Marathi cuisine uses a lot of fish and coconut. Grated coconut is used in many dishes but coconut oil is not widely used for cooking. Peanuts and cashews are commonly used in vegetables. Popular dishes include vada pav, misal from Mumbai and mutton dishes from Kolhapur known for their spiciness. Signature dishes also include puran poli, batata bhaji and coconut-based sweets. Ingredients and cooking styles vary between regions like Konkan, Vidarbha and Marathwada. Festive cuisine includes dishes like puran poli for Holi and karjale for Ganesh Chaturthi.

1. MARATHI CUISINE
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NSK NOTES 1

2. SPECIALITIES
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 Marathi foods uses lot of fish and
coconut.
 There is enormous variety of
vegetables in their regular diet.
 Grated coconut is used in many
kind, but coconut oil is not very
widely used as a cooking medium.
 Peanut and cashew nuts are widely
used in vegetables.
 Peanut oil is the main cooking
medium.
 They eat both rice and wheat.

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 Among seafood, the most popular fish is bombil
or the Bombay duck, which is normally served
batter fried and crisp.
 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.

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 In the vegetarian fare, the most popular vegetables
are brinjals. A popular style of cooking brinjals is
bharlivangi or baby brinjals stuffed with coconut.
 Maharashtrian fare is incomplete without
papads, which are eaten roasted or fried.
 The most popular desserts of Maharashtra
are the puran poli, which is roti stuffed with a
sweet mixture of jaggery and gram flour, and
shreekhand, which is sweetened curd
flavored with cardamom and saffron.

5. By regions of Maharashtra
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The people are known for the aesthetic presentation
of food, which adds extra allure to the feasts. For
instance, in formal meals, it is a practice to sing
sacred verses to dedicate the meal to God. The
guests sit on floor rugs or red wooden seats and
eat from silver or metal thalis and bowls placed on
a raised 'chowrang', or a short decorative table.
 Rangolis or auspicious patterns of coloured
powder are drawn around the thali or the chowrang.

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 To avoid mixing flavours, each guest is given a bowl of
saffron scented water to dip the fingers in before starting
on the next course.
 There is a specific order of serving of savouries
and sweets, curries and rice or rotis, and a
person who does not know this is not considered
to be well trained in the art of hospitality.
 Agarbattis spread fragrance everywhere and the
host believes the satisfaction of his guests to be
his true joy.

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 The spicy Kolhapuri food emphasizes on mutton.
 The food of the Vidarbha region is prepared strong in red chillie
powder and garlic.
 Mumbai has its own pot-pourri of dishes like vada pav, misal and
pav bhaji, which are immensely popular across India.
 Grated coconuts spice many kinds of dishes, but coconut oil is
not very widely used as a cooking medium.
 Peanuts and cashewnuts 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.

8. REGIONS
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 VIDHARBHA
 KHOLAPUR
 MARATHWADA
 WESTERN GHATS
 KONKON

9. Konkan
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 The traditional crops of the Konkan region, the West
coast of Maharashtra, are coconuts, mangoes, cashews,
rice and a variety of pulses.
 The region also grows a great quantity of kokum, a
sweet-sour fruit.
 Fish is available in vast varieties and seafood is in
abundant supply. All these ingredients find place in the
traditional and exotic Konkani food. Be it the mild,
naturally fragrant vegetable mixture served with local
papads, or a spicy-hot fish and meat curry with a
coconut milk base, Konkani food is a gourmet's dream
come true.

10. KONKAN
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 Konkan is situated at the southern tip of the
western coast.
 Kholapur and Ratangiri are some of the
important cities which comes under Konkan.
 Cookery of this region shows an influence of
Karnataka as they use lot of coconut in their
dishes, so coconut act as an important
ingredient.
 They use kokum instead of tamarind to impart a
tangy flavor.
 They like both vegetarian and non vegetarian
food.

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 The climate of konkan is favorable for the growth of
fruits also, the most important and famous being the
alphonso mango.
 The other fruits are jack fruit, coconut, betel nuts,
cashew nuts and kokum.
 The main occupation of the people is agriculture.
 Rice is grown in large scale, it is the staple food of
this region.
 They eat rice, bhakri made out of rice, dhal, sprouted
pulses and vegetables.
 Coconut is also used in lot of dishes.

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 Ratangiri a district in Maharashtra has the
distinction of producing the best mango in the
entire world, called ALPHONSO or APUS.
 The meal is eaten in large metal plates called
TAATS , most of the food is already on the plate
in a very special changing order.
 TAATS contain one or more small katories called
VATI for gravies and dessert.
 Each item has a designated place on the plate
like number on the clock.
 The left side is for seasoning, relish and
savories, the right side is for vegetables, split
peas and sweets.

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 Cash crops such as sugar cane, cotton and
tobacco and oil seeds such as ground nuts,
sesame seeds, sun flower, safflower and
jowar are grown on a large scale.
 Dairy and animal husbandry are the other
important occupation of the people.
 The meal is a well balanced diet of grains,
pulses, vegetables and milk products.

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 The konkani curries are based on the two
basic masalas pastes they are…
 RASGOLI- made from fresh coconut and
variety of spices.
 Bhajana – made from the paste of stronger
spices with roasted coconut and onions.
 The former is used for fish curries and later
is used for meat and chicken curries.
 Both can also be used for the vegetable
curries.

15. Kolhapur
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 Kolhapur is as famous for its spicy mutton
curries as its Mahalaxmi temple or palaces.
Popularly called 'Matnacha rassa', red-hot
mutton dish is served with robust chappatis, a
white gravy to dilute its pungency or a chilli
gravy for the bravehearts experts in the art of
digesting pure fire.
 Kolhapuri misal is one of the spiciest dish. It is
very famous in Maharashtra

16. Kolhapur
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 Situated in the south eastern part of
Maharashtra.
 People of Kolhapur
like spicy foods with lot of chilies.
 Due to the preference of non vegetarian, the
meat cookery is highly developed in this
region.
 Most people are in the farming business- with
sugar cane, rice, pulses, fruits and vegetables.
 It is famous for meat curries called RASSA, a
red hot meat curry served with chapattis.
 PANDHARA RASSA white gravy are also
famous in these region.

17. South Maharashtra
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 This region is rich in sugarcane fields, rice farms
and milk.
 Well-irrigated farms produce plump, juicy fruit and
vegetables throughout the year.
 In the winter months, southern Maharashtra
becomes a crucible of bubbling sugarcane juice,
heated to make jaggery and sugar. This season
offers a feast of coconut kernels cooked in the
syrup and eaten with peanuts and fresh chana.

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 Winter also means plenty of milk, and typical
milk sweets like basundi, masala milk,
shreekhand and kheer.
 It is a social event in these areas to go to the
riverbank for a picnic or row down the river to
eat young roasted corncobs (hurda) with
pungent chillies and green garlic ground to
make a tongue-scorching chutney.
 Milk, nuts, rough bhakaris of jawar, hot meat
curries and chilli-spiked snacks are favourite
foods here.

19. Vidarbha
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 Though the Konkan strip and southern Maharashtra have their
own excellent cuisine, nothing can beat the exoticism and
variety of the food offered by northern Maharashtra - Vidarbha
and Khandesh.
 The central Indian plateau is not as lush as the coast; therefore,
coconuts and mangoes do not grow here. But Vidarbha is rich in
peanuts, rice and, most of all, citrus fruit, like oranges and
sweetlimes.
 In the winter, lorry-loads of oranges criss-cross the highways,
taking mountains of juicy tangerines all over the state.
 Vidarbha's cuisine is usually spicier than that of the coastal and
southern regions. The ingredients commonly used are besan, or
chickpea flour, and ground peanuts.

20. VIDHARBHA
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 Includes the winter capital Nagpur and other major
cities.
 Best quality oranges comes from Nagpur.
 Most of the population in the region are vegetarians,
food with mild flavor.
 Jalgaon is famous for bananas.
 Rich in peanuts, rice and most of all citrus fruits like
oranges and sweet limes.
 The cuisine is spicy and the ingredients commonly
used are besan or chickpea flour and ground peanuts.

21. Nagpur
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 The city of Nagpur inherits a glorious history and
varied rich cultural influences and has burgeoned in
recent times as a gourmet city.
 There are unusual snacks, curries, pulaos and sweets
to pamper avid eaters.
 The food is generally spicy, with a good amount of
ghee, and peanuts, dried copra and dal are often the
basis of the flavours. Nagpur is also famous for its
spicy non-veg preparations known as Saoji
preparations, that are generally made by using clove-
pepper paste instead of red chilly powder.

22. Pune
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 Home to the Peshwas and marathas, Pune is a
historic city. The food of these communities is
delicate, sparsely designed and entirely
vegetarian.
 Puneri misal, thalipeeth, puri bhaji and dalimbi
usal are not only tasty and nutritious, but
inexpensive to make.
 These foods are available at traditional
restaurants in Pune and Mumbai .

23. Aurangabad
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 The cuisine of Auguranbad has been
highly influenced by the North Indian
method of cooking, as a result of the long
Moghul rule in the region.
 Aurangabad's food is much like Moghlai
or Hyderabadi food, with its fragrant
pulaos and biryanis. Meat cooked in fresh
spices and herbs is a speciality, as are
the delectable sweets.

24. WESTERN GHATS
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 Situated at the north west coast line along the Arabian
sea.
 The major cities are Mumbai, Nasik, Pune etc.
 The people of this region show their preference
towards moderately spiced food.
 Fish and other sea foods are popular. Bombil is a
variety of dried fish which is very popular.
 The western ghats are the birth place of Indian fast
foods like vada pav, pav bhaji etc..
 Nashik is famous for the grapes.

25. MARATHWADA
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 Situated at the eastern part just below
Vidharbha.
 People of Marathwada like spicy foods,
like kholapur.
 They use lot of chilies and garlic in their
dish.
 It is also famous for the home made
pickles and chutneys.

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 Special bhath – masale
bhath.
 Poli / pori
 Amti
 Batata bhaji
 Gravied whole lentil –
usal
 Chutney and pickle
 Koshimbir
 Papad / bhaji
 Plain / spiced butter
milk
 Sweet dish – kheers

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28. Typical thali
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 PURAN POLI

29. SIGNATURE DISHES
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 Komdi cha rassa
Chicken pieces cooked in onion,coconut,
poppy seed paste,flavored with pepper,
cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, somph,
ginger and garlic.
 Pandhra rassa
 Besan ladoo
 Coconut poli / puran poli
 Amti
 Masalyachi wangi
 Panchamrut

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 Saars :
they are not exactly soup,
however soupy and are
eaten in Maharashtra with
Indian bread. They are
served in small individual
bowls.
 Koshimbirs :
they are simple every day
relishes that are served
with most meals.

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 Mutton kholapur :
 Batata bhaji :
potatoes cooked with cumin seeds, curry leaves,
lime juice and a touch of sugar and coconut
flavored with Maharashtra famous masala
called KALA MASALA

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 Cinnamon
 Cardamom
 Cumin
 Sesame seeds
 Copra (blackened coconut)
 Roast and ground all the above
spices and store it in a air tight
container.

33. Indian snack known as chiwda,
chevdo, or chevda
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34. Shira
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35. Vada pav is a popular vegetarian
fast food dish native to the Indian
state of Maharashtra. It consists of
a batata vada sandwiched between
two slices of a pav. The compound
word batata vada refers In Marathi
to a vada made out of batata, the
latter referring to a potato. Both
words batata and potato have their
origin in Spanish patata. Pav refers
to bread (or bun), the Marathi word
having its origin in Portuguese pão.
Vada pav was supposedly devised
by snack vendor Ashok Vaidya
outside Dadar station in 1971.
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36. Festive Cuisine
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Some of the festivals celebrated in Maharashtra are Gudi
Padwa, Holi, Haritalika, Ganesh Chaturthi, Diwali and Makara
Sankranti.
There are many special dishes, mostly sweets are prepared
exclusively during these festivals.
On the occasion of Gudi Padwa Soonth Panak and sprouted
Chana Usal are prepared.
Puran Poli is prepared on the festival of colors Holi. Similarly,
on Haritalika Coconut Potali is prepared, on Ganesh
Chaturthi Karanji and Chakli, on Diwali Shankarpali, Badam
Halwa, Chakli and Karanji are prepared and Shengdana
Chikki is prepared on the occasion of Makar Sakranti.

37. Cuisine For Weddings
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In India, marriages are a special occasion, held lavishly. Similarly,
in Maharashtra it is held extravagantly, which includes inviting
guests for an elaborate meal.
Meal is served on a banana leaf and is entirely vegetarian in
nature, cooked without onion and garlic.
It has a range of vegetables along with coconut gravy, green
mango chutney, cucumber and peanut salad, rice, puris, golden
dal called `varan' and a sweet dish like jalebi.
Apart from these there is also a creamy basundi or saffron-
scented shrikhand. `Mattha' or coriander-flavored, salted
buttermilk complements the meal which ends with a sweet `paan'
called `vida'.

38. Goda masala
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39. Kala masala
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