Indian states. One at a time. That’s what the month of April is about.
Blogging Marathon is on for the whole of this month. September and April are month-long Marathons at BM. So for all 30 days of April, you will see one dish at least from the Indian states and some Union Territories.
Starting with Andhra and ending with West Bengal, this cooking journey isn’t that easy. When I started off, I wanted Thali meals (whole lunch platter) and not just a single dish from the state I was cooking from. But it didn’t quite work out for a whole lot of reasons.
I had 6 months of notice time, yet I got to cooking only last month. So….yeah, time was quite short. It’s easy to get recipes for some states and very difficult to get from others. Some of the North East states had us really baffled. 
Right now, I live in a multi cultural community. People from Kashmir to Kerala are here in our apartment and as much as possible, I have tried taking my neighbours’ suggestions for the dishes.
By now, most of them are used to me calling up and asking about how lunch is served in their native state :-).
This bunch of Andhra dishes was also suggested by a friend. I don’t know how much of these tasted authentic, but hey…at least I tried!
My friend not only gave me ideas for the thali, she sent across the chukkakura pappu (featured here) and vankaya kothameera karam as well. I too had made the same curry, so we devoured her’s immediately and went on to click my version for the thali.
The menu:
- Parippu podi : Powdered lentils (Podi) ground with chillies and spices. There are many variations for this recipe. This one is my MIL’s preparation.
- How to eat: This podi is mixed with plain rice and topped with 1-2 tsps (or more) of ghee/oil. It is then eaten with any of the vegetables side dishes. The meal usually starts off with this before proceeding to the wet gravies (sambar, rasam etc)
- Vankaya Kothamira Kaaram : A brinjal/eggplant preparation. Andhra-ites love brinjal in all forms. This version has brinjal cooked in coriander-green chilli combination. Tasted great.
- How to eat: This is a side dish for rice.
- Dondakkaya Veppudu : An ivy gourd (kovakka/tindora) preparation. This is one of the many ways to prepare the vegetable. This version has sesame seeds added to it.
- How to eat: This is a side dish for rice.
- Tomato Pachadi : A chutney kind of preparation made with raw tomatoes. I went easy on the chillies and ended up with a not so spicy pachadi. My friend later sent me an original and by god!! it was the fieriest chutney I have eaten and the tastiest one as well. I will be definitely trying her version again.
- How to eat: This can be mixed with rice with a spoon or two of ghee and eaten. It also tastes great with curd rice (my personal experience).
- Majjiga Pulusu with Ladies Finger : A yogurt based preparation. This one uses gram flour (besan) and not coconut. A sort of a kadhi.
- How to eat: This is a gravy, it should be mixed with rice and eaten with vegetables as side dishes.
- Miriya Chaaru : A light, but spicy rasam. The ingredients for the rasam are freshly made.
- How to eat: A gravy that should be mixed with rice and eaten with vegetables and pappadam/fries, if available. This is the course before curd rice.
- Chukka kura pappu: A version of dal with a kind of greens. This was sent by my friend. She roasts the dal before going ahead with the preparation.
- How to eat: This should also be mixed with rice and eaten with veggies on the side.
- Avakka Pickle : A type of mango pickle. This version has some portions of the mango seeds as well. My MIL’s preparation. This recipe comes close.
- Rice : The star of the meal.
- Ghee : Ghee is served with parippu podi and tomato pachadi.
- Curd/ Yogurt : The final round of the meal. It is mixed with rice and eaten with the pickles.
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 39
My Kitchen Trials 
ur thali recipes are good. and pics are also good. but i would like to give suggestion here is , u can give telugu name for parippu podi and there are also some spelling mistakes in other recipes of this andra thali .i hope u dont mistake me, by correcting u . i am giving below exact telugu names for all the recipes u can given above.
1). kaaram podi (kandi podi , karivepaku kaaram etc).
2).vankaaya kotimeera kaaram.
3).dondakaaya vepudu.
4).tomato pachadi.
5).majjiga pulusu.
6).miriyala chaaru.
7).chukka kura pappu.
8).avakaaya pachadi or avakaaya ooragaaya.
and for rice- annam.
ghee- neyyi.
yogurt – perugu.
i hope u didnt mind me, for telling ur mistakes, and pls look in, for local names , if u give other language thaali recipes also.
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Thank you neeraja for telling me :-), I don’t mind a single bit and its very nice of you to take an interest.
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This Andhra Thali looks absolutely stunning Rajani. Pics are lovely too!
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I meant fabulous. :))
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That’s a fabulos everyday platter though I wouldn’t dare to cook so many varieties on the same day.
And by the way, the pickle is aavakaaya pachadi and rasam is miriyala chaaru. Just for information. Hope you didn’t mind. :)
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What a delightful post! We travelled to southern India two years ago, and certainly feasted upon our fair share of thalis. I appreciate how you’ve broken down the various components here with the labeled image. Now, if only we had the proper spices here! :)
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yummy!!!! i love andhra platters and urs looks divine :)
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really a royal food. i’d love to add an item with gongura. thanks
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Lovely spread Rajni and awesome pics.
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Lovely post dear..Best way to showcase the cuisine..Yumm
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you baffle me completely…just cant slot you, you are lazy like me, or enthu like vaishali just cannot make my mind, this is completely unexpected of you…never expected…truly amazing and loved knowing the details of each and every dish..loved the concept
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Fantastic start to the mega marathon. Making thali for each state is a great idea and looking forward to all the virtual treats. I love Andhra thali and this thali sounds delicious…
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Wow Rajani! I want to come over for food.It was exhausting making on dish how on earth did you make a entire thali? Wow. Waiting to see the rest.I hope u made a NE thali ;)
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That is one yummy spread of dishes.. They look so delicious. Just can’t wait to se what more you have for rest of the marathon.
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Wow! That is awesome! A whole thali! The dishes all look delicious. It is so nice to have people whom you can ask for recipes instead of searching in the unknown.
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Wow!What a platter!Wonder how long it took you to cook up this feast! Beautiful clicks and all the dishes look so good.And it is great to have neighbors and friends to help us out with our food queries :)
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Wohoo super duper start rajani!!! Love the thali, it is great to have neighbors who are ready to share food and thoughts!!!! It is almost lunch time here, i m here sitting and drooling our bm posts!!! Waiting to see your rest of the dhamakadaar posts!!! :)
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A full blown thali – great effort Rajani. Looks lovely. Would love to sit down to this meal any day. Looks delicious. Initially I too planned to make state-wise thalis but I realized later that I’d be lucky if I manage a single dish for each state..
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Woohoo…what a spread! Everything looks so well placed and organized..loving the Thali, I can understand what goes into making such spread…but a very pleasing and happy feeling.
It’s good to live in a neighborhood where you have diversity I terms of food, culture .Super
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Wow ! That’s an awesome thali ! Superb efforts and great clicks
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Love that delicious looking thali ..you have done very well , hats off to you !!
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OMG Rajani, that is one heck of a thali. Everything looks so amazing. Love ur styling as well.
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Awesome spread Rajani. Looks like a fectival spread :) In our families, Majjigapulusu(Kadhi) is typically eaten with plain dal and rice.
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Oh my gosh :) really I can see the hard work behind this delicious platter :) awesome andhra spread and delicious recipes :) Amazing clicks , hats off to you :) You are rocking dear !!
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If all your posts are going to be so informative mine will be sorely lacking.
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You did a whole thali? Awesome! Cooking one dish was exhausting
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OMG!!! you have done an entire thali!!! So amazing!! so are the others also a thali?? so waiting for it!!
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OMG Rajani,what an amazing spread,feel like grabbing it..Everything looks so perfect and well made..keep rocking..waiting to see ur other thali preparations
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Looks stunning Rajani! It is so good to have friends to be able to help. What a lovely spread and presentation :) The dishes look really mouthwatering and perfect!
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Awesome Rajani, wonderful post and enjoyed reading about everything. Great efforts! Its wonderful when we have access to ppl from diff states, we truly then live in such diverse place :) loved ur platter. Starting so late, you have started with a bang! Can’t wait to read ur daily posts!
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Omg, Rajani u rock dear, trust me i feel shame to post my Andhra dish now, wat an elaborate and fingerlicking thali u have prepared. Each and every dish are just simply out of the world.
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