If you are from India, what are some unique or special foods from your hometown?

 I'm from a city named Dharwad. Its known as the Vidya Kashi as there are many universities, colleges and schools. It was center of education for the northern part of Karnataka for many decades.

Its famous for Dharwad Pedha.

A brief history:

Dharwad peda was originally started by the Thakur family who had migrated from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh to Dharwad after plague broke out in Unnao in early 19th Century. Ram Ratan Singh Thakur, a first generation confectioner, started producing and selling pedas locally. Dharwad peda was prepared from the milk of Dharwadi buffaloes which are raised by the Gavali community in and around Dharwad. His grandson Babu Singh Thakur helped grow the family business further in their Line Bazaar store and the peda came to also be called locally as the "Line Bazaar Peda". The family closely guards the recipe of the Peda as a trade secret which has been passing down the lineage. Babusingh Thakur's single outlet store that was running for a few decades expanded later in many other cities. In many other cities around India other confectioneries also sell Dharwad peda which is not connected to the Thakur family.

Use:

Its given in almost all the occasions.

Its given when someone scores well.

Its given when someone gets admission.

Its given when someone gets a job.

Its given like in almost every happy occasions.

But still people are not tired of it. Share some good news and they ask “Pedha elle? Yaavag kodti?” (Where is Pedha? When will you give?)

Where to buy?

I would say, Babu Singh Thakur pedha is still the best. Mishra Pedha isn't bad either.

What is the famous dish of Pune?

 Pune is famous for khavayye giri (foody). In morning 7 AM you will get lots of stalls of famous Kanda poha, upma, sabudana khichadi, misal pav even south indian dishes like Idli, Dosa all over in main areas of Pune.

Famous dishes of Punekar’s which you dont have to miss whenever you are visiting this historic city are as follows:

• Misal Pav: It is the state’s signature dish, which is served along with pav bread, combined with two types of curries. One curry type is spicy, while another is specially cooked green curry. At times, potato fries also accompanies the dish, to make it the most popular of all street foods available here in Pune.

• Bakarwadi

• Kanda Poha: A tasty snack made of puffed rice. It is also served mainly during breakfast. People love to have it with tea.

• Mastani - milk based liquid with fresh fruit pulp (custard Apple) with a scoop of ice cream containing fruit.

• Bhajaniche Thalipeeth - Thalipeeth is a type of savoury multi-grain pancake popular in Western India. It is a special Maharashtrian dish. The dough is prepared from a special flour made from roasted tapioca(sabudana), Rajgira (Amaranth), coriander seeds, cumin seeds, wheat, and rice. Onion, fresh coriander and other vegetables and spices are added when kneading the dough.

• Various types of Bhaji (Pakodas)- You can get verious types of mouth watering bhajiya at one stop, you can order mix bhaji (Pakodas), or what you like to it in a single plate also option with pav (Bread) and without pav. Types are kanda bhaji, palak bhaji, batata bhaji, mirchi bhaji, bread pakoda, and Even Mumbai Pune famous wada pav.

• Bharli Vangi: A famous side dish of this region which is cooked with small brinjals and crushed peanuts. It is a bit spicy preparation as chili powder is one of the main ingredients. A favorite side dish of the locals who eat it with rotis and naan.

• Ukadiche Modak- Very unique and special Maharashtrian delicacy which is prepared on the occasion of Ganesh festival. Sweet coconut filling in nice and soft rice flour coating tastes just amazing.

• S.P.D.P aka Shev Potato Dahi Puri also called as Shev Dahi Batata Puri - Have you heard of the abbreviation S.P.D.P before? Well if you are from Pune or have lived in Pune for a while you are sure to know what I am talking about. It's the most popular dish in the most popular cafe in Pune. The dish is Sev Potato Dahi Puri , a tantalising combo of crisp puris filled with boiled potato, beaten yogurt, sweet and sour tamarind chutney, hot chilly and mint sauce, finely chopped onions and tomatoes all topped with more yogurt and crispy sev. In short it is heavenly.

• Varan Baath: -Varan Baath is a famous dish all across Maharashtra and so is in Pune. Varan is basically yellow dal, which is made with green chillies, water, oil and spices. This dal is light weighted and is best eaten with rice. Many people have omelette or sometimes fish fry with this combination of rice and dal to add some taste. So, if you want to eat true Marathi cuisine then have this dal and rice!

Edit 1: Some more famous dishes in Pune.

1. Sabudana Khichadi:

2. Matki bhel

Hope you all tried these mouth watering dishes.

If you are from India, what are some unique or special foods from your hometown?

 Well my native is Tamil Nadu but settled in Bangalore…so the dishes we prepare in home are mixed with dishes of Tamil Nadu and Bangalore.

Masala Dosa-This world favourite dish originated in Southern India and especially this crisp form of Dosa is from the Udupi cuisine.

Bisibelebath

One of my favourite dishes from Bangalore cuisine,this dish should be eaten when it is hot along with Khara Boondi to make a perfect taste.

Mysore Pak -

This famous sweet of Karnataka will melt as soon as you take it in your mouth……Prepared from Chana Dhal, jaggery/sugar and ghee,the ghee will start flowing from its sides as soon as taste it.

Bussaru-

One of the favourite dishes of Bangalore to be eaten along with rice,its famously called as Kannada sambar by Tamils like us who have settled in Bangalore.

Neer Dosa-A dish from Mangalorean cuisine..

Pongal or Milagu Pongal-

Prepared on 4th day Pongal festival of Tamil Nadu,Venn Pongal as the name suggests resembles the same colour of butter.

Idlies- No dish can be as white as Idlies and its fluffyness which comes after steaming will make you to eat it again and again.

This dish when steamed on White cloth in a Idli Gunda by using wood will taste more than the steamed one using Stove.

Pongal Kootu or Ezharai Kootu

Pongal Kootu is one of the famous Kootu prepared on the day of Surya Pongal(A famous festival for us).The ingredients are prepared from 7 types of vegetables(Mainly creepers).

Paal Payasam-This sweet porridge is made during festivals and is offered to God.Made from milk,roasted semiya and fried cashews will make you to have again and again.

Pachai Payir Paniyaram-Grinded Bengal gram filled with Thengai pooranum(coconut and Jaggery),coated with Maida flour and fried in groundnut oil, this dish is prefect to eat as a evening snack .

Kozhukattai or Modakam-One of the favourite dishes prepared on Vinayagar Chaturthi and Karthigai Deepam,this dish is liked very much by Lord Ganesha and Lord Muruga(karthikeya).

Kevaru Puttu-Kevaru Puttu is a dish from my native made by steaming Kevaru(Ragi powder) with dessicated coconut and Pana Vellam(Jaggery from Palm tree).

Adai

Adai is a instant dish that resembles like Dosa but is made from soaked grams of various types.

This dish is prepared on the days of Pournami(full moon) and mainly on Thiruvadirai festival(the day on which universe was created).

Thenga Poli-

Introduced by Marathas during their rule in Tamil Nadu,this dish as become famous among us,mainly prepared on festival days,its shelf life is longer.

Paruppu Vadai

Every festival of Tamil Nadu has two dishes mainly- One is Payasam and the other is Paruppu Vadai.

Our banana leaf should compulsory have these two dishes.

Kuzhi Paniyaram

The vessel used to make this dish is very different as it has space for filling this rounds.

As the name indicates this Paniyaram uses Kuzhi shetty for its preparation.

Idiyappam- Idiyappam or Indian noodles is prepared from steamed rice flour.

Last but not least- My favourite dish from my native-The one and only Ambur Biriyani.

Eat it once and you will die for it.

This is the way we prepare the dishes and offer it to our God on festival days.

Ganesh Chaturthi at my home!

If you are from India, what are some unique or special foods from your hometown?

 I am from Chirala, Andhra Pradesh. It is very famous for handloom sarees and is called as Small Bombay or mini Mumbai for cloth merchants. In addition to that, we had a few good things about food. I will start with famous items first.

Sweet Samosa- He is the one who is making them from long years and they were limited. He usually sells them in the morning time and people would stand in queue like for a tatkal ticket. I am bringing his story for you.

Though the outer crust is made with regular all purpose flour, the filling is mixed with large chunks of cashew, grated cononut and other dry fruits. The deeply fried Samosa takes a lavish dip in the jaggery syrup to add to become juicy and rich in sweetness.

The Sweet Samosa of Chirala was conceptualised by Muneer. 70- year-old Shaik Muneer spent his young days in Ongole. He sold bananas and other seasonal fruits in Nellore Bus Stand center in the district capital for more than a decade. As his financial problems did not subside, he moved to Chirala and started the Samosa business.

He added a twist to the regular Samosa by replacing the onion, mashed potato with cashew and other dry fruits. Muneer explains, “After a lot of suffering with the fruits business in Ongole, I came to Chirala and started the Samosa business about three decades ago. At that time, there were no Samosa makers in the town and everything went well.

But after few days, I received competition from others and tried to do something different with the available resources. After a lot of trials the present combination of the Sweet Samosa was developed.” The unique formula of composition of ingredients made the Sweet Samosa a special sweet in the neighborhood.

Muneer and his wife prepares the snack in his house in the noon and shifts the readymade snacks on a pull cart near SBI ATM in Durbar Road by late afternoon. But he closes the business within just two to three hours of opening sales. Such is the demand for his Sweet Samosas.

Due to the secrecy in the composition of ingredients, no one is able to duplicate the Sweet Samosa of Muneer, which could be stored for more than one week without any added preservatives.

That’s one reason Muneer’s Sweet Samosa travelles the world and some foodies request their friends and family members from Chirala to deliver the snack for them while their trains halt in Chirala. The quality of the snack at all times is bringing Muneer repeated customers though the price of it increased from Rs. 7 to 25 in all these years.

Pulliah Bajji

Ravva Laddu

Tokkudu Laddu

Jeedipappu Pakam

Kova

Kajji Kayalu

Gavvalu

Tomato Rice- Every Mother’s fav dish.

Dappalam- it is a old recipe, it looks like sambar but no it is different. My grand mother always confuses me between sambhar and dappalam. It has many flavours Gummadikaya Dappalam, Aanapakaya Dappalam etc.

Kakarakaya Chips- not just chips, they make pulusu(curry), fry and pachadi (Pickle) with this.

Tomato Pacchadi

Beerakai Pacchadi(Ridge guard)

Gongura (Red Sorrel Leaves)

Gongura fish curry

Gongura Chicken curry

Gongura Mutton Curry

Gongura Pappu Curry- dal

Gongura Pulihora- tiger rice

Ponnaganti Kura Alternanthera Sessilis

Munagaaku Pappu- Drum Stick Leaves Dal

Menthukura Pappu- Methi Dal

Maamidikaya Pappu- Mango Dal

Miriyala Chaaru- Pepper Rasam

Majjiga chaaru with sonthi- Butter milk with dried ginger