Bobbatlu, Ariselu and five other sweets from Telangana and AP you must try

Most of these sweets are prepared during festivals like Sankranti, Dasara and Diwali.

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The Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have a rich variety of desserts which are specially prepared and savoured during festivals like Sankranti, Dasara, Diwali and other celebratory occasions.

These staple dishes are simply irresistible and are permanent fixtures in the menu during Telugu weddings and festivals. However, they are not so well-known outside the two states.

Here’s a list of such popular snacks from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Bobbatlu

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Bobbatlu has different names like Bakshalu and Oligalu in different parts of the states. It is mostly prepared during Sankranti and Ugadi, which is the Telugu New Year. It is usually prepared with flour, ghee, split chickpeas and jaggery. But the dish is open to experimentation, and is also made with alternative stuffings like coconut and even khoya or palkova.

“In Telangana, they add a bit of roasted split chickpeas too,” says Hyderabad-based food blogger Sankalp.

Preparing Bobbatlu is a time-consuming process, but this effort is worth all the pain when the soft and smooth Bobbatlu melts in your mouth. The dish is a filling snack that quickly satiates hunger pangs.

All versions and variations of Bobbatlu taste great. “From small kids to elders, nobody can resist eating it. In some parts of Andhra Pradesh, Bobbatlu is eaten with hot ghee as a dip sauce,” Sankalp says. This is mostly in upper caste and upper class homes, he says.

Ariselu

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Ariselu is mainly prepared during Sankranti from the first harvest of rice. It is made from soaked rice, jaggery, ghee and oil. “Ariselu is a travel food; rich in protein. It has a long shelf life. Variants of Ariselu are found in several states like Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala,” Sankalp says.

The preparation requires a lot of time, care and experience.

In Tamil, it is known as Adhirasam; Kajjaaya in Kannada and Anarsa in Marathi. To prepare Ariselu, the rice has to be soaked overnight and ground until it turns into fine powder. Jaggery should be made into a syrup by boiling it with water. The syrup should be mixed with cardamom powder and ghee. Later, the ground rice should be added little by little into the syrup and mixed like a chapati dough. The mix should be made into small balls and patted into round flat shape and dipped into hot oil.

“It requires a lot of concentration while making Ariselu so that the sweet does not turn out dry. The oil needs to be extracted as much as possible before it is deep fried,” says home cook Rajakumari. When adding the rice powder to the simmering jaggery it has to be constantly stirred to prevent forming lumps, Rajakumari shares.

Ariselu is widely preferred in Telangana with sesame seeds on it, according to Sankalp.

Poornaalu

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Poornalu is particularly famous in Andhra Pradesh, and is made during Dasara, Diwali and Sankranti. Poornalu has similar stuffing as Bobbatlu, but Poornalu is dipped in batter like maida, rice or urad dal and deep fried like fritters.

Poornalu is also called as suyyam, seeyam, sukhiyan, sugeelu or sugunta in other parts of south India. This is essentially a sweet, stuffed version of the savoury snack punugulu, a street food staple in many parts of Andhra.

In one variant of Poornam, known as Senagapappu Bellam Poornam, mostly had in East and West Godavari regions of Andhra Pradesh, people prefer having Poornam with ghee, according to Sankalp.

Palathalikalu

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Palathaliku is similar to payasam, made from rice flour kneaded into balls and then made into slender threads of noodles. If you are tired of having payasam for every occasion, try Palathalikilu from Andhra Pradesh, which can be described as creamy payasam.

The thalikalu, made from rice flour, can be prepared through an arduous process by hand, but a shortcut is usually preferred in the form of a murukku maker. Adding pieces of coconut to Palathalikalu adds to the taste, Rajakumari says.

Undrallu

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Undrallu are specially made during Vinayaka Chavithi. These are steamed rice balls made of rice flour or rava and are similar to the modak or kozhakattai. Undrallu are of two types - hot and sweet.

These are also often experimented with, and have sweet and savoury versions with all kinds of stuffings.

Sunnundalu

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Sunnundalu are laddus made from skinned split black gram or urad dal, and ghee and jaggery. In Telugu weddings, this sweet is prepared for the newly married groom by the mother-in-law as a custom.

It’s one of the easier sweets to make on this list with a simple process. Once the urad dal is ground into flour, the second and final task of rolling the laddus can even be delegated to restless kids wreaking havoc around the house. Telangana has a different version of Sunnundalu with Ragi. They both have the similar recipe though, Sankalp shares.

Rava Laddu

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Rava Laddu is a variant of ladoo made with rava, coconut, ghee, warm milk, sugar and dry fruits. It is also known as Suji Laddu. According to cooks, preparing these laddus takes less than 60 minutes. Adding elaichi to it adds to the flavour. While some use fine powdered sugar for the preparation, some use sugar syrup, says Rajakumari.

There's no need for a special occasion to prepare Rava Laddu. It's an anytime dish! If you have tried your hand at preparing dalgona coffee, there is no harm in trying these dishes as well.

Food

Bobbatlu, Ariselu and five other sweets from Telangana and AP you must try

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