Peshwa

There are times when you not only excited trying out new thing but also skeptical weather your gonna like it or not,similar kind of feeling I experienced while dining out at one of the Maharashtrian restaurant who is famous for its authentic taste and fresh Maharashtrian food.

I was invited to a bloggers meetup where I got a chance to try cuisine new to my palate. The owner of this place is an avid foodie who enlightened us about background of  maharashtrian cuisine.

Our meetup started with traditional maharashtrian drinks Kokum Sarbat and Sokadhi.

Kokam is made with the soft kokum which is deep purple in color,the dried fruit is soaked,mashed and then added in sugar syrup.This drink is very famous in the coastal area of india specially in the konkan region.Very refreshing and best to keep the heat at bay.

Sokadhi is a concoction of coconut,chilies,garlic and kokum,another famous drink of goa and kokan region. Effective digestive drink specially after having spicy food.

Then comes the array of starters,Batata Wada, Khotimbir Wadi, Sabudana Wada, Sauji Kababs and Sinhagad Bhajee.

To be honest I relisted each and every starter.They were fresh however they took a bit longer time then usual to serve as they don’t prepare anything in advance in order to serve fresh cooked food. So,if you are going there I would suggest to keep leniency to the serving time.

Batata Wada one of the famous mumbai street food,spiced mashed potatoes in shape of balls dipped in a gram flour batter and deep-fried. I am a sucker of potatoes and can eat it in any form, so it was totally a hit item for me.

Khotimbir Wadi, khotimbir is coriander leaves in maharatrian language,so basically its a coriander fritters made with gram flour,coriander and sesame seeds.No wonder, they are favorite tea time Maharashtrian snack.

Sabudana Wada, before trying this I had only known the use of  sabudana with milk but eating it in the form of fried ball was totally a different and delightful experience for me. From my research what I came to know it is usually made during religious fasting.

Sauji Kababs sounds like kabab but they were chicken pieces marinated well in maharashtrian spices and grilled to perfection.

Sinhagad Bhajee ,there’s a historic fort in Maharashtra, Pune City called Sinhagad fort and is also famous for these sinhagad bhajee served there.Type of fritter made from sliced onions seasoned with spices, besan flour and deep fried in oil.

After crispy,light and amazing starters we got to try  Pomfret Fry (Rawa),Surmai Fry (Tawa),Kolhapuri Chicken Tikka,Malvani Fish,Bharli Wangi,Pithale,Bharli Karli as a main course.

Pomfret Fry (Rawa) and Surmai Fry (Tawa) both were melt in the mouth. Fish had well coating of spicy fish masala and then again layered with a crispy coating of sooji.

Kolhapuri Chicken Tikka the marinated chicken is cooked in spicy, tasty kohlapuri masala. It was a bit spicy for my liking but chicken was well cooked and the combination of fresh coconut, onions, tomatoes along with spices makes the masala unique in taste.

Malvani Fish, malvan is a part of the konkan coast-and coastal food highlights seafood. I liked the punch of sourness in the curry. Malvani food has loads of punch to it, if you like spicy food no wonder, you would like to go for a second helping.

Being a non-veg I prefered to try all non-veg dishes but the only veg dish I tried that evening was Bharli Wangi,stuffed small brinjals in spicy gravy.

In bread we were served Tandulachi Bhakari,Jwarichi Bhakri and Poli.

At last but not the least in dessert they served us traditional maharashtrian desserts like  Puran Poli,Dudhi Halwa and Amrakhand. Among them I really liked puran poli which is flat bread stuffed with a mixture of Bengal gram and jaggery.

All in all,it was a successful culinary experience of maharahtrian cuisine and I am glad I got a chance to try maharashtrian food which was totally new for me.Now, I can easily pick and recommend dishes from maharashtrian menu with knowledge.