History
of Traditional Telugu Food Culture:
A
new interpretation
Dr.
G V Purnachand, B.A.M.S.,
Food
is the supplicant of vital energy of life. Every human activity is centered
round the food activity which plays the most dominant role in defining the
course of life. It is the usual Indian custom to take the food with reverence as
divine prasaadam whenever it is served in any form. The Vedic tradition, the
earliest phase of Indian culture describes food as a source of cosmic creation.
Food is the chief agent of the immortal continuity of all the created. The
production and preparation of food has been in accordance with the cultural
concepts of each given race.
The
Telugu classical food culture, rich in its antiquity, possessed qualitative,
pure and hygienic food habits. But the ill effects of modern multi-cultural
experience, particularly after Globalisation, affected all the spheres of human
life, including the food habits leading to a confrontation of perceptions
between the hygienic old and hyper sensitive new generations. The Telugu society
is not an exception to this experience.
The
antiquity of Telugu Language and culture
It
is generally believed that the Indus civilization might have sustained up to
c.1750 B.C. Evidences are ample to show that, the Dravidians, in other words the
proto-Telugu People, inhabited the Lower Godavari and Krishna Basin during the
same period. They cultivated and consumed wheat apart from other grains like
sorghum etc. They had developed trade relations with Indus valley people and
other civilizations. The Fertile Crescent is extended from Mediterranean to
China, Via Deccan in South India.
In
his great work, “Agro-ecosystems of South India: Nutrient Dynamics, Ecology and
Productivity (7th chapter)”, Dr. K R Krishna made a mention to the wheat
production by Telugu People in Telugu Land, during the Indus period. Indus type
of Ongole ox is a typical example of the antiquity of agriculture by Telugu
People. A big sculpture of ox of Indus kind was found in the excavations of
Amravati stupa and is preserved in its Museum. Telugu culture of metal age was a
rural and agricultural based one, unlike the urban civilization of Indus valley.
The Stone Age in South India quietly passed into the Iron Age. This occurred
long before the Aryans of North India came into any kind of contact with South
India. Tools made with iron of various shapes have been recovered from the
graves of this period, which resemble the tools used in the modern period. There
is significant literary evidence from the epic Ramayana, that sage viSwamitra
along with Rama and Lakshmana reached the Telugu Land, perhaps to acquire the
strongest weaponry, as the land could be flourishing with the Iron -weapon
making industries of that time. The discovery of iron in this area led to invent
the plough, which enhanced the cultivation. Evidences also illustrate the more
durable variety of pottery in large quantities which signifies that the people
who made it must have attained a considerable degree of
civilisation.
The
first part of famous work “An Advanced History of India” of R.C. Majumdar, H.C.
Raychaudhuri and Kalikinkar Datta published in 1946, explains: “the Indus
Valley people were either Sumerians or Dravidians. These two races might have
been identical or different. The Dravidians at one time inhabited the whole of
India, including Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan and gradually migrated to
Mesopotamia. The fact that Dravidian Language is still spoken by the Brahui
People of Baluchistan is taken to lend strength to this view”. The cultural
heritage of Sindhus and Dravidians earlier to 1750 B.C. forms a base for Telugu
culture. The antiquity of food habits of Telugu people must be studied from this
perspective.
F.C.
Southworth, Emeritus Professor of South Asian Linguistics at the University of
Pennsylvania, in his paper, “Proto-Dravidian Agriculture” presented at the 7th
ESCA Round Table Conference held at Kyoto in June 2005, identified late
Proto-Dravidian with the Southern Neolithic culture in the lower Godavari River
basin of Andhra Pradesh, which first appeared in c.2, 500 B.C. His observations
are based upon its agricultural vocabulary. He further stated that, the
Proto-Dravidian might have been spoken in a wider area, extending up to western
Deccan, which is now occupied mainly by the Indo–Aryan languages like Marathi
and Hindi. He assumed in agreement with Pro. Bhadriraju Krishna Murty, that the
Dravidian loanwords into the late Vedic Sanskrit might be explained as a result
of northward expansion of Dravidian speakers from the peninsula. Substantial
body of loanwords of Non Indo-Aryan languages, have been identified in the
earliest Vedic texts. FBJ Kuiper released a list of more than 350 loan words
from Rig-Vedic language. Most famous Skt. words like gaja (elephant), kaarpaasa
(cotton), mayuura (peacock), putra (Son), matsya (fish), taaLa (Toddy Tree) were
found as loan words in Sanskrit. Michael Witzel and Alexander Lubotsky are also
of the same opinion that these loan words are mostly from Dravidian, Munda or
proto-Burushaski sources. Togetherness (sahajiivana) or proximity (samiipa
vartitva) of Vedic and Dravidian or proto Telugu people could be the prime
reason for the loan words in to Sanskrit. Similarly Telugu also received many
Sanskrit terms and enriched itself. It is not a simple influence of Sanskrit,
but an inevitable social pressure and cultural expansion that contributed to
more number of Sanskrit Loans into Telugu. This assumption also proves the
antiquity of Telugu language and culture.
Deccan
was found to be the safest place for so many Vedic Aryan People, particularly in
the early Buddhist period. “Builders, artistes, artisans and craftsmen went
South because of the foreign invasions in the North. Trade flourished and Aryans
found a welcome home and the immigrants could take shelter in the Andhra Kingdom
which stretched from the Bay of Bengal” says Padmini Sathianadhan Sengupta in
her work, “Everyday life in ancient India” Published in1950 by Oxford University
Press. The process was more accelerated in the Mauryan Period. Later, Buddhists
also concentrated on Andhra region for the same reason, besides the propagation
of their own dharma. Jains and others also joined this convoy. The building of
chaityas, the worship of sacred trees, and of serpents, that characterized
Jainism and Buddhism, shows these cults were only superimposed on the
pre-existing religious practices of Telugu land. This might be the probable
reason for the earliest aryanisation of Telugu people earlier to other Dravidian
tribes. Several Dravidian loan words in Sanskrit language might be due to their
interaction with Telugu region only. Most of such loan words might have reached
Sanskrit through Prakrit and Pali. Normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables,
grain, dairy products, honey, and meat. Over a period of time, some sections of
population duly embraced vegetarianism. This takes the antiquity of Telugu
language in general and Telugu food culture in particular, back to the
pre-historical period. Agricultural methodology, metallurgical progression, and
Technical innovation altogether contributed to Telugu food culture.
The
new cooking methods of Telugu food
Though
the cooking methods of present day’s north Indian society appear to be a little
different, it can safely be assumed that the people of both south and north
India of Indus period might have had more or less a similar way of food
preparation. As the Indus cities got acquainted to several forms of vegetables
and eatable animals, they could have also learnt the system of preparing items
like curry (kuura), chutney (pachchaDi) etc that resembled more or less the
present day items. There are archeological evidences of the early Sumerians and
literary evidences of Rig-Veda which show frying and cooking methods. The Vedic
literature mentioned rice, cereals and pulses (maaSha), mug bean ( mudga )
masoor daal(masuura) and green leafy vegetables, fruits, spices such as
coriander, turmeric, pepper, cumin, asafetida, cloves, sesame and mustard and
cooked varieties like purooDaaSa, apuupa etc. The Indus valley civilization was
known to harvest barley, sesame, mustard, chickpeas, masoor, mung, horse gram,
dates, pomegranates, apart from rice and wheat. The bones of numerous animals
excavated testify the habit of eating cooked flesh of animals such as pigs,
sheep, goats, peacocks, horses including cattle animals. They also had the habit
of taking various kinds of fishes. The large granaries of Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa
and Lothal confirm a sophisticated, aerated, rodent-free storage practice. Our
epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata also mention of cooking of rice by Sita and
Draupadi respectively. People belonging to the later Vedic period had cooked
rice, while the early Dravidian or proto- Telugu people had wheat as their
staple food.
The
new cooking methods of cuisines prepared with rice, wheat and other grains have
been developed by Buddhists, Shaivaits, Vishnavaits, and Jains. Vegetarianism
became a common dietary trend in Telugu society. Meat eating might had become a
moderate habit by that time. It doesn’t mean that all Telugu speaking people
were vegetarians. There had also been Islamic influence over the non
vegetarianism of the north Indian and Deccani cuisine from the Delhi sultanate.
It was enriched during Mughal period and by the Persian interactions
Early
Telugu people of pre historical period and aryanised Telugu people of
pre-Mauryan or Mauryan period had eaten wheat as their Staple food. Most of the
Telugu food items of good olden days were prepared with aTTa (wheat flour) only.
Items like Chakraalu, jantikalu, chekkalu, gavvalu of present day, are a few to
mention among the wheat preparations. The prasaadam of Lord Satyanarayana,
prepared with wheat powder, reflects an age old traditional contacts of Telugu
People with wheat.
Several
historians have quoted Xuang Zang, the Chinese chronicler of 7th century AD
stating that there were no steaming vessels in India. This statement needs a
critical examination and one must confirm it with the original work of Xuang
Zang. This traveler visited places like Nagarjuna Konda, Bezawada and Amarawati
where he lived for considerable number of years to learn Mahaayaana principle he
talked about the Puurva shaila and Avara Shaila theories which justify his close
contact with Andhra region. By that time the Andhra country distinguished itself
in the knowledge of medicinal preparations too. Then, he must be fully aware of
certain utensils used to prepare medicines involving the process of baking
(puTapaaka), fermentation (aasava or arishTa) and steaming (arka). The Buddhism
regained its glory in Andhra region by the great services of Siddha Nagarjuna
who propagated Rasa Sastra, much before the visit of Xuang Zang to India. The
rasa aushadhas are otherwise called as vanTa aushadhas in Telugu, as several
medicines were prepared using various techniques of vanTa (cooking) techniques.
In such context, how could a chronicler like Xuang Zang who exhibited good
interest in the cultural life of people write that there were no steaming
vessels in India at the time of his visit? Dishes like iddenulu, unDraallu,
mandegalu, sukiyalu, nippaTlu, popular among Telugu traditional cuisine are the
best examples for the preparation in baking, fermentation or steaming methods.
Staple
foods of Telugu people include pearl millet, rice, whole-wheat flour (godhuma
pindi or aTTa), and a variety of lentils, especially masoor or toor (kandi),
black gram (minumu- urad,) and moong bean. Many Telugu dishes are cooked with
vegetable oils while mustard oil is more commonly used in eastern India. Gingili
(sesame) oil is common in Telugu land as it gives a fragrant aroma. In the
recent past, sunflower and soya bean oil became popular across India.
Hydrogenated vegetable oil (vanaspati or dalda) is another popular cooking
medium. Ghee or the butter is used frequently, though less than the
past.
Eating
Habits of Telugu People
Bhavamishra
of 15th century wrote a popular medical text Bhavaprakasha, which is considered
as one among the three small works, popularly known as laghutrayi. He belonged
to former Kalinga country, which comprises the southern parts of present Orissa
and the northern parts of coastal Andhra. He therefore dealt with the life style
of eastern Deccan which certainly includes Telugu. He made a mention of the
healthy habits of taking food items like, kuura, pappu etc., as follows:
ghRutapuurvam samashNiyaat kaThinam praaktatoo m Rudu /AnteepunardravaaSi tu
balaadroogeena munchati. In this sloka, he advised to take oily and hard items
like curry (Kuura), Daal (pappu) etc in the beginning of the principal meal.
Later soft items like chutney (pachadi) etc. are to be taken, followed by
liquid items like broth or Soar Soup-pulusu, sambaar or liquid item like majjiga
pulusu, and in the ending of the meal take butter milk or curd. Desserts also
can be had after completing the principal meal. Crisps and pappads, moderately
toasted, can also be taken together with any curry or chutney. Telugu people
still follow the same manner. He also mentioned the food habits of north- Indian
people, at places like Varanasi and other areas. This book further advised to
take a grinded mixture of ginger and salt as the foremost item, “bhojanaagree
sadaapathyam lavaNaardraka bhakshanam”-as it acts as an appetizer and stimulates
the taste buds on the tongue. He also recommended of having a sweet item at the
end (bhojanaante madhurasam). A sweetened “kappuraviDemu” or taambuulam
(Meethapaan) in the end of the meal helps to improve appetite. According to the
Sruti, one must have finished one’s lunch by noon and night meal by dusk i.e.
before 7-00pm –saayam praatar manushyaaNaam aSanau Sruti
boodhitam.
Annam
is the synonym of Telugu people
Food
history of Telugu people begins with annam (the cooked meal). amba
and andhas are synonyms of annam in Sanskrit. Amba means annam. Right
hand is called as ambaTi cheyyi as it is used to take food. ambaTi vELa is food
time. antha also means annam. People who eat annam might be named as
andhas. Apte’s Sanskrit Dictionary mentions annam as a name of a race (Antha).
amrutaandhas means the immortal andha race. The Buddhist and Jain records
mentioned Andhras as andhas. In Latin, anthos means “man”. The word
Anthropology, the human science derived from this word anthos. Anthos was
originated from the Proto Indo European root “anth”, which means a man. So,
early Aryans might have called the Andhras with the name andh, denoting a human
race. Interestingly, Vietnam was called as Annam until 1940s. Annam means
“southwards” in Chinese Language. Since Vietnam was located south of China, it
was called as Annam. Similarly Telugus might have also been named so, as they
moved to south.
Telugus
forgot their original terms buvva and kuuDu, but adopted the Sanskrit term
“annam” as a sign of their principal meal. The Telugu people are using this word
“annam”, while the Tamilians call their meal “saapaDu”. All the Hindi speaking
people used to take Indian bread, which is called as Rotis. They never call meal
as annam. Annam is a synonym to Telugu people. Teluguness sounds
in calling the food as annam.
The
grass kind of grain kooDi denotes sorghum (jonna) in Telugu. Certain
Telugu food items like chekooDi, pakooDi contain kooDi which stand
for sorghum grain. ChooDi and chooLLu are synonyms of sorghum in
Telugu, and kooDi may be the original form of these words. There is
another grain by name aaLLu, otherwise popular as kooDa (Millet:
Paspalum scrobiculaium L). It is kooradusha, koodrava in Sanskrit
and waragu in Tamil. This confirms again that, kooDi, kooDa,
chooDi are the ancient Telugu names for certain food
grains.
Teluguness
in sugar
Sugar
has been produced in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times. Sugarcane was
a native of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. One of the earliest
historical references to sugarcane is in Chinese manuscripts dating back to 8th
century BC, which mention the fact that the use of sugarcane originated in
India. Crystallized sugar was discovered by the time of the Imperial Guptas.
Buddhist monks, as they travelled around, carried sugar crystallization methods
to China. During the reign of Harsha (606–647 AD.) in Northern India, Indian
envoys to Tang China taught them the methods of cultivating sugarcane. Sugar
crystals were prepared by cooling the sugar syrup in large flat bowls. In the
local Indian language, these crystals were called as khanDa which is the source
word of “candy”. In Telugu, sugar is called as panchadaara. I believe that it is
a compound word of panchan +daara; panchan meaning a Buddhist monk and daara
denoting “a gift”. History proves the Telugu shores as radiating centres for
the spread of Buddhism in all parts of the east, and on account of Telugu
bhikkus associated with the spread of sugarcane cultivation along with the
spread of Buddhism; the word panchadaara might have come to a stay in
Telugu. It is a significant point to note, that most of the Coastal Andhra
people alone use the word panchadaara, while others use chakkera. It may be
assumed that Telugu chakkera, Skt. Sharkara, Arabic Shukkar, and English Sugar
might be commonly originated from any Dravidian source as, according to G
Bronnikov’s work, Dravidian Etymology, Proto-Telugu cheruk or cher-ak means
sugar cane or sugar juice. We can extend our enquiry the about the origin of the
word chekkara from proto- Dravidian Source. Also, in the proto- eastern Chadic
language “car-k” means a kind of herb. Since it is closer to the proto-Telugu
word, those Proto- Telugu people might have started the cultivation of sugar
cane first, which might have spread to the other parts of the country
later.
Kalidasa,
of the 4th century AD., described the sugar cane cultivation of Telugu People
(Raghuvamsa, 4thsarga, 20thshloka) “ikshu chhaayaa nishaadi nyastasya goptur
guNodayam- The women of Telugu farmers who were guarding their rice crops,
taking shelter in the shadow of sugar cane plants sang the songs of welcoming
Raghu maharaja, who invaded the Telugu country. This explains the largest
harvest of sugar cane by Telugu people and sugar candy manufacturing activity in
the early parts of Christian era. It may also be assumed that, Telugu Buddhists
might be responsible for sugar exports in those days.
ATTu-exclusively
of Telugu People
ATTu
means a toasted thin pancake of moderate size. It is now popularly called as
dooSa or dosai. It might have originated from a proto- Telugu word “aTT”,
meaning “making dry”. aTTamu means a fried or burned food. aTika means a broken
pot made of mud used as a pottage pan for the purpose of making aTTu. Telugu
people still call the nonstick pan as aTla penamu or penku. penku denotes a
broken pot. puutareekulu, a sweetmeat, popular in the Godavari belt are prepared
by drying up the thin flour layers on this broken pot, placed on fire. The
Telugu aTTu is a little different from dose of Kannadigas and Tamilians. Now the
entire world is eating doosai, but Telugus only could preserve their ancient
Dravidian term aTTu. One of the important festivals of Telugus is
aTlataddi (Attu Eating Festival). Telugu style of aTTu preparation
is different. There is a considerable change of taste between the doosai
available at hotels of other language speakers and the aTTu prepared in
Telugu homes. Shrinatha described both aTTulu and dooSiyalu, which
testify the fact that aTTu was different from dooSa even by 15th
century. It can therefore be surmised safely that aTTu is specific to Telugu
culture.
Chillies
changed the Telugu Food Heritage
The
food history of Telugu People can be divided into two periods: one is before and
the other is after the introduction of chillies into Telugu land. The exact date
of this entry of chillies was not known. Portuguese Traders might have
introduced them either in early 16th Century or in the last part of Vijayanagara
rule. Chilli peppers originated in Chile, in America. Christopher Columbus
discovered America exactly on October 12, 1492. And after the Columbian
Exchange, the spread of chilli peppers to Asia was most likely a natural
consequence. Portuguese traders soon realised the trade value of chilli pepper
and promoted its commerce in the Asian spice trade routes then dominated by
Portuguese and Arab traders. Telugu cultivators were encouraged by these traders
to grow more and more chili pepper. Telugu People also showed interest and
hugged these spicy items. This was recognised as better alternative to pungent
pepper (miriyam), long pepper (pippaLLu), ginger (allamu) etc. Portuguese and
Dutch also encouraged Telugu people to prepare mango pickles for export to
western countries. Chili pepper made it easier and cheaper to prepare mango
pickle like, avakaaya, maagaaya and tokkuDu pacchaDi. The Telugus made
several experiments and introduced several forms of pickles. They invented
varieties like the one with jaggery, (bellam aavakaya), coriandam (dhaniyaala
aavakaya), sesame (nuvvu avakaya) and fenugreek seeds (menti kaaya), all meant
for export to west. Usually, most of the Europeans do not like such pungent food
items. But it seems somehow they welcomed the Telugu pickles. The foreign
traders of this period placed orders for large quantity of pickle packing-. This
is how chillies helped the promotion of foreign trade on this land and
significantly contributed to its economy, besides making aavakaya, the most
favorite food item of Telugu house hold.
The
great Karnatic composer Purandaradas (1480-1564) sang of the chilli: “I saw you
green, then turning redder as you ripened, nice to look at and tasty in a dish,
but too hot if an excess is used. The Savior of the poor, enhancer of good food
is difficult even to think of (the deity) Panduranga Vittala,” (see Historical
Dictionary of Indian food, by K T Achaya- page no. 43). This reference throws
light not only on its entry but its high popularity all over Deccan. .Mariichi
is the Sanskrit term for pepper. Pepper is called miryam in Telugu. The pepper
fruit “miriyampu kaaya” from which the mirapakaaya is derived which has become a
popular spice of modern age. The other synonym of chili pepper is mirchi, more
popular in Hindi belt, could be a derivative from mariichi.
Foreign
fruits and vegetables on Telugu land
Sri
Krishna Devaraya in his classic aamukta maalyada, said
“vaanijyamupenchiyeelagaanagun-The king must rule his country by encouraging the
trade and commerce”. It was his policy to allow foreign traders both for
purchase and selling. Chili pepper, papaya, guavas, tobacco, maize etc. were
introduced to Telugu people by Portuguese. The Dutch people brought a sort of
orange fruit from their capital Batavia to Palakole of East Godavari district.
Now, this Batavian fruit is popular as Battani kaaya in Telugu. Earlier
to this, we knew only naarinja kaaya or naaranga kaaya (Citrus Orange
fruit). By dropping “n” from naarinja/naaranga, the foreign Traders
developed a new name “orange” for sweet citrus fruit. In their broader interest
of trade, these foreign traders including the British established their
factories at Masulipatam, Nizampatam, Vizagpatam and other port areas. They
attracted our formers to grow their fruits and other yield for their overseas
trade and more often than not, benefitted largely out of it.
Tiffin-the
newly introduced term into Telugu
Tiffin,
the Indian English term is originated in British India. The word originated when
Indian custom superseded the British practice of an afternoon tea, leading to a
new word for the afternoon meal. It is derived from the obsolete English slang
“tiffing” which meant taking a little drink or sip. In Telugu, the term was used
for snacks being taken between two principal meals-lunch and supper. Much later
tiffin was applied to the morning food taken much before lunch, taken as
breakfast. The British officials of Madras Province started relishing the taste
of certain alpaahaara items like dosai, idli, vada, puuri, upma, etc which they
called as tiffin. But snack items like buundi, chekooDi etc, were
not attached to this label.
In
other parts of India, such as Mumbai, the word mostly refers to a packed lunch
of some sort. Dabba wallahs, sometimes known as tiffin wallahs, are used as a
complex courier system to send thousands of lunch boxes by the house wives, to
their spouses and/or children working at distant places. The lunchboxes in
Mumbai mostly contain rooTis or chapaatis. This may be another reason that items
like chapaati or puuri are labeled by Telugu People as tiffin.
Tiffin time is a lunch time for Bombay people, whereas snacks time for Telugu
people. Food items, other than cooked rice and curries etc., used in a meal, are
popular in Telugu land as tiffin, which is a recent development in its cooking
history.
Traditional
Telugu food items
The
great Telugu poet of 15th century, Srinathagives a long list of more than 70
food items with their Telugu names of middle ages in his Sringara Naishadha.
These food items were meant for serving to the guests attending swayamvara
function of Damayanti. Some more such names of Telugu food items may be
obtained from the literary works of Tenali Ramakrishna, Peddana, and Timmana of
Vijayanagara Period. Sri Suravaram Pratapa Reddy in his monumental work
“aandhrula saanghika charitra (The Social History of Telugu people), observed
that some of these names were confusing, as they were no more in vogue and
required the attention of scholars for further examination. More meaningful
terms like teemanam was lost in usage, as we use instead majjiga pulusu.
The reason is obvious. People are slowly urbanized and a sort of indifference
prevailed in their mind towards their mother tongue and
culture.
Traditional
Telugu food items that are high in their antiquity, rich in their nourishment,
and pure in their preparation provide good evidence of Telugu taste from ages.
The eating habits of Telugu People are in according to the Ayurvedic Text books
namely Charaka Samhita, Susruta Samhita and Vagbhata Samhita of ancient times
(bruhatrayi) and Yogaratnakara, BhaavaPrakasha and Basavaraajiiyam of Middle
ages (laghutrayi). Pulihoora (tamerind rice), gaarelu (vadai), maDugulu
(a kind of Parotas), drabbeDa (traditional fried rice of Telugu style),
uurpu (a special soup prepared by frying a vegetable on fire), angaara
poolika ( an ancient type of Telugu butter naan-prepared in tandoori method)
paala kaayalu (a sort of sweet item prepared with the cream of milk, that
helps to develop good vision among the children who are mostly exposed to
computer monitors and television screens)are the best examples of traditional
Telugu food items. Let us examine a few examples:
DrabbeDa-
was mentioned by Tenali Ramakrishna (16th century) –oka konni drabbeDa loka
konni taalimpu loka konni vidhamula yorracheerulu. In this passage he
mentioned about drabbeDalu as a special cuisine to be served in the
principal meal. But the commentators failed to decipher what really
drabbeDa meant. In Sanskrit Maha Bhagavata, we come across a
word-sthaalii puriisha in the passage: kaNa piNyaaka phaliikaraNa
kalmaaSha sthaalii puriiShaadii naamRuta vadabhyavaharati (Skt. Bhag.
5.9.11), where sthaalii puriiSha means sthaalii lagnam
dagdhaannam, a much deeply roasted rice layer stuck inside the bottom of the
cooking pot, which should not be eaten as it would lead to cancer. This passage
is in the context of JaDabharata’s life. Potana in his Telugu Bhagavatam
translated `sthaalee pureesha` as “maaDu drabbeDa”. uuka tavuDu telikapinDi
poTTu maaDudrabbeDa yaadigaa gala dravyambula yandu namrutambu pagidi ruche
cheesi bhakShinchuchu (5.1.128)…it means jaDabharata lived by eating the
husk, bran, oil cake (the stuff of sesame seeds that remains after the oil was
pressed out ) and maaDu drabbeDa, a deeply roasted layer of rice. If
spices and vegetables are added to the cooked rice and fried moderately, we will
get the delicious drabbeDa, which equals to `fried rice’of present day.
DrabbeDawas a popular traditional Telugu food item, a special variety of rice by
15th Century.
maDugulu-also
known as maDagulu, maNugulu, or maDatalu was a traditional cuisine
mentioned by various writers of middle ages. maDagu in classical Telugu
means compromise or surrender. maData means a fold or a folding. As far
as preparation of a rooTiis concerned, folding ads to its taste .Folding
the wheat-layer twice is daupaati, three times is tripaati and
four times is chapaati. In each time of the folding, oil and dry powder
are added. They increase the taste. The difference between a pulka and a
chapaati lie in its folding only. maDugulu or maDatalu
contain many foldings. paalagujju (cream of the milk) is applied after
baking the maDatalu, which equals butter naan or parooTa of
present day.
Angaara
poolika-a
mudda or a wheat-ball is to be prepared and placed on burning coal. After
the upper layer of the ball is roasted, it has to be taken out, and the
blackened crusts are to be peeled off. The core part of the ball appears like a
white flower. Hence, Srinaatha of 15thcentury described it as angara puuviya.
This can be prepared either as a sweet or a salt item and can be taken along
with soup or sweetened milk. This is a good example of the indigenous tandoori
method developed by Telugu People
Conclusion
The
present paper is to give only a brief sketch of the traditional Telugu cuisine
and its history. It is one of the neglected areas of historical study. In fact,
history extends to all important spheres of human activity and food history is
also a branch of history like political history or social history or economic
history. The food history of Telugus therefore demands a justified focus of
research in order to present the Telugu culture in its comprehensive
form.