Coastal Andhra

Coastal Andhra is dominated by the Krishna and Godavari river delta regions and is adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. This proximity to water has led to rice, lentils, and seafood becoming dietary staples in the region. Andhra cuisine has its own variations, but dishes are predominantly rice-based. The Nellore region in the south has its own unique recipes, markedly different from those in Uttarandhra. Andhra cuisine is prevalent in restaurants all over Andhra Pradesh, as well as in cities like Bangalore, Chennai, and New Delhi.

The Uttarandhra region is composed of the northeastern districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, and Visakhapatnam in Coastal Andhra. While Visakhapatnam district has a cuisine closer in character to the rest of Andhra's districts, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam cuisine shares less in common with other Andhra regional cuisines. The food of the Uttarandhra region is often sweeter than in other regions of Andhra Pradesh. Lentils are often cooked in jaggery, a dish referred to as bellam pappu (బెల్లం పప్పు) and are usually served with butter and steamed rice.

Ugadi Pachadi

Vegetables are often cooked in a gravy of menthi kura (fenugreek seed paste), avapettina kura (mustard seed paste), or nuvvugunda kura (sesame paste). Ullikaram is another popular dish in which vegetables or corn seeds are flavored with shallots or onion paste. Poori and patoli are popular breakfast or festival dishes. Patoli is composed of soaked split black chickpeas (senagapappu or chana dal) ground to a coarse paste and seasoned with coriander seeds, onions, and sometimes cluster beans (goruchikkudukaya) . Upma or uppindi coarsely broken rice steamed with vegetables and seeds.

Idli is also very common. Karam podi is a popular curry powder that is served with idli, dosa and upma. Inguva charu is a sweet-and-sour stew made with tamarind and hing. It can be eaten with rice or uppupindi. Bellam pulusu is another flavorful, thick, sweet stew made out of rice flour, jaggery, corn cobs, and whole shallots. The pickles used in Uttarandhra differ from those of other regions of Andhra Pradesh. Avakaya is a mango pickle which is part of a standard Andhra meal.

Baghara Baigan

Rayalaseema

Rayalaseema, in the south of Andhra Pradesh, is well-known for the spiciness of its cuisine due to the liberal use of chili powder in almost every dish. Seema karam is a dish unique to this region. Some of the main courses include rice, jonna (jowar), ragi roti with neyyi , and raagi sangati , usually served with spinach or pulusu. Uggani is a dish unique to Rayalaseema, especially Ananthapur, Kurnool, and Kadapa districts, as well as in Karnataka, where it is called oggane.

Uggani bajji served primarily as a breakfast dish, but can be eaten as a snack too. It is spicy and a signature dish of Rayalaseema and Eastern Karnataka. Sweeter dishes of Rayalaseema include ariselu (rice-based vada with jaggery), pakam undalu (a mixture of steamed rice flour, ground nuts, and jaggery), borugu undalu (a sweet made of jowar and jaggery), and rava laddoo . Masala borugulu , nargis mandakki, and ponganaalu (wet rice flour fried in oil, with carrot, onion, and chilis) are other savory specialties from the region.

Uggani