal scenes from humongous plate glass windows. The paddy had been harvested just a day prior to our arrival, but we could hear the hum of the thresher which was doing the needful in the neighbouring fields. Narrow, dirt roads, with greenery on either side. There are two roads to Renu's house, the long scenic route or the short one.
Immediately on landing we also visited the Vallabha Ganesha temple and did the requsite 21 perambulations with a wish in mind, hoping the Elephant God was listening to our swift feet for we had to do the walking in close to half an hour. We did.
The grandfather of my good friend Hari, was the legendary Mullapudi Harischandra Prasad, an industrialist from Andhra Pradesh, with a vision. He was also a politician. He was the chairman and managing director of the Andhra Sugars Group and headed several other companies. He was probably the first person to set up industries in the South in Independent India and hence called "Andhra Birla". There is a lot more to write about him and other people and so am doing a part 2.
Colleges, community halls, schools, industries, etc, this family has been generous with its money for the betterment of its own town and townspeople.
We had a high tea with Hari's mother Satyanarayanaamma. One of those quiet evenings, with a light breeze blowing through the Punnaga trees. Also known as raatri ganneru, these are fragrant and takes every Indian child back to childhood memories of making crowns or garlands.
A lot more to write and express.