Important Note: My blogs are usually under 500 words. This one is over 1000 words, so please read it when you are at leisure.
TELANGANA CULINARY EXPERIENTIAL TOURISM ACCELERATOR (TCETA)
As the founder of NICE and collaborator with Gopi of the Culinary Lounge in the Telangana Culinary Experiential Tourism Accelerator (TCETA), I was invited to a panel discussion moderated by my co-founder, Sanjay Anandaram. The topic was Telangana’s Cultural Identity in the World. I am sharing below some thoughts I was able to express and a few that I could not due to lack of time.
In my mind, Telangana’s culinary identity has three elements:
A. Hyderabadi cuisine
B. Telugu cuisine
C. Telangana regional cuisine
HYDERABADI CUISINE IS ALREADY A GLOBAL BRAND
Long before Telangana was formed, Hyderabad was famous for its biryani, haleem and more. This brand is strong not just in India but globally. While Lucknow was recently awarded the UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy, Hyderabad had already received that recognition back in 2019. In my view, the government does not need to make a special push to promote this further, but only take a few strategic steps which will give a multiplier effect.
APPLYING FOR UNESCO’S INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE STATUS
One step the government could take is applying for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage status for both Biryani and Haleem. This recognition honours living traditions, food practices, rituals, and cultural skills that communities pass down from generation to generation. Countries such as France, Japan, Korea, and Italy have earned and benefited immensely from this status for their culinary heritage.
I believe Hyderabadi Biryani and Haleem also deserve this status. Such recognition would document and protect these traditions while also promoting tourism. Since Hyderabad is already a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, this additional recognition would help us preserve our traditions, and we can take pride of place among the world’s great culinary heritages.
REBRANDING OF ANDHRA CUISINE
When I first came to “settle” in Hyderabad in the late 80s, there were no specialist Andhra restaurants, only Kamaths, Irani cafés, and a few student messes. The first formal Andhra restaurant, Spicy Venue, was established around 1995. Even when more “settlers” came from Andhra, we had very few options, whether it was Minerva, Chutneys, or Rayalaseema Ruchulu. There were of course plenty of Andhra messes in Kukatpally and Ameerpet, but very few formal dining options.
After the formation of Telangana, restaurant owners began dropping the word Andhra from their menus. They even began rebranding dishes after Telangana, mostly without research or authenticity. Then came the trend of naming dishes after Andhra towns or family surnames: Guntur Idli, Bhimavaram Kodi, Naidu Gari Biryani, Raju Gari Biryani, and so on. Andhra cuisine did not actually disappear but came back in a different avatar.
THE BIRTH OF TELUGU CUISINE
Meanwhile, the influx of Telugu youth from Andhra pursuing software careers continued. Owners wanted to serve this audience without the baggage of any regional labels. A new category, Telugu cuisine, was born.
Since 2021, a spate of new restaurants such as Iguru, Kavyam, Telugu Medium, Itlu, Krishnapatnam, Kadali, Am Ahaa, Theta Theta Telugu,Nannayya and Antera have opened and begun thriving. Town-based dishes continued, while dishes named after towns in Telangana began appearing on the menus.
As a side note, the name Antera is actually very clever. Founded by a friend and his family from Telangana, it combines Andhra, Telangana, and Rayalaseema in its name. Pure marketing genius at play. They can take credit for the birthing this genre.
RESEARCHING TELANGANA REGIONAL CUISINE
With Hyderabadi and Telugu cuisines flourishing, the challenge is how to define Telangana cuisine and promote it through experiential culinary tourism.
Gopi’s research initiative, Onamalu, recently began documenting regional food traditions by travelling across villages, collecting recipes, and recording the stories behind them. The extraordinary effort made by him can now be put to use.
CONCRETE STEPS THE GOVERNMENT CAN TAKE
Here are a few thoughts on some steps that the government can take up:
- Branding. Launching a Telangana cuisine while Telugu cuisine is still evolving may confuse consumers. Telangana cuisine essentially reflects rural life and habits. Something like Telangana Ooruvantalu might better capture that spirit.
- Education. We must encourage local hotel management institutes to teach this sub-genre, especially those to whom we have given land. Trained chefs are the starting point in this journey.
- Incentivise restaurants. We can offer benefits such as lower electricity tariffs to restaurants that include Telangana Ooruvantalu on their menus.
- Mobilise impact investors. We must use the accelerator platform to connect with culturally rooted HNIs and their family offices to fund rural culinary entrepreneurs.
- Support chef entrepreneurs. Globally, it is individual chefs who create culinary destinations. We must therefore nurture small, chef-led restaurants that are focused on authentic cuisines under our various self-employment schemes.
- Institute awards. Government-backed recognition can elevate individual chefs into brands.
- Organise festivals. Three festivals can be held during the year: a biryani and haleem festival during Ramzan, a Telugu cuisine festival around Ugadi, and a Telangana regional cuisine festival during Bathukamma.
- Support hawkers. Like Singapore’s Lau Pa Sat, Hyderabad can create street food districts at different locations around the city. We can offer food trucks at subsidised interest rates and brand them under Telangana’s culinary identity. For example, the area next to ITC Kohenur can become an aesthetic experience with only branded food trucks and adequate parking.
- Celebrate Legacy Brands. We must promote historical brands that we have been blessed with. My friend Jaleel’s Grand Hotel just completed 90 years. It is the oldest place to serve biryani that still continues to this date. Special recognition by the government to such legacy brands will create unique storytelling opportunities.
- Leverage Telugu Diaspora – While we are a growing tribe around the world, with a number of restaurants that serve Hyderabadi/Telugu cuisine, our target consumers currently are largely Indians. We have to make a conscious effort to target the non Indian audience, like how the Indian restaurants in London do, this will then create a more serious set of consumers who will make plans to visit us here in India. Also a conscious effort to cater to the Veg/Vegan consumers will create a different set of consumers keen on experiencing Indian vegetarian cuisine.
CONCLUSION
In Michelin terms, two stars mean that a detour is worth it; three stars justify a special trip for experiencing the food. Over the past decade, I had the opportunity to travel around the world for culinary experiences, collecting more than 120 Michelin stars in the process. What is very clear is that every restaurant is driven by a passionate chef, either as the owner or as co-owner. Chefs who have mastered their craft, innovate, and tell authentic stories through their food.
If Hyderabadi biryani and haleem earn an intangible heritage tag, food lovers from around the world will come to taste them. They can then be encouraged to experience the craft, rural life, and Telangana’s culinary culture. Within a decade, we can build a thriving experiential rural economy that is rooted in food, craft, and culture.
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