Maharashtrian cuisine

Maharashtrian (or Marathi) cuisine is the cuisine of the Marathi people from the state of Maharashtra in India. Maharashtrian cuisine covers a range from having mild to very spicy dishes. Wheat, rice, jowar, bajri, vegetables, lentils and fruit form staples of the Maharashtrian diet. Peanuts and cashews are often served with vegetables. Traditionally, Maharashtrians have considered their food to be more austere than that of other regions in India. Although, because of economic conditions and culture, meat has traditionally been used quite sparsely or only by the well off until recently. Maharashtra's metropolitan cities, such as Mumbai and Pune have influenced the food habits due to urban population. For example, the Udupi dishes idli and dosa are quite popular, as well as Chinese dishes. Nevertheless, distinctly Maharashtrian dishes, such as ukdiche modak and aluchi patal bhaji remain popular.

Regular meals and staple dishes

See also: Thali
Common vegetables used in Maharashtra as seen on a Market Cart in Pune

The staple dishes of Maharashtrian cuisine are based on a variety of flat breads and rice. The flat breads can be wheat-based, such as the traditional trigonal Ghadichi Poli[1] or the round chapati more common in urban areas. Bhakri is a bread made from millet, including jowar and bajra, and forms part of daily meals in rural areas.[2] As many areas of Maharashtra are drought prone, the staple food of the rural poor had traditionally been as simple as Bajri Bhakri accompanied by just a raw onion, a dry chutney, or a Gram flour preparation called Jhunka.[3] This meal has, however, become more fashionable among the urban classes too.

Bhaaji is a class of dishes consisting of vegetables. Some are made with a particular vegetable or a combination of vegetables. Bhaajis can be "dry" like stir fry or "wet" like the well known Curry". For example, Fenugreek leaves can be used with mung dal to make a dry bhhaji or mixed with Besan flour and butter milk to make a soup like curry preparation. Bhaaji requires the use of Goda masala, essentially consisting of some combination of onion, garlic, ginger, red chilli powder, green chillies and mustard. Souring agents include tomatoes, tamarind or Aamsul, added to give additional flavor to the dish. Depending on the caste or specific religious tradition of a family, onions and garlic are excluded in cooking. For example, a number of Hindu communities in Maharashtra and other parts of India refrain from eating onions and garlic during Chaturmas (broadly equates to the rainy monsoon season). Until recently, canned or frozen food was not widely available in Maharashtra and the rest of India. Therefore, vegetables used in a meal depended on the seasonal availability. For example, Spring (March–May) brings harvest of cabbage, onions, potatoes, Guar Tondali, Shevgyachya shenga, Dudhi, Marrow, and Padwal. The Rainy Monsoon Season brings green leafy vegetables, such as Aloo (Marathi: आळू). Gourds like Karle, Dodka and eggplant also become widely available in this season. Chili peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, French beans, peas, etc. become available in the cooler climate of October to February.[4]

Meat Dishes

Curries/Gravies eaten with rice

In Maharashtrian cuisine, various curries or gravies are eaten with rice as part of a complete meal, usually at both lunch and dinner. Some popular types include:

Pickles and condiments

Sweets and desserts

Two types of Tilgul, a Maharashtrian sweet snack.

Snacks and Street Food

Maharashtrian snacks and street foods are very popular throughout the state, but most especially in Mumbai. The variety and types of snacks and street food is diverse and can be either sweet or savory in nature.

Shira
Cooked Pohe/Pohay
Kothimbir Wadi
Misal
Pav Bhaji
Bakharwadi
Potato filling used in batata vada—this is dipped in batter and fried to make the finished product.

Like most Indian cuisines, Maharashtrian cuisine is laced with lots of fried savories. Some of them include:

Special occasions and festival delicacies

Makar Sankrant

This festival being based on the solar calendar always falls on January 14 of the Gregorian calendar. Tilgul Poli or gulpoli are the main sweet preparations made on the day in Maharashtra. It is a wheat-based flat bread with a filling of sesame seeds and jaggery.[8]

Mahashivratri

Marathi Hindu people hold a fast on this day. The fasting food on this day includes chutney prepared with pulp of the kavath fruit (Limonia).[9]

Ganesh Chaturthi

Modak is the favorite food of the elephant headed Hindu God Ganesh. An offering of twenty one pieces of this sweet preparation is offered on Ganesh Chaturthi and other minor Ganesh related events.[10]* Modak is a steamed dumpling filled with a coconut and jaggery filling. In some instances, the preparation is deep-fried instead of being steamed.[6] [5]

Diwali

Just like most other parts of India, Diwali is the most popular Hindu festival. In Maharashtrian tradition, during days of Diwali, family members have a ritual bath before dawn and then sit down for a breakfast of fried sweets and savory snacks. These sweets and snacks are offered to visitors to the house during the multi-day festival and exchanged with neighbors. Typical sweet preparations include Ladu, Anarse, and Karanjya. Popular savory treats include Chakli, Shev and Chiwda.[11] Being high in fat and low in moisture, these snacks can be stored at room temperature for many weeks without going bad.

Champa Sashthi

Many Maharashtrian communities from all social levels observe the "Khandoba Festival" or Champa Shashthi in the month of Mārgashirsh. This is a six-day festival, from the first to sixth lunar day of the bright fortnight. Households perform Ghatasthapana of Khandoba during this festival. The sixth day of the festival is called Champa Sashthi. For many people, the Chaturmas period ends on Champa Sashthi. As it is customary for many families not to consume onions, garlic and eggplant (Brinjal/Aubergine) during the Chaturmas, the consumption of these food items resumes with ritual preparation of Vangyache Bharit (Baingan Bharta) with rodga, which are small round flat breads prepared from jwari (white millet).[12][13]

Fasting cuisine

A large number of Marathi Hindu people hold fasts on days, such as Ekadashi in honour of Lord Vishnu or his Avatars, Chaturthi in honour of Ganesh, Mondays in honour of Shiva, or Saturdays in honour of Maruti or Saturn.[14] Only certain kinds of foods are allowed to be eaten. These include milk and other dairy products (such as yogurt), fruit, sago (sabudana), potatoes, nuts (such as peanuts), purple-red sweet potatoes (called ratali in Marathi), rajgira (Amaranth seeds), and varyache tandul (Shama millet).[15] Thus a calorie and carbohydrate-rich fasting menu can be prepared by selecting from the items listed above. Popular fasting dishes include Sabudana Khichadi or danyachi amti (peanut soup).[16] Fasting cuisine in Maharashtra also includes Marathi Muslim people during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

References

Citations

  1. ↑ KHANNA, VIKAS (Dec 1, 2012). My Great Indian Cookbook. Penguin UK,.
  2. ↑ Khatau, Asha (2004). Epicure S Vegetarian Cuisines Of India. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan ltd. p. 57. ISBN 81-7991-119-5.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. ↑ Barve, Mangala; Translator: Datar, Snehalata. Annapurna (1 ed.). Mumbai, India: Majestic Prakashan. ISBN 9788174320032. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Reejhsinghani 1975, p. x.
  6. 1 2 Khanna, Vikas (2013). SAVOUR MUMBAI: A CULINARY JOURNEY THROUGH INDIA’S MELTING POT. New Delhi: Westland Limited.
  7. ↑ Khatau, Asha (2004). Epicure S Vegetarian Cuisines Of India. Mumbai: Popular Prakashan ltd. p. 63. ISBN 81-7991-119-5.
  8. ↑ Naik*, S.N.; Prakash, Karnika (2014). "Bioactive Constituents as a Potential Agent in Sesame for Functional and Nutritional Application". JOURNAL OF BIORESOURCE ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY 2 (4): 42–60.
  9. ↑ Deshmukh, B. S.; Waghmode, Ahilya (July 2011). "Role of wild edible fruits as a food resource: Traditional knowledge" (PDF). I NTERNATIONAL J OURNAL OF P HARMACY & L IFE S CIENCES 2 (7): 919–924.
  10. ↑ Zealiot, Eleanor; Berntsen, Maxine (1988). The experience of Hinduism: Essays on religion in Maharashtra. Albany, New York, USA: State University of New York Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-88706-662-3.
  11. ↑ Edmund W. Lusas; Lloyd W. Rooney (5 June 2001). Snack Foods Processing. CRC Press. pp. 488–. ISBN 978-1-4200-1254-5.
  12. ↑ Gupte 1994, p. 16.
  13. ↑ Pillai 1997, p. 192.
  14. ↑ Dalal 2010, p. 6.
  15. ↑ Dalal 2010, p. 7.
  16. ↑ Dalal 2010, p. 63.

Bibliography

Sadhana Ginde: http://indianfood.bellaonline.com/Site.asp

Reejhsinghani, Aroona (1975). Delights from Maharashtra. Mumbai: Jaico Publishing. ISBN 81-7224-518-1. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cuisine of Maharashtra.


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