Dishes for Andhra ugadi lunch menu is very close to my heart. As it is one of most important festival for us. Though I am born and raised in Tamil Nadu ,my roots are from Andhra Pradesh. I have been lucky to have enjoyed the blend of both the cultures of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
In my current blog, I would like to share with you the 17 most exciting and mouth watering dishes for the Ugadi Lunch Menu. Andhra meals are quite popular for its unique taste and spiciness. You will for sure enjoy this experience of knowing the beautiful spread in Ugadi lunch.
Ugadi is a new year according to the lunar calendar. It is celebrated as the beginning of the year in Andhra and Karnataka. Its an awesome experience to begin with delicious ugadi pachadi along with flavorsome and aromatic dishes.
17 Delectable Dishes for Andhra ugadi lunch menu
Ugadi menu is served on a banana leaf with a wide spread of varieties of food. Usually there will be 3 or 4 veg curries, 2 or 3 Sweets , vada, pickle , variety rice and many more. The more the dishes are the more exciting it can get. Ugadi pachadi or Chutney is the most important item amongst all the other food items. Reason being Ugadi pachadi has six important ingredients which symbolizes six aspects of life.
Let us now get to know the tasty and delicious dishes for Andhra ugadi lunch menu. I am sure you would have an amazing experience to know the huge spread of Ugadi Lunch.
| UGADI PACHADI OR CHUTNEY |
| SWEETS
Bobbatlu or Poli Saggubiyam Payasam or Sago Kheer Poornam Boorelu or Deep Fried Snack |
| SAVORIES
Medu Vada – Deep fried Savory Snack looks like a Donut Punugulu – Deep fried snack with rice and lentils Appadam or Vadiyalu or Waffle |
| VEG CURRIES
Mudda Pappu or Simple Dhal Dondakaya Pachadi or Ivy Gourd Chutney Gutti Vankaya Koora or Stuffed Eggplant Curry Chikkidu Kaya Vepudu or Broad Beans Curry Peanut chutney |
| RICE
Steamed Rice Chitrannam or Lemon Rice Daddojanam or Curd Rice |
| PICKLE
Avakai Pickle or Mango Pickle |
| Pappulu Podi or Masala Dhal Powder
Ghee or Clarified Butter |
1. Ugadi Pachadi
This is a very special and the most important dish on the Ugadi Menu. As it is made with six important ingredients. Each ingredient has a different taste and they symbolize different aspects of our lives. The six important ingredients are Jaggery, Neem, Chilli, Tamarind, Salt and Mango. My mom always used to tell me the taste that is more prominent in the chutney when tasted on the new year day has an impact for the entire year. I always wished to taste it sweet to have the joy spread throughout the year.
2. Bobbatlu or Pooran Poli
One of my favorite sweet dish. It is like a sweet paratha. Channa Dhal and Jaggery with right amount of cardamom is made as a stuffing to this sweet paratha. People love to eat with a spoon full of ghee applied on it. Some do the stuffing with coconut and jaggery as well. You can get as creative as you want with the Poli stuffing to make it taste delicious. This is one another important dish without which Ugadi Menu is not complete.
3. Saggubiyam Payasam or Sago Kheer
This is another irresistible sweet dish which is made of milk and Sabudhana or Saggubiyam or Sago. Those little chewy balls of sago totally cooked in milk and sugar tastes so velvety in your mouth. Most of the Indian Festivals are not complete without the kheer. You can also garnish the kheer with variety of nuts and dry fruits like cashew, Almonds, raisins. They make them even more richer.
4. Poornam Boorelu
It is a deep fried snack balls which is made of Channa dhal , jaggery and coconut. You can roll these balls led in a batter of rice and black lentils to make an outer cover of the batter. It is then fried into crispy sweet jaggery balls. This snack is quite popular in the other states as well with different names while the ingredients remain almost the same.
5. Medu Vada
It is a savory deep fried snacks made with urad dal or black lentil as the main ingredients. You can also add chopped onions, ginger, curry leaves to the batter to enhance the taste and the flavor. Medu Vada looks very similar like a doughnut with a hole in the middle. This is made in other states on South Indian kitchens for auspicious days or festivals. Festival lunch Menu without a vada is a rare thing to find.
6. Punugulu
This is another interesting deep fried snack served with coconut or peanut chutney. Rice and urad or black lentil batter is fried as a small crispy brown balls in oil. I have memories of my childhood days eating the sweet version of this. You can mix sugar or jaggery to the batter to make the sweet punugulu. They are very popular deep fried snack which is eaten on a regular days as well as an evening snack
7. Appadam or Vadiyalu or Waffle
There are many varieties of waffles served on the ugadi lunch Menu. These waffles are typically made from the rice flour. They can also be made with different flours. Each variety gives a different flavor and taste. Many people in Andhra make spicy waffles as well. Rice flour is poured into different shapes on a cloth and sun dried. These are deep fried in the oils to make delicious waffles.
8. Mudda Pappu or Dhal
This is commonly called Andhra Mudda pappu made of toor dhal. This is very simple dish consumes very less effort yet tastes delicious. You can temper the dhal to enhance the flavor. It tastes its best when mixed with plain rice and ghee. Many prefer to eat this with pickle to add the spice to the dhal. Probably only curry which is less spicy on the savory dishes in the lunch menu.
9. Dondakaya Pachadi or Ivy Gourd Chutney
One of the favorite Andhra dish in the lunch Menu in any andhra meals. This is made of ivy gourd. It is either made as stir fry with different spices or a chutney. It tastes the best when it is made chutney as little tamarind also added to make it tangy. You must saute all the ingredients and then grind it to a coarse paste to make this chutney.
10 Gutti Vankaya Koora or Stuffed Eggplant Curry
One of the most delicious veg curried in Ugadi Menu. Beautiful aromatic stuffing is prepared with onions, peanuts, red chillies and other spices. It is ground to paste and stuffed in the brinjal to make this tasty stuffed eggplant curry. It can also be served with plain rice or roti. This is also very popular dish in Andhra for the way it is prepared.
11. Chikkudu Kaya Koora or Broad Beans Curry
Its a very simple tasty curry made with broad beans. It can be made as a masala with onions and tomatoes or made as a stir fry. Special masala peanut powder is made to mix with stir fry to enhance the tastes. It is the best accompaniment with plain rice and dhal. Broad beans in good in lowering the cholesterol and also good for the diabetics. So they are often included as part of the lunch Menu.
12. Peanut Chutney
This spicy peanut chutney is the best accompaniment for the Medu vada or the punugulu served in the lunch menu. It made with red chilli, onions and tamarind with some tempering, Some prefer to make this chutney with green chilli and coconut as well. Either way it makes a delicious spicy chutney for the deep fried snack.
13. Steamed Rice
Though its a plain steamed rice served, it is a very important dish in the menu. Reason being , all the various veg curries taste wonderful when mixed with this plain rice. The steamed rice is served with ghee to make it more tasty. South Indians are so much used to eat the meal with the steamed rice. So meal is not complete without the steamed plain rice.
14. Chitranam or Lemon Rice
Along with the plain rice , variety of rice can be served as part of the ugadi lunch Menu. However Lemon rice is very commonly served for any important occasions or festivals in South India. There are many variety of Chitranam. It can be made with lemon, gooseberries, Mango whichever gives the sour taste. Instead of the rice, vermicelli, poha are also used to show variations to the same dish.
15. Pappulu Podi or Dhal Powder
I will not do justice to my roots if i miss to mention about this item. My friends would drool for andhra pappulu podi. It is not nothing but the roasted dhal made into powder with various spices. Some make this with peanuts and garlic as well. It is always served with hot rice and ghee.
16. Daddojanam or Curd Rice
Daddojanum is nothing but the curd mixed with the cooked rice. In addition tempered with ginger, chilli, curry leaves and coriander leaves to enhance the flavor. It is also garnished with grapes or pomegranate to enhance the taste. This is the last dish served in the lunch menu and without this meal looks incomplete. Pickles or vegetable stir fry are the best accompaniments for the curd rice.
17. Avakai Pickle
Think of Pickle Think of Andhra. The worlds best pickle is made in the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Out of all the pickles, Avakai pickle stands out the best.which is made with Mango and spices. People eat them with plain rice or mixed with dhal powder and many with curd rice. Ghee is added to the picke along with the plain rice to balance the spiciness. If you are first timer of an Andhra pickle, dont forget to add ghee to your rice.
Hope you are now familiar with the exciting dishes on the Ugadi lunch Menu and has a good experience knowing this. I am sure some regions of Andhra could have some variations and please feel free to comment in the section below. I would be happy to know.