The cuisine of Andhra Pradesh is reputedly the spiciest and hottest of all Indian cuisine. The cuisine includes both the original Andhra cooking and the Hyderabadi cuisine with its Mughlai influence. It is the former which is red hot.

The pickles and chutneys are very popular and last for several years. Chutney is made of practically every vegetable including tomatoes, brinjals and an aromatic green called 'gonkura' which is an Andhra speciality. The mango pickle 'Avakkaya' is a perennial favourite of Andhraites all over the world.

The vegetables and greens are prepared with various different masalas giving the same vegetable different flavours. Traditional Andhra cuisine also has many non-vegetarian dishes which are also spicy and unique in taste.

Hyderabadi cuisine is rich and aromatic with a liberal use of exotic spices and ghee, not to speak of nuts and dry fruits. Lamb is the most widely used meat in the non-vegetarian dishes. The biryanis (flavoured rice with meat or vegetables) is one of the most distinct Hyderabadi food.

Food is not just something to fill the stomach; it is the very essence of life. The quintessential Hyderabadi is known for his nawabi lifestyle--a gracious but rather laid-back way of life. A quality which is personified even in the languid elegance with which the city's favourite son V.V.S. Laxman bats. But when it comes to food, the Hyderabadi won't tolerate any laziness and has very exacting standards.

As they say here, food is best created with fursat and mohabbat--with time and love. In Hyderabad you will rarely find a biryani carelessly overcooked to a sticky mush or left too dry. Every Hyderabadi cook worth his salan will test the quality of the biryani cooked by spraying a handful on the floor. Only if each grain of rice falls separately does it make the grade.

Everyone in Hyderabad has his own favourites when it comes to picking a restaurant that serves the best biryani. Depending on the depth of your pocket you can choose from any of the roadside dhabas, the popular Irani cafes, or the Dum Pukht at the Grand Kakatiya. It is unlikely you will be dissatisfied. For it is not for nothing that the biryani has become synonymous with Hyderabad. This city also has the tradition of the 'midnight biryani', where close to the witching hour several hotels bring out large handis of biryani, which have been simmering on slow dum pukht for the better part of the day. These eat-all-you-can biryani buffets are very popular with late-night revellers.

But there is much more to Hyderabadi cuisine than the biryani. For if you agree with the 19th century French epicure Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, that the discovery of a new dish does far more for human happiness than the discovery of a star, then you'll have to accept that Hyderabad has done its fair bit to keep us in good cheer. It has taken the highly developed and refined Mughal cuisine of the North and imbibed it with the zesty sauces and spices of the South to create a vast and seductive repertoire quite its own. Hyderabadi food, as it has come to be known, like the city's culture, heritage and language, is a melange of several influences--Hindu, Muslim, North, South, Indian and foreign.