Home to Bombay, the heartbeat of the Indian financial markets, and Bollywood, the heart of the Indian film industry that currently produces over 1000 films in various languages each year (the term Bollywood having been derived from a combination of Bombay and Hollywood). The land of the Marathas and cradled by the Western Ghats, a chain of mountains older than the Himalayas, running parallel to India’s western coast, bringing a unique and fascinating level of biodiversity to the region.
Having lived in Bombay for the first few years of my employed existence, it was always exciting to ring in Ganesh's birthday with a host of festivities and celebrations across the city. Ganesh, also called Ganapati, the elephant-headed Hindu god of new beginnings (my favorite!!) is one of the THE most popular gods in this state... with celebrations, good food, music and prayers resonating through the streets for 10 days starting from Ganesh Chaturthi and leading up to Anant Chaturdashi, as the city became one giant procession carrying the Ganesh idols on the march to the sea, for the visarjan (immersed in water), paying respect to him as he is seen off, taking all our worries away and leaving blessings behind.
Maharashtra=Bombay as far as I’m concerned... the city that never sleeps. Much like New York. The girls’ ears perked up... although they’ve traveled to Bombay a few times on our annual trips back home, the memories aren’t as lucid as mine of course, but a couple reminders of the drive by Gateway of India and the brilliant pomfret fry at Mahesh Lunch Home, and the bhel at Chowpatty, and the memories became crystal clear again :)... “so tell us more about the cuisine Mama”, and I did. Coz, here’s one place in India that they’ve actually visited, not once but a few times, and we always ended up eating the usual stuff. Which was not the authentic Marathi cuisine.
So the food... there's the brilliant street food that will require a separate post altogether... I could live on Vada Pav for days on end (and I did for days on end when I may have been on the short end of the bank account stick one of those early days when I had just started working :))... financial prudence set in in a big way soon thereafter! But as usual I'm tooling off on a tangent... vada pav - the inexpensive meal of champions, the Bombay sandwich, the bhel, the sabudana vadas, the bhajiyas...
The ingredients that are special to the land of the Marathas: Goda Masala (a blend of a variety of spices, including coriander seeds, white sesame seeds, dry coconut, oil, salt, cloves, asafoetida powder, bay leaf, red chili, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, black cumin seeds, cinnamon)
Kanda Lehsun Masala (Onion Garlic powder)
Here's the menu we drew up:
For appetizers, we decided on Kanda Bhaji (crispy onion fritters) and Sabudana Vadas (also a deep fried fritter, made of tapioca pearls, and served with green mint/coriander chutney)
Dinner included Batata Bhaaji (a flavorful roast potato preparation, best eaten with pooris); Green Peas curry in Coconut, Gavran Chicken (a spicy village style chicken curry cooked with the typical spice mix from Maharashtra) and Masale Bhaat (a rice dish, with a plethora of vegetables and spices) with a few sides of Papad (roasted lentil or rice crackers), Chaas (buttermilk with a twist, also called "Mattha", from by bff Aparna's pandora's box of yumminess; her other pandora's box definitely worth visiting: breadsofhindustan.com) and Kakdi Koshimbir ()
[For dessert, I tried my hand at Modaks (), but cannot claim success by ANY stretch of imagination!! So will leave this recipe out until I do indeed have created this piece of magic :)]
Sabudana Vada on the left, Kanda Bhajiya on the right, with Mr. Ganesh and some aqua vitae in the middle
Kanda Bhaji
What you'll need:
4 red onions, chopped; 4 green chillies, finely chopped; 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 cups besan (gram flour); 1 1/2 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1 tsp cumin pd; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1/2-1 cup water
Canola oil for frying
You want to mix all the ingredients (minus the oil of course!) with about 1/2 a cup of water to make a not so thick batter... but it shouldn't be runny either! Let it sit and rest for 10-15 minutes, and you can start heating the oil in your pan to make it ready for frying! Once ready, take a serving spoon and take a spoonful of batter and lower it gently into the hot oil. Add in 4-5 additional spoonfuls, and fry the wannabe/soon-to-be fritters (bhajiya), turning them over every now and then, so the fritters cook uniformly. Serve with any of your favorite savory/sweet chutneys!
Sabudana Vadas
What you'll need:
2 cups sabudana (tapioca seeds), soaked overnight; 4 potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 onion, chopped; 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped; 4 green chillies, chopped
2 tsp salt; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp cumin pd
Canola oil for frying (you can continue to use the oil you used for the Kanda Bhajiya)
Remember to wash the sabudana, and soak it overnight in just enough water so the sabudana is covered with the water. Drain the water from the sabudana and mix with the potatoes and the rest of the ingredients to make a sticky dough-like mixture. Then make small balls with the mixture, and flatten these into discs, and then deep fry these on medium high heat, turning these over regularly until they've been browned evenly on all sides. Enjoy them with the same chutneys as the ones for the Kanda Bhajiya!
Batata Bhaaji
Batata Bhaaji... a favorite across the board, this almost seems like a constant as we traverse the states of India, with a variation or two as you move from state to state!
What you'll need:
8-10 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed;
3 tblsp oil; 1/4 tsp asafoetida pd; 1 tblsp cumin seeds; 1 tblsp mustard seeds; 1 sprig curry leaves; 1 onion, chopped; 3 green chillies, finely chopped; 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste
1 tblsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp coriander pd; 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Heat the oil in a pan, and once heated, add in the asafoetida pd, cumin and mustard seeds and the curry leaves. Once these start spluttering, add in the chopped onions and saute until light brown before adding in the ginger garlic paste and green chillies. Now add in the potatoes and roast them with the onions, turning them over constantly, until the potatoes get a slight crusty brown covering. The potatoes are ready to start absorbing the spices, so add in all the powdered spices, mix well and leave this to cook, covered, over low-medium heat for about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally and switch the heat off once the potatoes are cooked. Fold in the fresh cilantro and serve hot!
Green Peas Curry in Coconut
What you'll need:
1 cup finely chopped onions; 11/2 tblsp ginger garlic chilli paste; 2 tomatoes, diced
3 tblsp oil; 11/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp turmeric; 1 tblsp Goda masala
2 cups fresh coconut, paste; 11/2 cups green peas, frozen; 1 cup water; 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Start with heating the oil, and begin with sauteing the onions, until they turn a golden brown. Add in the ginger, garlic and chilli paste, and saute until the raw smell has diffused. Now add in all the dry spice powders along with the diced tomatoes, and roast until you see the oil separate from the gravy (this means that the spices are fully roasted!). Next, add in the coconut paste as blend in with the tomato gravy, reduce the heat, and cook covered for about 5 minutes. Lastly, add in the green peas along with a cup of water, mix well and cook covered again, for nearly 20-25 minutes until the peas have cooked fully. Garnish with the fresh cilantro, and serve hot with pooris!
Gavran Chicken
What you'll need:
3 tblsp ghee (clarified butter); 3 cloves; 1 bay leaf; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp coriander seeds; 1 star anise; 1" stick cinnamon
1 red onion, chopped; 2 green chillies, juliennes; 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste; 2 small tomatoes, diced; 3 tblsp coconut paste; 2 lbs chicken drumsticks
2 tsp salt; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1/2 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp goda masala pd; 1/2 tsp kanda lehsun masala
Made pretty much the same way as I would make my regular dahi chicken (except with no dahi=yogurt), with the exception of the special spices that are particular to Maharashtra, the Gavran Chicken is traditionally cooked in an earthern pot, but I stuck to the modern utensils I had available in my kitchen!
So begin with heating the ghee, and letting the whole spices roast for 2-3 minutes, until they start giving off their aroma.. you now want to drop in the chopped onions and saute these until golden brown, before adding in the ginger garlic paste and tomatoes. Mix well, and add in all the dry spices, with the exception of the goda masala and the kanda lehsun masala. Once the ghee starts separating from the gravy mix, add in the coconut paste and blend it in with the rest of the gravy. Gently lower in the chicken drumsticks - remember to make small cuts in the drumsticks, so the chicken can absorb the spices through and through!
Cook covered, mixing periodically, for about 25 minutes. Now add in the remaining masalas, and cook for another 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Serve hot with plain white rice, or with pooris!
Masale Bhaat
What you'll need:
2 cups short grained rice; 3 tblsp oil; ghee
1/4 tsp asafoetida pd; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp mustard seeds; 1 sprig curry leaves; 5-6 cloves; 2 cups vegetables mix (small pieces of cauliflower, carrots and potatoes); 1/2 cup green peas; 1 cup coconut, shredded; 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 onion, chopped; 1 tomato, diced; 1 tblsp ginger garlic paste
2 tsp salt; 1 tsp red chilli pd; 1 tsp turmeric pd; 1 tsp goda masala; 1 tsp coriander pd
Heat the oil in a pan and add in the asafoetida, cumin and mustard seeds, and the curry leaves and roast until they start spluttering. Then add in the onions and saute to a golden brown hue... drop in the ginger garlic paste and the tomatoes and stir well. Now add in all the dry spices and roast until the oil starts separating (=> the spices are fully roasted). Add in the shredded coconut, followed by the veggies, mix and cook covered for ~8-10 minutes. Finally, add in the rice, 4 cups of water and the ghee (yummmm), and cook covered until the rice is fully cooked. Serve with the Kakdi Koshimbir, Chaas and Papad as sides.
Chaas
What you'll need:
1/2 cup yogurt; 11/2 cup water
1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger; 1/2 green chilli, finely chopped; 1 tblsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp cumin pd; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp sugar
Pour all the ingredients into the blender (d-uh!), add some ice and serve chilled!
Kakdi Koshimbir
What you'll need:
1 med cucumber, peeled and grated; 2 tblsp peanut pd; 1 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp salt; 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp ghee (clarified butter); 1/4 tsp asafoetida; 1 sprig curry leaves, 1 green chilli, finely chopped
Mix the grated cucumber, peanut powder, salt and sugar together with the yogurt so all the ingredients are mixed well together. Separately, heat the ghee in a small pan, add in the asafoetida pd, curry leaves and green chillies, and saute for just a minute (you don't want the tadka to get burnt). Temper the yogurt mix with the "tadka" and serve as a side with the dinner... this is a brilliant accompaniment to the Masale Bhaat!
Left to right: Chaas and Kakdi Koshimbir
We had to make do without dessert this evening, but with the promise of Holi festivities to follow in a day or two... rang barse... holi hai!!
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