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Gongura

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File:GntGongura1.jpg
At a Market in Guntur

Gongura (Hibiscus cannabinus) (Template:Lang-te), a relative of the Roselle, is an edible plant grown in India.

Gongura pacchadi is quintessentially Telugu cuisine along with pacchadi (chutney or relish). While it has many culinary uses, the most popular is the pickled version. Although Gongura is widely consumed all over Andhra Pradesh, Guntur Gongura is more popular in hotels, restaurants, eateries and food joints. In the Telengana 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]. Similarly, "Gongura" is popular in Tamilnadu as well, which is called "pulichakeerai" in Tamil. The famous combination with "pulichakeerai" is "Ragi Kali/Ragi Mudde", which once used to be a regular food for the people in villages (since these items are easily available in agricultural forms). In Maharashtra markets, it is called Ambaadi (अंबाडी). It is known as Pitwaa in Hindi, Nalitaa Saaga in Oriya, Mestapat in Bengali, Pandi in Kannada and Sorrel Leaves in English. It is a summer crop, and the hotter the place, the more sour the leaf gets.

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.

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

Other well known recipes made with Gongura as the main ingredient are Gongura Pappu (Lentils), Gongura mamsam (goat/mutton) and Gongura royyalu (shrimp). In recent times, Gongura Chicken is also being served in restaurants. Gongura and calabash is extremely popular with the Telugu community in South Africa.

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)

Notes

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

Gongura Pickle Recipe and Video


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