How To Hold Your Own Maharashtrian Food Festival

Sometimes, all you need after you have been away from Mumbai for a few weeks is a vada pao. And ussal. At the 103-year-old Madhavashram in Prarthana Samaj, I satisfied both cravings in one dish. I waited 15 minutes for a table at 5pm on a Tuesday evening so I could have a “single usal-vada”. A single batata vada soaking in a bowl of deeply-spiced, coconut-laced usal waited for contact via a spoon to become one, the carbohydrate of potatoes mingling with the protein of sprouts. Sadly, Madhavashram was out of solkadi. The eatery opens at 6am, and the kokum-coconut-garlic drink runs out by noon on most days. But it is May, so a glass of sweeter-than-it-should-have-been aam panhe hit the spot instead.

In the week since I have been back home from my short break in New York, I’ve been through a self-guided Maharashtrian food festival: tambada and pandhara rassa at Purepur Kolhapur; thalipeeth with homemade white butter at Aaswad; pithla (spiced gramflour and buttermilk stew) with bhakri (roasted flatbread made from sorghum or millet flour) and kharda (chilli-garlic chutney) at Potoba. In the process of seeking out food from our state, I now have a list of a dozen places to visit, and perhaps two dozen dishes to try over the next few months.

Just as it is with most of India, Maharashtra offers a vast variety of regional and community cuisines. The Essential Marathi Cookbook by Kaumudi Marathe lists over 250 recipes including kelphulachi bhaji (made with banana blossoms), wafola (steamed cabbage cakes), and lonvas (East Indian mutton with bottle gourd). Distinguished by community, we can list dishes that are Konkani, East Indian, Malvani Muslim, Goud Saraswat Brahmin and so on. By region, we can classify them into those from Kolhapur, Pune, Nagpur, Malwan and so on. While Mumbai only offers a fraction of the bounty of the state’s cuisine, there are several restaurants that offer distinct dishes from different communities and regions. Here are a handful that rarely disappoint. (It’s by no means a complete list.)

For an authentic Kolhapuri thali, there is no place better than Purepur Kolhapur in Vile Parle East (we much prefer it over the restaurant’s Dadar outpost). Forget the fiery, deeply-red mess that passes off as veg/chicken/mutton Kolhapuri at most restaurants. (At suburban chain Patisserie Uno, you can even get a veg Kolhapuri croissant!) Purepur’s food is spicy, but it is also complex and tasty. Because although more than half of Kolhapuri masala is made up of red chilli powder, it contains 24 other ingredients such as ginger, black peppercorn, clove, nutmeg, sesame seeds and mace. To make the red soup called tambda rassa, Kolhapuri masala is added to a spice paste that contains green chillies and peppercorn, along with other whole spices. The white soup known as pandhra rassa is relatively mild in comparison, as the heat is softened with coconut milk and cashews. Both these soups come with every thali at Purepur, and they are very addictive, even if it is necessary to alternate sips between them. Purepur is also possibly the only place in the city that serves Dhangari chicken, a rustic dish from the cuisine of the Dhangar tribe from southern Maharashtra, in which the spicy marinade thickened with dried coconut delivers a slow burn.

For a vegetarian treat, Kolhapuri Chivda in Girgaum does a pretty good version of spicy Kolhapuri missal made with moth (or matki) beans. Reliable Kolhapuri food is not easy to come by in Mumbai’s restaurants, but dozens of establishments serve the cuisine of its neighbouring district Sindhudurg. Malwani food gets its name from the coastal town in the district, and is considered a subset of Konkani food. Even though it is a distinct cuisine, it has some Goan and Maharashtrian influences. Seafood, rice and coconut are staples, and along with spices such as peppercorn and coriander, there is a liberal use of souring agents such as kokam (also called amsul), tamarind and unripe mango.

For a large variety of delicious Malvani seafood, Chaitanya in Shivaji Park cannot be beat. The menu features kalva (clams) masala, and a mandeli fish curry, both of which can be mopped up with ghavne and amboli. In Kandivali, Rassa offers homestyle Malvani kombdi vade (chicken curry with puffy rice flatbread). For a quick meal, visit Raju’s Malvani Corner in Dadar for coconut-based dry chicken sukke and prawn pulao that Raju sells out of his van. Frugal nose-to-tail eating gets a nod at Malwani Kkalwan. For those who can stomach it, the restaurant serves vajri (intestines) masala.

Closer home, and therefore more familiar to us, are the vegetarian snacks that are typical of the Pune region. Some of the best sabudana vada, kanda pohe, misal, piyush, thalipeeth, and kothimbir vadi can be found in small, quick service eateries in Girgaum and Dadar. Most Mumbaiites have their favourite place, from Aaswad and Panshikar Aahar, to Mama Kane and Vinay Health Home. Then there are the many many regions and dishes that are poorly represented, or not at all. Saoji mutton curry, for instance, is found all over Nagpur, but from what I know, in Mumbai, it is only available in Diva Maharashtracha in Mahim and Andheri. Named after the north central Indian community, members of which settled in Maharashtra in and around Nagpur and Solapur during the 13th century, Saoji is a dark, thick curry that to me resembles the black pork curry from Sri Lanka. It’s smoky, spicy, complex and satisfying.

Recently, I heard about a restaurant in Dombivali called Khandeshi Swad that serves the cuisine of the region around Jalgaon, historically known as Khandesh. Khandeshi Swad makes shevanchi bhaji (a red curry with sev in and on it) and until I get around to trying it, I’m going to try making this chutney at home. So never mind if the official Marathi Food Festival in Shivaji Park never happens, because we sure don’t need the help of political parties in order to savour the flavours of our home state.

DIRECTORY
Aaswad
252, Wavda Building, Gadkari Chowk, L. J. Road, Dadar (West). Tel: 2445 1876.
Daily, 10am to 10.30pm.

Chaitanya
4, Shivaji Park House, L. J. Road, Shivaji Park, Dadar (West). Tel: 2437 2242.
Daily, from 11am to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm.

Diva Maharashtracha
Plot No. 29/30, Shops No.1 to 4, T. H. Kataria Marg, Shivaji Park, Mahim. Tel: 2444 0202.
SVP Nagar, Lokhandwala Road, Andheri (West). Tel: 2631 3222.
Daily, from 11am to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm.

Kolhapuri Chiwda
237 J.S.S. Road, Mangal Wadi, Girgaum. Tel: 2389 3912.
Daily, from 7am to 11.00pm.

Madhavashram
18 Parekh Street, Prarthana Samaj, Girgaon. Tel: 2382 2764.
Daily, from 7am to 10pm.

Malwani Kkalwan
77A, Om Cottage, 7 Bungalows Garden, J. P. Road, Andheri (West). Tel: 6522 0505.
Daily, from 11am to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm.

Potoba
Tirupati Apartment, University Campus, Vidyanagari, Kalina, Santa Cruz (East). Tel: 2665 1355.
Daily, from 7.30 am to 11.30pm.

Purepur Kolhapur
1, Aditya Apartment, Parleshwar Road, Parleshwar Mandir, Vile Parle (East). Tel: 2613 6181.
8 S.K. Bole Road, Sahakari Bhandar Mall, Agar Bazaar, Dadar (West). Tel: 2437 0506.
Daily, from 11.30am to 3.30pm and from 7.30pm to 11.30pm.

Raju’s Malvani Corner
1/23 Kubal Niwas, Gokhale Road, Anant Patil Marg, Dadar (West). Tel: 98204 42441.
Daily, from 7.30pm to 11.30pm.

Rassa
1 Gandhar Society, Ganesh Chowk, Sector 3, Charkop, Kandivali (West). Tel: 2867 6833.
Daily, from 11am to 3pm and from 7pm to 11pm.