Andhra Mess ku Swagatam!!

When I spotted a humble yet welcoming and cheerful restaurant specializing in Andhra cuisine closer to my workplace, my happiness knew no bounds. I immediately gathered my bunch of easy-to-convince friends and decided to explore Andhra cuisine for lunch that day .

"Naidu Andhra Mess" said a board displayed at the entrance. This was probably the humblest of all restaurants I had ever visited. It was a simple rectangular hall with chairs arranged around tables. The blue walls had paint peeling off in places. A large table at the end of the hall had food placed on it. A mirror and a wash-basin occupied one corner while a payment counter occupied the other.  The interiors of the place made me wonder what the USP (Unique Selling Point) of this eatery was. 

It was lunch time and tables were getting occupied really fast. We too selected a table and made ourselves comfortable. Even before we could think of what to order, banana leaves for each one was laid. Small buckets filled with different kinds of curry placed and in no time our banana leaves (used as plates) were filled with fluffy, white, steaming rice!

This promptness of service was delighting and the variety of dishes served, intriguing. There was this typical South Indian Sambhar along with Rasam and thick Indian Dal (known as Pappu in Telugu). Then there was Vepudu: crunchy and spicy parwal (snake gourd) coated in gram flour- garlic paste and deep fried. The very sight of it set my salivary glands working!

Being a self-confessed lover of all things crispy and crunchy, imagine my joy when we were given a generous helping of crispy crunchy fries! These were probably made from rice-flour, am not too sure though.

The one thing that was unique here was Podi. This is basically powdered dal (pulses) to be eaten with rice and very little sesame oil. It has a unique tangy, salty taste, the perfect combination of I-don't-know-what to satisfy those taste buds.

Pickles are an indispensable part of Andhra/Telugu cuisine. At Naidu Andhra Mess, we were served two kinds of pickle: raw mango and okra. You need to taste to believe how tantalizing these pickles were.

Just when we thought we had eaten way too much than our tiny tummies could hold, we were served a glassful of chilled, fresh salty buttermilk. Unable to resist, we quickly gulped in this tempting Indian drink. 

Once at the billing counter, we were shocked to hear that we had to pay only Rs. 50 each for all the food we had eaten. This was awesome. Unlimited quantity of quality food at such low rates, what else could one ask for! 

As I walked out of Naidu Andhra Mess that afternoon, I looked around to see the faces of others leaving with me. 'Contentment' shone brightly on each one's face. Instantly, I knew what the USP of this humble road-side eatery actually was!