Re: gOngUra in telangANA
Ramakrishna S. Pillalamrri (pkrishna@ARL.MIL)
Fri, 6 Jun 1997 16:16:25 -0600
Ramana,
I sent a mail to Kotapati saying the samething. And he sent a response.
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----Sambasiva Rao gaaroo,
ayyO, telangANA vALLanadarinee "telugu" vALLu kAdanTunnArA!
I am in a peculiar position. My parents are from Tenali and Kolluru. I was
born in Kolluru, probably was in Tenali for just a couple of years, before
my father moved to Secunderabad in search of a job. So, I pretty much grew
up in Secunderabad, in telangANA.
Secunderabad telugu, at that time, was not as much influenced bu urdu, as
Hyderabad was. Also, we were raised pretty much as an "Andhra" family. We
didn't acquire the telangANA accent in our daily family life (my younger
brothers, and their children now do!). With friends I spoke using a mild
telangANA accent, which I was able to switch on and off at will. (NOwadays,
I find that difficult to do. I think people don't associate me with being
from telangANA, from my speaking manner. Let me know if this is correct)
telangANA does have gOngUra, with the leaf having a reddish tinge, and
being considerably more sour than the Andhra variety. However, it was not
considered better for immediate use (gOngUra pappu, pulusu,
short-term-paccaDi), but not that good for long term (nilava unDE) paccaDi.
My father's friend in Tenali, who worked as a "pleader gumAstA", used to
come to Secunderabad once ina while, and he used to bring gOngUra ina gunny
bag. By the time we got it, the leaves inside were already in a
"composting" process, and hot to touch! I think my grandmother used to mix
a certain amount of the local (red) variety of gOngUra to this, and make
the yearly-paccaDi.
The paccaDi made for immediate use, using the local variety did not ned the
addition of cinta-panDu, whereas if made by the imported variety, it did
need.
There is a person here in DC area, called Mr. Sailo. Apparently he is from
Assam or beyond. Curiously, he grows kAkarakAyalu, and gOngUra, on a large
scale, in his yard. We can go there and pick the gOngUra leaves and buy. In
weekend summer mornings, we can usually see telugu families there, picking
the leaves.
I share your concerns regarding the local police looking at growing the
plane, with suspicion. We grow it inour yard too. I am not that concerned
about the police, as I expect them to be better informed. But I am
concerned that some neighbour, or "dArina pOyE dAnayya" might mistake it
for marijuana, and "alert" the authorities, and cause a nuisance visit by
the police. It hasn't happened yet.
Ramakrishna
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Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 13:43:22 EDT
From: rkotapati@eagle.navsses.navy.mil
To: PKRISHNA@arl.mil
Subject: gOngUra
Respected RamaKrishna garu,
Thanks for your reply. RK garu.. You can understand me. Only to differentiate
area.. I used the name Telangana. That is all. I worked in Medak for 2 years.
But, I did not see gOngUra in market. pAlAkUra is very tasty from that area.
I wanted to see the name Visalandra instead of A.P. I know, you are from
Guntur dt. I am gOngUra lover. I think you know the diff between gongura that
grows in dryland and wetland. The one that grow in dryland tastes very good.
The best one is natu, but not pulla and farm. I used to grow gongura when I
was young in my fields. I used to eat fresh at least once in 3 or 4 days in
the season. My mother is very good in making all kinds of gongura. My wife
is also same as my mother. I grow gongura in my garden, here. We freeze and
eat atleast twice in a month. Incidentally, last night I ate gongura.
Regards,
Kotapati Sambasivarao.
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I am surprised that he didn't find in Medak. Perhaps he didn't associate it
with the local name, "punTi koora", or "kunTi koora". Also the leaf and the
stem are somewhat reddish. - Ramakrishna