Summer heralds the beginning of the ritual of making pickles and vadiyalu (rice crackers) in most Telugu households. Often, families depend on one expert — a family friend or usually a close relative like the grandmother or elderly aunt — who helps out with sage advise on the preparations.
With the lockdown, visits from these experts will have to be missed. Does that mean one has to give pickles a miss this year?
Says Deepthi Naveen, a private school teacher, “With the lockdown, I’m getting to spend more time at home. Every morning, I stand in my balcony and look at the mango tree outside. The branches of the tree have been bowing under the weight of the mangoes and all I could think of was pickles. Two weeks back, I noticed a vendor plucking the mangoes. Curious, I asked him what he planned to do with them. ‘Avakaya’, he said, a reminder of the pickle season that has quietly arrived.”
Adjusting to the new norm
Rest assured, avakaya /mango pickles will be set for the year, given that each household will find ways and means to do it. Says Sampath T, a businessman, “No matter how many YouTube videos you watch, it can never match ammammas’ (maternal grandmothers’) avakaya taste. Every household also has a distinct flavour to its pickles. Making avakaya is a part of food-tradition. The quantities may vary but the pickle will be set in jaadis (ceramic jars). We usually source our pickle stock for the restaurant from a family in Vijayawada. They have been making pickles for us every year since I was a child. We will miss their pickles but thankfully my mum is with me. When mangoes were out in the market, she ensured some mangoes for pickles came. Usually they are cleaned and chopped in the market itself, by the vendors. At this point of time, with the lockdown, this is not feasible, so I was given the task of chopping. It was a fun session. I chopped the mangoes with a meat cleaver and got them just the way my mother wanted it. Thankfully my wife had bought ava-podi, nuvvula noone (sesame oil). After it was all set, we mixed hot rice in the utensil where pickle was made and had one helping each. It took me down memory lane.”
For a few others, more than the end process, it is about the preparation and the festive atmosphere at home. “We usually look forward to this time to have a small family-together. This year, that will be missed,” says Rajeshwari Kumar, a homemaker.
What about the younger generation who love their pickles but haven’t yet set pickles on their own? Swapna Kumar, a business-woman says, “My mother-in-law is the pickle expert. Even though she doesn’t like visiting Hyderabad from West Godavari much, she comes only to make sure we have our pickles ready. More than pickles, she wants her grandchildren to know of the food traditions. According to her, they might not learn but will at least know what goes into pickles and someday may show an interest in them. We didn’t let that wish of hers go waste, we planned a WhatsApp video call and sat salivating and watching her mix the spices with the mango pieces. She did everything like a pro; she had all ingredients ready for the demo. When we asked about her preparedness she credited cooking shows.”.
Author of cookbook titled Authentic Godavari Non-veg Recipes , Vijaya Murthi says she cannot wait for the lockdown to end. “My motto is make vadiyalu and pickles when the sun shines. I want to get fresh stock for everything and do my summer routine with my grandchildren.”
