Ulavacharu ఉలవచారు
Horse-gram soup slow-cooked for hours until it is dark, thick and tangy, served with rice and a spoon of fresh cream. A Krishna-district speciality that has gone from village kitchens to bottled brands.
Where to try it
Restaurants in Vijayawada and Gudivada; bottled ulavacharu from Vijayawada makes a good gift.
What's in it
Restaurants in NTR's HQ
Related dishes
Gutti Vankaya Kura
Small brinjals slit and stuffed with a paste of roasted peanuts, sesame, coconut and spices, then simmered in a tamarind gravy — the pride of the Andhra vegetarian table and a wedding-feast staple.
Bamboo Chicken
Marinated chicken packed into a fresh bamboo tube, sealed with leaves and roasted over a wood fire until the bamboo's sap steams the meat — a tribal cooking method from the Eastern Ghats that became the star of every Araku and Maredumilli trip.
Guntur Sannam Chilli
Not a dish but the reason for all of them: the GI-tagged Guntur Sannam chilli, traded at the Guntur Mirchi Yard, one of the largest chilli markets in Asia. It appears as mirapakaya bajji at every beach and bus stand, and as the red heat in every curry.
Vijayawada Biryani
Andhra's answer to Hyderabad: a hotter, spicier chicken or mutton biryani cooked with more masala and less saffron, served with a fiery gravy and raita. Vijayawada's biryani houses have queues on every corner.