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INTRODUCTION
The
culture of Maharashtra, which reveals itself in many ways, is also
reflected in its local cuisine. Though most people are not very
familiar with Maharashtrian cuisine and it has yet to find its way
into five-star kitchens, there does exist a large and interesting
culinary repertoire. |
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STATE
Overlooking
the vast expanse of the Arabian Sea is the western state of
Maharashtra, which presents a strong blend of the traditional and
the contemporary—each co-existing with the other with surprising
ease. |
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INFLUENCES
The
cuisine of Maharashtra has its own distinctive flavors and
tastes. It can be divided into two major sections–the coastal
and the interior. A major portion of Maharashtra, which lies on
the coast of the Arabian Sea, is loosely called the Konkan and
boasts of its own Konkani cuisine, which is a homogeneous
combination of Malvani, Gaud Saraswat Brahmin, and Goan
cuisines. Besides the coastal cuisine, the interior of
Maharashtra—the Vidarbha area, has its own distinctive cuisine
known as the Varadi cuisine.
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STAPLE
FOOD
As
in most of the other states of India, rice is the staple food
grain in Maharashtra too. Like the other coastal states, there
is an enormous variety of vegetables in the regular diet and
lots of fish and coconuts are used.
Grated
coconuts spice many kinds of dishes, but coconut oil is not
very widely used as a cooking medium. Peanuts and cashew nuts
are widely used in vegetables and peanut oil is the main
cooking medium. Another feature is the use of kokum, a
deep purple berry that has a pleasing sweet and sour taste.
Kokum, most commonly used in an appetizer-digestive called the
sol kadhi, is served chilled.
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METHODS
Maharashtrian
meals are scientifically planned and cooked—the golden
rule being that the cooking medium must not be seen. The
vegetables are more or less steamed and lightly seasoned so
as to retain their nutritional value. There is almost no
deep frying and roasting. Coconut is used in cooking and as
an embellishment. Jaggery and tamarind are used in most
vegetables or lentils so that the food has a sweet and sour
flavor while the kala masala (special blend of
spices) is added to make the food piquant. As opposed to the
coastal cuisine, where fresh coconut is added to the dishes,
in the Vidarbha region, powdered coconut is used for
cooking. |
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SPECIALTIES
Among
seafood, the most popular fish is bombil or the
Bombay duck, which is normally served batter fried and
crisp. Bangda or mackerel is another popular fish
in coastal Maharashtra. It is curried with red chilies,
ginger and triphal. Pomfret is another popular fish eaten
barbecued, stuffed, fried or curried. Pamphlet triphal
ambat is a traditional dish in which fish is cooked in
creamy coconut gravy that greatly enhances its taste.
Besides
fish, crabs, prawns, shellfish and lobsters are also
relished by the coastal Maharashtrians. A popular prawn
dish is the sungtachi-hinga kodi, which consists of
prawns in coconut gravy, blended with spices and
asafetida.
In
the vegetarian fare, the most popular vegetables are
brinjals. A popular style of cooking brinjals is
bharlivangi
or baby brinjals stuffed with coconut. Another typical
dish is the Pachadi, which is tender brinjals
cooked with green mangoes and flavored with coconut and
jaggery. Besides, common vegetables are greatly relished
by the Maharashtrians. A typical dish is the patal
bhaji, which is a sweet and sour dish flavored with
groundnuts.
All
non-vegetarian and vegetarian dishes are eaten with boiled
rice or with bhakris, which are soft rotis made of rice
flour. Special rice puris called vada and amboli,
which is a pancake made of fermented rice, urad dal,
and semolina, are also eaten as a part of the main meal.
Maharashtrian
fare is incomplete without papads, which are eaten roasted
or fried. A typical feature is the masala papad in which
finely chopped onions, green chilies and chat masala
are sprinkled over roasted or fried papads.
The
most popular dessert of Maharashtra is the
puran poli,
which is roti stuffed with a sweet mixture of jaggery and
gram flour and is made at the time of the Maharashtrian
New Year. Other popular sweets are the ukdiche modak, the
panpole ras, and the
shreekhand.
Distinguishing
features of the Varadi cuisine are the dishes made of
besan (gram flour) like zunka bhakar and pathawadi
and the vada-bhat. Non-vegetarian food is also
very popular in this region. As seafood is not easily
available here, chicken and mutton are commonly cooked. |
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SPECIAL
OCCASIONS
In
Maharashtra, festivals and food go together. During Ganesh
Utsav, every Maharashtrian welcomes Lord Ganesh into
his home and offers
Modak–a favorite sweetmeat
of Lord Ganesh that is made only during this festival.
It has a rice flour casting that is fashioned like a
large flower bud and stuffed with freshly granted
coconut cooked with jaggery. The modak is placed
on lightly greased banana leaves and steamed.
Shreekhand,
a sort of thick yogurt sweet dish, is a great favorite
at weddings and the Dussehra festival. Flavored with
cardamom powder and saffron, this aromatic dish is
served with piping hot puris. Traditionally, a wedding
feast has to have five sweet delicacies of which a
motichur
laddu (sweetmeat balls made of gram flour) is a
must.
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HOW
TO EAT WHAT
In
Maharashtra, even an everyday meal consists of several
accompaniments that are set out in a particular manner
in the taat (platter). The taat vadhany (method
of setting food on the platter) is an art. It starts
with a bit of salt at the top center of the taat. On
its left is set a small piece of lemon. Then follows
the chatni (spicy accompaniment made of ground coconut
and green chilies),
koshimbir (salad),
bharit
(lightly cooked or raw vegetable in yogurt) in
that order. The vegetable with gravy never precedes
the dry vegetable because the gravy will run into it.
Once everyone is seated the woman of the house will
serve the rice, pour a little toop (clarified butter)
and
varan (lentil) on it and then the meal begins
after a short thanksgiving.
The
people of Maharashtra are known for aesthetic
presentation of food. In formal meals, the guests sit
on floor rugs or red wooden seats and eat from silver
or metal thalis and bowls, placed on a raised chowrang,
a short decorative table. To avoid mixing of flavors,
each guest is given a bowl of saffron scented water to
dip fingers in before starting to eat the next
delicacy. |
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EATING
OUT
Snacking
is a favorite pastime of this city of Mumbai, the
capital of Maharashtra. Chaat is probably the
most widely eaten food in the city, followed by
bhelpuri,
pani puri,
pav bhaji, and dosai.
For
those looking for non-vegetarian snacks, there are
the Muslim kebabs, baida roti (an egg roti stuffed
with minced meat), tandoori chicken, seekh
kebabs, and fish koliwada.
In
Mumbai, the paan culture has been raised to
an art form. An example of this is the Cold and
Sweet paan in which the sweet filling is
chilled. |
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