By Pamela Nandi | Jul 30, 2019

Lurk your taste buds with immensely delicious local Maharashtrian or Marathi cuisine starting from its world-famous quintessential street foods ‘Batata Vada‘ or a plateful of spicy ‘Bakarwadi‘ to a hot serving savoury Pancake ‘Thalipeeth‘. Mixing a diverse range of fresh flavours infused in its tastefully and traditionally made dishes, Maharashtra has a lot to offer to food lovers.

Maharashtrian cuisine has the geographical influence on how a palate has formed for region-specific spices, flavours, taste and climate being one of the prime factors with the upper part of Maharashtra is more aligned to the spicy version of meals consuming lots of meat, dry coconuts, while the coastal part is more inclined towards milder version of spices, seafood and fresh coconut – a very interesting culinary story revealed by the executive chef Parimal Sawant – The Lalit Mumbai.

Here are the irresistible dishes curated by the executive chef Parimal Sawant – The Lalit Mumbai at Alfresco, The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata – ‘ Maji Mejwani‘ which represents Maharashtra food at its best.

WELCOME DRINK –

Solkadhi –
Digestive kadhi belonging to the Konkan region with a nice blend of the light & mild coconut milk with a sour kokum tempered with Indian spices cumin seeds and green chillies also known as Aamsol or Aamsul. Baby pink coloured refreshing and tasty drink, eaten with rice or sometimes drunk after the meals.

Kokum Sharbat –
Kokum or Malabar tamarind. Nothing can beat the taste of this rejuvenating summer Goan coolant from the Konkan region that comes with a sweet and tangy taste and pristine aroma.

Bakarwadi –
The traditional fried crispy savoury snack with spicy stuffing rolled into a dough and sliced into small pieces.

APPETIZERS –

Batata Vada –
Nothing can beat the taste of the most scrumptious street food of Mumbai – iconic potato fritters. The name “Batata” means potato in Portuguese who introduced potatoes in India. Potato mash patty coated with chick pea flour, then deep-fried.

Kanda Bhaji (onion pakodas) –
Kanda means onions & bhaji means fritters. Spicy popular street food snack in Maharashtra. Crisp, with a hint of soft, sweet flavour coming from the onions. A perfect accompaniment to masala chai.

Thalipeeth –
Savoury multi-grain pancake made using a combination of jowar flour and rice flour – healthy, tasty and nutritious popular breakfast or snack in Western India served with noni (homemade butter).

MAIN COURSES –

Kombdi Vade –
A staple food of Malvan, made of 5 grains which is very popular in the west coast in Maharashtra. A must treat every guest visiting Maharashtrian home. Very flavorful, crispy and tastes fabulous with Chicken curry. Majorly prepared on religious occasions.

Saoji Mutton –
A classic Maharashtrian mutton curry, very popular in the Vidharbha district – very flavourful and irresistible.

Fried Fish –
A rava style deep-fried fish perfectly spiced with curry leaves, garlic. The crunchy texture that brings the coastal favours of Malabar.

Fish Curry –
Simple, delicious & flavorful prawn fish curry in an onion-tomato base studded with the goodness of coconut milk and full of chillies, coriander and mustard seeds.

Masala Bhat –
One-pot meal spiced rice and veggies. A must on the menu for every wedding.

Pithale –
Curry made entirely of chickpea flour (besan), spicy taste.

DESSERT –

Steamed Modak –
Lord Ganesha’s favourite sweet, sweet flour dumplings stuffed with sweet fillings of coconut, jaggery, nutmeg and saffron while the outer softshell is made from rice flour mixed with khava or maida flour.

Mango Shrikhand –
Semi-soft, sweetish sour, traditional Indian sweet prepared from hung curd and flavoured with mango, saffron and cardamom.

Thank you so much, Madhumita Bose, executive chef Parimal Sawant – The Lalit Mumbai, Alfresco, The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata for the warm invitation and gracious hospitality.

What: “Mazi Mejwani” – Marathi Food Festival
Where: Alfresco, The Lalit Great Eastern Kolkata
When: 23-Jul-2019 to 04-Aug-2019

Cheers !!!