A Telangana food cruise

“The internet introduces you to the world,” proclaims Jyothi Valaboju blogger, writer, publisher and food enthusiast, whose books on Telangana cookery brought her wide recognition and whose foray into writing was clearly enabled by her discovery of the internet.

Blogging from 2006 when she first discovered the potential of going online, Jyothi has written articles on current issues particularly those concerning women.

“Many women in their mid-life feel that there is nothing to look forward to in life and that their learning is over. I have written articles reiterating that learning is a continuous process opening up new avenues at every stage. I ask women to use the internet to travel to places and meet people whom they cannot physically reach out to,” advises Jyothi, clearly speaking from experience.

Jyothi was hooked to the net once she learned how to use it. She teamed up with fellow writers two years ago starting a Facebook group called “Pramadakshari’.

She had already started a web magazine called Maalika five years earlier of which she is the chief editor and content provider. How about egos and professional rivalries among this creative group? “We have a mixed group of senior writers, newcomers and literature lovers.

There are small issues that crop up but by and large, most of us have gained from sharing information about competitions, new subjects and topics of common interest. We even talk about stories that have been rejected by publishers and magazines. It is a healthy interaction,” she says.

For her magazine, she sources stories by different writers on a single topic given by her, which she later publishes as a book. Similarly, she has sourced cartoons and poems that were analysed by an expert exposing readers to a wide variety of views, styles and ideas. An online ‘Avadhaanam’ with participants from different cities and the Avadhani, Dr Anil Madugula from Tirupati, typing queries and responses was a rare literary feat accomplished in this manner.

Jyothi’s Sunday cookery column in the Andhra Bhoomi daily had a successful run for four years, which encouraged her to write a book on Telangana cuisine. She published two books devoted to traditional vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes in 2014 after the formation of the Telangana State but clarifies that it was the dearth of books on this cuisine that prompted her to write the book and not the fascination for everything local in the new order of things.

“Telangana food has the same basic ingredients of salt, chilli powder, turmeric, dhania powder and ginger garlic paste, but it is the manner in which they are blended with vegetables and meat that result in different flavours and taste. The mixing of non-vegetarian dishes with vegetables is peculiar to the Telangana style of cooking,” she adds. When her book review was published in a local daily 80 per cent of the calls she received enquiring about recipes were ironically from Andhra Pradesh she recalls with a laugh.

Her book was written after a year’s research, where she spoke to a number of relatives and friends gathering information about recipes with the intention of introducing them to the present generation. “Youngsters today are sadly more aware of junk food than our own dishes, which are nutritious, healthy and tasty,” she laments.

The book with 250 recipes is devoted to traditional recipes including “Bagaara annam” (seasoned rice) with a few varieties of Biryanis and food influenced by the Nizams.

JV Publications is an initiative by Jyothi to help writers bring out their books by getting the typing, DTP and all other works done. Although running a web magazine is not a commercially viable proposition with most advertisements being devoted to films and gossip, for Jyothi it remains a work of passion and a creative outlet.

The ‘Pramadakshari’ stall at the annual book fairs during the last two years resulted in good sales and provided a platform for readers to meet their favourite writers in person. “Nothing is impossible if you have a strong intention,” says Jyothi, who has no particular goals. She takes whatever comes her way and tries to do it perfectly.

“Just check out my facebook profile,” she tells me before we end our conversation. Those closing words reflect her success and take us back to the beginning of her journey.

By:Aruna Ravikumar