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Gongura

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File:GntGongura1.jpg
At a Market in Guntur

Gongura (Hibiscus cannabinus) (Template:Lang-te) is a relative of the Roselle. Gongura pacchadi is quintessentially Andhra Pradesh cuisine along with aavakaaya pacchadi (pickle). While it has many culinary uses, the most popular is the pickled version. In the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh, it is known as Puntikura. Gongura is a very rich source of Iron, vitamins, folic acid and anti-oxidants essential for human nutrition[1].

File:GntGongura3.jpg
Sold on a street in Guntur

Gongura comes in two varieties, green stemmed leaf and red stemmed. The red stemmed variety is more sour than the green stemmed variety. Gongura is popular in the state of Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra markets, it is called Ambaadi (अंबाडी). It is a summer crop and the hotter the place the more sour the leaf gets.

Drying Gongura for Pickle
A jar of commercially available Andhra Pradesh style gongura pickle

Other well known recipes made with Gongura as the main ingradient are Gongura Pappu (Lentils), Gongura mamsam (goat/mutton) and Gongura royyalu (shrimp).

Apart from the curries there are many varieties of pickles made with gongura such as:

  1. Pulla Gongura (Gongura + Red Chillies)
  2. Pulihara Gongura (Gongura and Tamarind)

Guntur produces the best quality Gongura. Farmers pick Gongura early in the mornings so that the moisture is retained for the longest possible time.

Notes

  1. ^ Indian Home Cooking, S. Saran ans S. Lyness, 2004