Traditional, healthy dishes win big at The Hindu ‘Our State, Our Taste’ competition at Nellore

Nearly 200 home chefs and young culinary talents participated in The Hindu’s ‘Our State, Our Taste’ cooking contest at The D.R. Uttama Hotel in SPS Nellore on Saturday, July 6.

Participants have prepared a wide variety of traditional and healthy dishes, showcasing authentic flavours of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions using Aashirvad Masala Karam.

This competition aims to discover the top cooking champions of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The contestants were encouraged to either prepare their best traditional dish or add a modern twist to a timeless recipe.

The event saw a high level of culinary skill and creativity, making the judges’ task challenging.

Winners

G. Sridevi emerged as the winner of the preliminary round, impressing the judges with her exceptional preparation of ‘Chinta Puvvu Royyala Iguru’, a staple dish of Andhra cuisine. She will now advance to the grand finale which will be held in Vijayawada on July 27th.

G. Vidhya Dharini was declared the second winner with her healthy dish, oats-millets cake, while M. Jaya was the third winner with another traditional dish, ‘Chintakaya Pachadi Pulihora’.

B. Suchitra and K. Anitha were declared the consolation winners for their special preparations of dosa and vada respectively.

Other participants have brought a variety of native dishes such as Korameenu Chepala Pulusu, Nelimu Gandi Chepala Pulusu, Usirikaya Pulihora and Chintakayapodi Vankaya curry.

J. Sree Kala, president of Nellore’s Women Wing of Urban Arya Vysya Association, has actively participated in the event along with vice-president Swarna Malya, secretary G. Radha and other members of the association. They have come up with traditional dishes like Sajja Pindi Tapilatlu, dry fruit chapathi, carrot payasam, rajma potato curry and others.

In the grand finale, winners will receive cash prizes of ₹75,000 for first place, ₹50,000 for the second and ₹25,000 for the third place.

The judges for the contest, celebrity chefs ETV Raju, Chinnam Raju and Shankar Prasad, evaluated the dishes based on several criteria, including taste, texture, flavour, and presentation.

The prizes were distributed by K. Ravi Kumar, senior deputy manager of The Hindu Group, Vizag, Mr. Krishna, the JSO of Aashirvaad Masala Karam ITC, Mr. Madhavan, sales officer from Parry’s Dal, Sheik Mujeeb Basha from RKG Ghee, Mr. Vamsi Krishna, sales officer from Bambino Pasta/Vermicelli, Muvuri Srinivasa Rao (Vasu), MD of CMR Group, Mr. Madhav Kumar from GRT Tirupati Branch, C.H. Suresh, distributor from IOCL and knowledge partners—chef ETV Raju, chef Chinnam Raju and chef Shankar Prasad.

The event was a huge success and celebrated the rich culinary heritage of Andhra Pradesh. It provided a platform for aspiring chefs to showcase their talents.

The ‘Our State, Our Taste’ cookery competition is presented by Aashirvaad Masala Karam, powered by Parry’s Dal/Pulses in association with RKG Ghee and Bambino. The textiles partner is CMR Shopping Mall, the jewellery partner is GRT Jewellers, the energy partner is Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, and the knowledge partner is Raju’s Food Art.