The Non Veg menu of Telugu states like Dum Biryani, Talakaya kura, Paaya, Chepala Pulusu, Natukodi iguru, Royyala Kura, Endu Chapala Vankaya, Gongura Mamsam made our Telugu states into top three non veg consumers of the country, where Telangana stood top in the country with 98.7% of the total population consuming non veg. Andhra Pradesh stood third with 98.25%.
As per the National Sample Survey on Household Consumption released in 2014, united Andhra Pradesh had topped in per capita monthly consumption of chicken among the 21 big states and was second in consumption of goat meat after Jammu and Kashmir. In the total population of Telangana 98.8% men and 98.6% women are non vegetarians whereas in Andhra Pradesh 98.4% men and 98.1% women are non vegetarians. These stats shows their love towards Non Veg food.
The two Telugu states are also the largest producers of egg and meat. AP stands second in egg production in the country with 1309.58 crore eggs whereas Telangana stands third with 1006 crore eggs. In meat production, AP is fourth with 5.27 lakh metric tons and Telangana stands sixth with 4.46 lakh MT.
Experts say meat consumption in Telangana shows the traditional eating habits of the states people. They add that most of those surveyed could be from Hyderabad which has a high percentage of meat-eaters. West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Kerala follow Telangana among the states with the highest non vegetarian population.
Abundance of livestock in Telangana too contributes to higher consumption of meat in the state. The state has the second highest number of sheep, and the fourth highest poultry count in the country. Telangana produced 505 lakh metric tonnes of meat and 1,061crore eggs in 2014-15. Till November 2015, the state had produced 560 crore eggs and 264 lakh metric tonnes of meat - lamb, goat, chicken, beef and pork.