Sajja Sankati

Pearl millet stiff porridge — pearl millet (sajja/bajra) flour stirred into a large pot of boiling salted water in a slow, continuous stream while being beaten vigorously with a wooden paddle, cooked over medium heat for twenty minutes until it thickens to a very stiff, cohesive dough-like mass that pulls cleanly away from the sides of the pot. Wet hands are used to divide the hot sankati into smooth, round balls served directly on the banana leaf or plate. Eaten by tearing off a piece, making a thumb impression, and filling the hollow with gongura pachadi, natu kodi pulusu, or a strong dal. The sankati itself is almost flavourless — entirely neutral starch — and acts as the vehicle for the intensely flavoured accompaniments. The ancestral staple food of rural Telangana for generations; still eaten daily in many rural and semi-urban households.