IF I am asked to put together a typical Andhra Pradesh coastal breakfast for an outsider like what is had every morning by the people of Vizag, this is what I would suggest: Egg Curry and Aapam; Pongal; Pesarathu; Attukulu Upma; Kudumu; Punugulu; Masala or Plain Dosa; Rawa Dosa; and, Thottakoora Wada. Followed, naturally, by a strong cup of filter coffee. In coastal Andhra Pradesh, you can endear yourself to the locals by expressing that coffee is your preferred drink over tea.

Among this rather elaborate Sunday breakfast menu, the Egg Curry and Aapam is de rigeur in most households, though some families might just prefer a Chicken Stew made in coconut milk. This is fresh coconut milk, Vizag is flush with coconut trees, and coconuts are available round the year. Unfortunately, we don�t get toddy in this city and have to ferment our dough with yeast! Toddy is used more in Mangalore and Udipi in Karnataka than anywhere else in the South.

I think Vizag�s most famous breakfast dish is the Pesarathu, a pancake-like dosa made out of green moong dal. It is cooked in every household and is also available on the menus of every tiffin restaurant in the city. It is popularly known as the MLA Pesarathu. Legend has it that MLAs of this city have always been fond of this dosa and demand it wherever they go.

I don�t know if this explanation is true, but nobody has contradicted it as yet! The Pesarathu, apart from the green moong dal, also has a little rice. The composition is, say, 95 per cent moong, which is soaked with the rice and made into a dosa paste. It is a healthy combination. Into this dosa is stuffed not the spicy potato masala with onions, but a regular portion of upma! The upma that goes into the Pesarathu is the normal upma that is made in South Indian homes everywhere. However, in Vizag there is also the Attukulu Upma, which is made of beaten rice and not rawa. It is made the same way as the regular Upma, but is definitely the more popular, and had with a number of the tasty Andhra chutneys.

Of the rest of the Andhra breakfast menu, the Kudumu is really an innovation of the common South Indian Idli, only a much bigger variation. Instead of making several small Idlis for a large family, the housewife uses her steamer to make one large Kudumu which is then cut like a cake and had with sambar and chutney.

The Punugulu is a bonda, and often eaten as an afternoon snack as well, made out of urad dal and rice plus some seasonings that differ from house to house. It is deepfried and is dipped into the tartish tamarind chutney while eating. The Thottakoora Wada is a speciality, however. It is a regular wada, the batter is the same, and the seasonings and jeera amounts are what would go into a Medu Wada. Only, the Thottakoora Wada is mixed with the local spinach.