Maharashtrian or Marathi cuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the Indian state of Maharashtra. It has distinctive attributes, while sharing much with other Indian cuisines. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to be more austere than others.
Maharashtrian cuisine includes mild and spicy dishes. Wheat, rice, jowar, bajri, vegetables, lentils and fruit are dietary staples. Peanuts and cashews are often served with vegetables. Meat was traditionally used sparsely or only by the well-off until recently, because of economic conditions and culture.
The urban population in metropolitan cities of the state has been influenced by cuisine from other parts of India and abroad. For example, the South Indian dishes idli and dosa, as well as Chinese and Western dishes such as pizza, are popular in home cooking and in restaurants.
Distinctly Maharashtrian dishes include ukdiche modak, , kanda pohe and thalipeeth.
Regular meals and staple dishes
Since they occupy a vast area with distinct geographical differences and food availability, the Marathi people from different regions have produced a diverse cuisine. The diversity extends to the family level because each family uses its own unique combination of spices and ingredients. The majority of Maharashtrians are not averse to eating meat, fish and eggs, but the staple diet for most people is mostly lacto-vegetarian. Many communities such as the brahmins and varkari sect members only follow the lacto-vegetarian diet.
The traditional staple food on Desh (the Deccan Plateau) is usually bhakri, spiced cooked vegetables, dal and rice. Bhakri is a flatbread made from sorghum (jowar) or bajri. However, North Maharashtrians and urbanites prefer roti or chapati, which is a plain bread made with wheat.
In the coastal Konkan region, rice is the traditional staple food. Wet coconut and coconut milk are used in many dishes. Marathi communities indigenous to Mumbai and North Konkan have their own distinct cuisine.Some of the indigenous Marathi communities of North Konkan and Mumbai are Aagri, Koli, Pathare Prabhu, SKPs (Panchkalshi) and (Chaukalshi), CKPs and East Indian Catholic In South Konkan, near Malvan, another independent cuisine developed called Malvani cuisine, which is predominantly non-vegetarian. Kombdi vade, fish preparations and baked preparations are more popular there.
In the Vidarbha region, little coconut is used in daily preparations but dry coconut and peanuts are used in dishes such as spicy savjis, as well as in mutton and chicken dishes.
Maharashtrian lacto-vegetarian dishes are based on five main classes of ingredients that include grains, legumes, vegetables, dairy products and spices.
Grains
Staple dishes in the cuisine are based on a variety of flatbreads and rice. Flatbreads can be wheat-based, such as the traditional trigonal ghadichi poli or the round chapati that is more common in urban areas. Bhakri is an unleavened bread made using grains such as ragi or millet, bajra or bajri or jwari and forms part of daily meals in rural areas.
Millets Traditionally, the staple grains of the inland Deccan Plateau have been millets, jwari and bajri. These crops grow well in this dry and drought-prone region. In the coastal Konkan region the finger millet called ragi is used for bhakri. The staple meal of the rural poor was traditionally as simple as bajra bhakri accompanied by just a raw onion, a dry chutney, or a gram flour preparation called jhunka.Rao, S., Joshi, S., Bhide, P., Puranik, B., & Asawari, K. (2014). Dietary diversification for prevention of anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural India. Public health nutrition, 17(04), 939-947. Although in recent years consumption of millets has gone down, in central regions of Maharashtra it still accounts for 48% of cereal consumption per capita.Nagaraj, N., et al. "Sorghum and pearl millet economy of India: Future outlook and options." Economic and Political Weekly (2013): 74-81. Jhunka with bhakri has now become a popular street food in Maharashtra.
Wheat Increased urbanization of the Maharashtra region has increased wheat's popularity.Krishnamachari, K.A.V.R., Rao, N.P. and Rao, K.V., 1974. Food and nutritional situation in the drought affected areas of Maharashtra-a survey and recommendations. Indian journal of nutrition and dietetics, 11(1), pp.20-27. Wheat is used for making flatbreads called chapati, trigonal ghadichi poli, the deep-fried version called puri or the thick paratha. Wheat is also used in many stuffed flatbreads such as the puran poli, gul poli (with sesame and jaggery stuffing), and satorya (with sugar and khoya (dried milk)).
Wheat flatbreads are also made with vegetable stuffings such as peas, potatoes and gram dal.Umrani, Shantabai (1984). Surasgandha (In Marathi language). Islampur, District Sangli, Maharashtra, India: K G Umrani. pp. 100–107 One of the ancient sought-after breads was mande.Kulshrestha, V.P., 1985. History and ethnobotany of wheat in India. Journal d'agriculture traditionnelle et de botanique appliquée, 32(1), pp.61-71. As with rice, flatbreads accompany a meal of vegetables or dairy items.
Rice Rice is the staple food in the rural areas of coastal Konkan region but is also popular in all urban areas. Local varieties such as the fragrant ambemohar have been popular in Western Maharashtra. In most instances, rice is boiled on its own and becomes part of a meal that includes other items. A popular dish is varan bhaat, in which steamed rice is mixed with plain dal that is prepared with pigeon peas, lemon juice, salt and ghee. Khichdi is a popular rice dish made with rice, mung dal and spices. For special occasions, a dish called masalebhat made with rice, spices and vegetables is popular.
Dairy Milk is important as a staple food. Both cow milk and water buffalo milk are popular. Milk is used mainly for drinking, to add to tea or coffee or to make homemade dahi (yogurt). Traditionally, yogurt is made every day using previous day's yogurt as the starting bacterial culture to ferment the milk. The Dahi is used as dressing for many salad or koshimbir dishes, to prepare Kadhi, to prepare cultured buttermilk (Taak) or as a side dish in a thali.Misra, R., 2011. Indian Foods: AAPI's Guide Indian Foods: AAPI's Guide To Nutrition, Health and Diabetes page 46. Buttermilk is used in a drink called mattha by mixing it with spices. It may also be used in curry preparations. Milk is also the prerequisite ingredient for butter and Ghee (clarified butter).
Vegetables
Until recently, canned or frozen food was not widely available in India. Therefore, the vegetables used in a meal widely depended on seasonal availability. In Maharashtra, spring (March–May) is the season of cabbages, onions, potatoes, bhēṇḍī, guar and tondaḷi, śēvgyācyā śēṅgā, dudhi, marrow and padwal. During the Monsoon season (June–September) green leafy vegetables, such as aḷū (Marathi: अळू), or gourds such as karle, dodka and eggplant become available. Chili peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, French beans, śēpu, and peas become available in the cooler climate of October to February. Coal fired roasted young cobs of Sorghum (Jvārī) is a popular item during winter picnics to the farms. Vegetables are typically used in making bhājīs (Indian stew). Some bhājīs are made with a single vegetable, while others are made with a combination. Bhājīs can be "dry" as in stir fry or "wet" as in the well-known curry. For example, fenugreek leaves can be used with mūg ḍāḷ or potatoes to make a dry bhājī or mixed with bēsan flour and buttermilk to make a curry preparation. Marathi bhājīs typically use gōḍa masālā, consisting of a combination of cloves, corriander powder, cumin, cinnamon, asafoetida, etc. and kanda-lasun masala made up of onion, garlic, ginger, red chilli powder, green chillies, turmeric and mustard seeds. Depending on a family's caste or specific religious tradition, onions and garlic may be excluded. For example, a number of Hindu communities from many parts of India refrain from eating onions and garlic altogether during chaturmas, which broadly equals the monsoon season.
Leafy vegetables such as fenugreek, amaranth, beetroot, radish, dill, colocasia, spinach, ambadi, sorrel (Chuka in Marathi), chakwat, safflower (Kardai in Marathi) and tandulja are either stir-fried (pale bhaaji) or made into a soup (patal bhaaji) using buttermilk and gram flour.Singh, G., Kawatra, A. and Sehgal, S., 2001. Nutritional composition of selected green leafy vegetables, herbs and carrots. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 56(4), pp.359-364.Reddy, N.S. and Bhatt, G., 2001. Contents of minerals in green leafy vegetables cultivated in soil fortified with different chemical fertilizers. Plant Foods for Human Nutrition, 56(1), pp.1-6.Gupta, S., Lakshmi, A.J. and Prakash, J., 2008. Effect of different blanching treatments on ascorbic acid retention in green leafy vegetables. Nat. Prod. Radiance, 7, pp.111-116.
Many vegetables are used in salad preparations called koshimbirs or raita.Mane, Asha, et al. "Improvement in nutritional and therapeutic properties of daily meal items through addition of oyster mushroom." Proceedings of 8th International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products (ICMBMP8), New Delhi, India, 19–22 November 2014. Volume I & II. ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research, 2014. Most of these have dahi (yogurt) as the other main ingredient. Popular Koshimbirs include those based on radish, cucumber and tomato-onion combinations. Many raita require prior boiling or roasting of the vegetable as in the case of eggplant. Popular raita include those based on carrots, eggplant, pumpkin, dudhi and beetroot respectively.
Legumes
Along with green vegetables, another class of popular food is various beans, either whole or split. Split beans are called dal and turned into amti (thin lentil soup), or added to vegetables such as dudhi. Dal may be cooked with rice to make khichadi. Whole beans are cooked as is or more popularly soaked in water until sprouted. Unlike Chinese cuisine, the beans are allowed to grow for only a day or two. Curries made out of sprouted beans are called usal and form an important source of proteins. The legumes popular in Maharastrian cuisine include peas, chick peas, mung, matki, urid, kidney bean, black-eyed peas, kulith and toor (also called pigeon peas). Out of the above toor and chick peas are staples. The urid bean is the base for one of the most popular types of papadumBadami, M., Holla, K.S., Padgaonkar, S.V., JA, M.S. and Singh, M.S.D., PFNDAI Bulletin, 2006, page 6.'.
Oils and fats Peanut oil and sunflower oil are the preferred cooking oils; however, cottonseed oil is also used. Clarified butter (called tūp) is often used for its distinct flavor. It is served with puraṇ pōḷī, varaṇa bhāt, ĉapātī, and many other dishes. Fresh homemade butter is usually served with bhākri.
Spices and herbs Depending on region, religion and caste, Maharashtrian food can be mild to extremely spicy. Common spices include asafoetida, turmeric, mustard seeds, coriander, cumin, dried bay leaves, and chili powder. Ingredients used especially for kala or black masala spice blend include cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, cardamom and nutmeg. Other spice blends popular in the cuisine include goda masala and Kolhapuri masala. Common herbs to impart flavor or to garnish a dish include curry leaves and coriander leaves. Many common curry recipes call for garlic, onion, ginger and green chilli pepper. Ingredients that impart sour flavor to the food include yoghurt, tomatoes, tamarind paste, lemon, and amsul skin. or unripe mangoes.Nandakumar Kamat (2005), Proceedings and compendium Second National Conference on Kokum.
Meat and poultry