Marathi People - Food

Food

There are many communities in the Indo-Aryan Marathi society which gives the cuisine much diversity. One can even say that the diversity extends to the family level because each family has its own combination of spices. The majority of Maharashtrians do eat meat and eggs, but the Brahmin community is mostly lacto-vegetarian. The staple food on Desh (Deccan plateau) is usually bhakri (In Maharashtra a flat bread preparation made using Indian millet called jowar, bajra or bajri), cooked vegetables, dal and rice. The North Maharashtrians prefer "roti" though. In the coastal Konkan region, rice is the traditional staple food. An aromatic variety of rice called ambemohar is more popular amongst Marathi people than the internationally known basmati rice. Malvani Food uses more of wet coconut and coconut milk in the preparation. In Vidarbha region the coconut is not used much in daily preparations but dry coconut along with peanuts is used in preparations like Spicy Savji recipes or Mutton and chicken dishes.

"Thalipeeth" is a popular traditional breakfast bread that is prepared using "Bhajani",a mixture of many different varieties of roasted lentils.

Marathi Hindu people have fasting days. On most of these fasting days, traditional staple food like rice and chhapatis are to be avoided. However, milk products and non-native foods such as potatoes, peanut and sabudana preparations are allowed which result in a full rich alternative "fasting" cuisine.

Some Maharashtrian dishes like Sev bhaji, Misal Pav, Patodi are distinctly regional dishes inside Maharashtra.

In metropolitan areas like Mumbai or Pune, the pace of life makes fast food very popular. The most popular forms of fast food popular amongst Marathi people in these areas are: Bhaji, Vada pav, Misal Pav & Pav bhaji. More traditional ones are Sabudana Khichadi, Pohe, Upma, Sheera, Panipuri. Most of marathi fast food and snacks are purely lacto-vegetarian in nature.

In South Konkan, near Malvan, an independent exotic cuisine has developed called Malvani cuisine. It is predominantly non-vegetarian. Kombdi Vade, fish preparations and baked preparations are more popular here.

Desserts are an important part of Marathi food. TelpoliPuran poli, Shrikhand, Basundi, Kheer, Gulab Jam, and Modak. Traditionally the desserts were associated with a particular festival, for example, modaks are prepared during the Ganpati festival. Pav Bhaji forms the part of Modern Marathi Foods.