Steaming hot vada pav with spicy garlic chutney is the first thing that comes to your mind when we speak about Maharashtrian dishes. Whether it is hot and spicy Kolhapuri Misal or a chicken rassa thali from Malvan, we all are quite familiar with the Maharashtrian menu. Who can resist a plate of hot puran poli topped with warm melted ghee right? People only talk about the famous Marathi food that is easily available as street food but hold up! There is so much more to this cuisine than what people talk about! There are many more underrated Maharashtrian dishes which have an exquisite taste but they are not so popular. Only a true Marathi person would know the soul-satisfying, exquisite taste of a Maharashtrian chicken Rassa and Kombdi Vade. Maharashtrian food is known for its rich and spicy flavour. One can experience a unique blend of spices and tastes in this cuisine. When it comes to food and drinks Maharashtrians have a unique taste. Maharashtrians are quite fond of spicy food and almost everybody loves Maharashtrian food no matter how much spicy it is! Let’s take a look at the top 25 Maharashtrian dishes that would surely satisfy your taste buds:
1 Spicy and Healthy Thalipeeth
Traditionally originated in the rural parts of Maharashtra, this dish is made with multigrain flour. Thalipeeth is a dish made with spices, onions, coriander leaves, green chillies blended with whole wheat flour and is usually served with curd and butter. Thalipeeth makes an amazing breakfast dish. It is a healthy option you can choose to have instead of eating unhealthy junk food.. This dish is packed with flavour, fibre, and protein and is super light. You can pack these and carry it in your lunchbox too.
2 Batata Vada
Batata Vada is a very famous typical Marathi dish. This dish consists of a spicy bhaji made by combining potatoes, onion, spices, curry leaves, and coriander leaves covered in a besan batter and then deep-fried in oil. This dish is best enjoyed with a garlic chutney served along with it. Hot Batata Vada will make the perfect snack for lazy rainy evenings or afternoons. Batata Vada’s taste best when served along with some Mint or Garlic Chutney.
3 Kothimbir Vadi
Kothimbir here means coriander. Kothimbir Vadi is prepared with coriander leaves and spices combined with besan. All the ingredients are combined and a thick paste is made. This thick paste is then divided into small pieces which are deep-fried in oil. The crunchy crust of Kothimbir Vadi makes them even better. It is very simple and easy to make them.
4 Sabudana Khichdi
Hot and spicy Sabudana Khichdi is a very famous dish. People who observe fasts love sabudana khichdi. This dish is prepared with Sabudana, green chillies, potatoes, peanut powder or whole roasted peanuts, spices, chopped onions, and curry leaves. A special requirement for this dish is that Sabudana should be soaked in water overnight. This dish takes quite some time to be prepared but all the efforts will be worth as it is going to taste amazing. Eat this dish along with some cold dahi and crispy potato wafers. The combination of hot and cold taste will be a treat for your senses.
5 Masala Karla
Karla here means bitter gourd. Not everybody loves a bitter gourd. Why? Because it’s bitter to taste. But consuming green veggies is important for the body and eating a bitter gourd has numerous benefits. A tasty way of preparing bitter gourd is by making Masala Karla. You will be surprised with how good the bitter vegetable tastes after you make Masala Karla. This is a spicy dish prepared with bitter gourd and a lot of spices. The bitter gourd is sliced into small pieces and then marinated in garam masala, turmeric, chilly powder and some other herbs. These marinated pieces are then fried in oil. This is a crunchy spicy healthy dish for all the vegetable lovers.
6 Sol Kadi
Sol Kadi is a thin curry which can be served as an appetizer or can be served along with or after the meal. It is especially consumed as an after-meal drink. Coriander leaves, coconut, kokum (a sour fruit), and salt are the ingredients used in the Kadi. Sol Kadi is more like SOUL kadi as tastes amazing! Every Maharashtrian meal is incomplete without drinking Sol Kadi after you have finished eating.
7 Pithla and Bhakri
Pithla-Bhakri is a perfect meal if you are a person who loves Marathi food. This dish is a traditional Marathi dish and it has originated from the Vidarbha region. It consists of two main items one is the Pithla which is made with a thick besan paste cooked along with spices, curry leaves, and coriander leaves and Bhakri is a dish prepared with grains. Both the dishes are eaten together as one dish. Some cold Masala Chaas completes the meal.
8 Ukdiche Modak
Ganesh Chaturthi is all about sweets and lights but most importantly Modaks. Ukadiche Modak is a Maharashtrian specialty. It is a sweet dish. It is prepared on the auspicious day of Ganesh Chaturthi and is pretty famous. Ukadiche Modak are small pockets made with rice flour and a filling of sweet mixture of jaggery and coconut is placed inside those pockets. These pockets are then steamed to finish the process of making Modaks. I’m sure nobody can resist the pure aroma of hot modaks during Ganesh Chaturthi.
9 Vada Pav
Mumbai city is incomplete without a Vada Pav vendor in various corners and gallis. Everybody loves this dish and I’m sure most of us eat at least one Vada Pav daily in Maharashtra. Vada Pav is famous all over the state. Nothing sounds better than a hot steaming Vada pav with your evening tea or coffee. Vada pav is a go-to snack for many people. This dish consists of a hot and spicy Batata Vada wrapped in a piece of bread along with some garlic chutney. The Vada Pav feels incomplete without the garlic chutney.
10 Puran Poli
Hot and slightly crisp Puran Polis topped with some warn melted ghee is hard to resist. Puran Poli is a sweet dish. It is similar to the normal rotis except it is sweet and tasty. Puran Poli is yet another famous Maharashtrian dish. It is prepared on special occasions especially on Holi. This dish is made with warm sweet jaggery mixture filled inside a whole wheat or a maida roti. It tastes best when served with warm melted ghee or a spicy curry.
11 Bhakarwadi
Tea time is not a tea time without having a snack along with your tea and Bhakarwadi makes the perfect snack. Bhakarwadis are crispy and crunchy and perfect for evening snack. Bhakarwadi is a dry fried snack which has a slightly tangy and spicy taste. It can be prepared at home but is also easily available in stores.
12 Misal Pav
Misal Pav is a spicy dish which consists of a spicy curry that is supposed to be eaten with bread. You might have heard about special kolhapuri misal or puneri misal; these are some special misals which are quite loved by people. The special spicy rassa (curry) is a thick spicy curry prepared with grains, curry leaves, and a variety of spices. College canteens don’t feel like college canteens unless they have misal pav in their menu. Nobody can resist a hot and spicy missal with crispy farsan in it. Dahi misals are also very famous. Almost every restaurant in Mumbai has misal pav in their menu.
13 Dry Garlic Chutney
Dry garlic chutney famously known as Lehsun Chutney or Sukha Chutney is a famous chutney prepared with garlic, coconut, and peanuts sometimes. This chutney works well with a lot of dishes and goes along with dishes like rice, pulao, batata vada, etc.
14 Sukha Chicken and Bhakri
Sukha means dry; Sukha Chicken is a dry preparation of chicken. It is spicy and super delicious. The Bhakri is made with rice flour. You can eat the Bhakri along with Sukha Chicken. You should try this mouth-watering dish. If you are a Malwani person, you might know that nothing tastes better than Sukha Chicken and Bhakri during winters. This is a very spicy dish and tastes best when hot.
15 Rassa Chicken
Rassa Chicken is again a non-vegetarian dish prepared with chicken pieces. This dish consists of spicy gravy which is prepared with a variety of aromatic spices. Rassa Chicken gravy tastes best when served along with rice or rice bhakri. It is a popular dish in the rural region. Hot chicken curry with a slightly spicy and tangy taste with Bhakri is all you need to get through cold and breezy winter nights. A tangy Sol Kadi would be a perfect ending to this meal.
16 Besan Ladoo
Being an Indian, making soft Besan Ladoos with your mom as a part of Diwali preparations is an important part of our childhood memories. Diwali seems incomplete without a huge thali filled with round, golden besan ladoos. It is a sweet dish specially prepared during Diwali. This dish is prepared with besan, milk, powdered sugar, and cardamom seeds. The besan flour is roasted and a paste is made by combining with all the other ingredients. The paste is then shaped into small balls popularly known as ladoos.
17 Bharli Vangi
Crazy about eating crunchy fresh brinjals? Then Bharli Vangi is just the thing for you! Freshly sliced brinjals and spicy desi masalas are used to prepare this dish. Small-sized brinjals are sliced open and filled with a stuffing made with spices. The stuffed brinjals are then fried in oil. This dish is mostly seen in marathi wedding menus. It is a spicy and healthy and can be easily prepared at home. A hot rumali roti would be perfect along with this dish.
18 Veg Kolhapuri
Hate eating all the vegetables? Don’t worry Maharashtrians have got you covered! Veg Kolhapuri is a delicious slightly spicy dish made with fresh vegetables and kolhapuri spices. This dish consists of a thick gravy prepared along with vegetables. A variety of fresh vegetables like carrots, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, etc are diced and then cooked along with spices to make a thick gravy. Nothing sounds better than a hot tandoori roti with some spicy Veg Kolhapuri. You can eat it with rice too.
19 Rishi Chi Bhaji
This dish is not so popularly known to many people. It is prepared on Rishi Panchami. It is a special dish prepared with a lot of vegetables. A variety of fresh and crispy vegetables including golden corn and crunchy peanuts are boiled together. These vegetables are cooked in Ghee. Rishi Panchami is the day of all the learned sages and the basic ideology behind this special preparation is to celebrate how old Sages used to consume their food (boiled without spices) hence this preparation does not contain spices.
20 Karanji
Karanji is another special sweet dish prepared during Diwali. This dish contains small crescent-shaped maida pockets stuffed with a sweet and warm mixture of jaggery and coconut. These are then deep-fried in oil until they are golden brown. This crunchy sweet snack is a perfect Diwali snack. You can easily make them at home.
21 Bharli Bhindi
In love with crispy, crunchy fried ladyfingers? Then you will absolutely love Bharli Bhindi. Bharli Bhindi is a dish prepared with ladyfingers. Fresh green Ladyfingers are sliced from the centre and then stuffed with a spicy filling made with spices. They are then shallow fried in oil until they are crispy. This dish can be eaten alone or with rotis.
22 Masala Bhat
Masala is a marathi word for spices and bhat here means rice. This dish consists of rice cooked with diced vegetables and a lot of spices. This is a spicy dish that can be eaten alone or with your favourite curry. So if you don’t like eating your veggies chop them up, add some spices, and make masala bhat. Some cold masala curd and a chaas along with this rice would be perfect.
23 Shikhran
Shikhran is a sweet dish prepared with milk, cardamom, and bananas. This dish is perfect to eat with your everyday rotis and it is super easy to make too. A banana is squished in a bowl and then the milk, sugar, and cardamom seeds are added.
24 Sheera
We just can’t get enough of all the Maharashtrian sweet dish. This mouth-watering dish is very easy to make. Rava/Sooji, Ghee, Milk, Sugar, and Cardamom seeds are combined to make this dish. Cook the Rava or sooji in ghee and then add the other ingredients, very easy right? Enhance the taste by adding your favourite dry fruits, fresh pineapple pieces, or some bananas.
25 Kande Pohe
This is a most popular breakfast dish for most of the Maharashtrians. If you’re a Maharashtrian you might know that Sunday mornings feel incomplete without your favourite Kande Pohe. Kande Pohe is prepared with poha, curry leaves, potatoes, onions, green chillies, and spices. Kande means onions in marathi. Poha is prepared with a hint of onions and turmeric flavour. It is packed with the goodness of whole grains and veggies. Squeeze a lemon and sprinkle some coconut over the dish and you are good to eat!
