Bhadrachalam: An alluring addition to temple town fame

Bhadrachalam: A hotel which makes 'Pesarattu-Upma'is making waves in temple town Bhadrachalam. It is witnessing increasing footfalls of youth who are usually hooked on street foods such as pizza, PaniPuri, Manchuria and other junk foods.

The fifty-year-old Bhadram Pesarattu hotel set up as a paka(hut) outlet is chock-a-block with connoisseurs of food right from the morning. The temple town, famous as South Ayodhya, draws a steady stream of devotees who are partaking its famed delicacy, too. It is emerging a hotel of choice for those coming from Chhattisgarh, Odissa and Andhra Pradesh, who are relishing the snack.

The hotel was set up by Sanka Bhadram. He used to offer 'Pesarattu Upma'alone as breakfast in the hotel. After his death, his sons are continuing the tradition, retaining the original flavour and taste of the dish. Sanka Ramu says by word of mouth, the popularity of the food has spread and people throng the hotel right from 6 am till 11 am when it closes. After the thedarshan of Lord Rama in the morning, people are seen lining up before their favourite food stall. Now-a-days, people going on Papikondalutour, too, are taking away parcels of breakfast dishes to savour them during the boat ride.

Ramu said they use mattipoyyi(earthen oven) with firewood to give the dish an authentic feel. They source quality green gram from tribal farmers. Adding pieces of green chilli, ginger, and onions to the dough on firewood gives a good taste, he claims.

A special chutney made with special kind of chilli powder is served to make Pesstattun Upma tastier. A number of youth who are taken to modern fast foods are slowly veering to the traditional food, he noted with satisfaction. An admirer K Ramkrishna said even expensive hotels would not provide such traditional, tasty, authentic and healthy food as 'Pessrattu-Upma.'