On a platter, a cauldron of mixed culture

PUNE: Kishore Sarpotdar is a trifle miffed. Maharashtrians, especially those belonging to the younger generation, have lost the taste for Maharashtrian food, he says.

“They have developed a liking for Gujarati, South Indian, North Indian, Chinese and Italian food,“ says Sarpotdar. He is the proprietor of Sarpotdar Caterers and his family has a long legacy of serving authentic Maharashtrian cuisine for social occasions in Pune for over 80 years.

Faced with demanding customers who want something different to be served at weddings and the like, he had to tinker with the age-old traditional menu and incorporate some non-Maharashtrian food items. “What to do when people's tastes have changed,“ he sighs.

But Sarpotdar draws solace from the fact that the state's food continues to remain popular among the older generation and non-Maharashtrians.

With Pune becoming a cosmopolitan city, restaurants, hotels and catering services, which used to serve `Puneri' style thali meals, had to overhaul their menus to cater to the shifting tastes.

“There has been an overall demographic change. People, especially youngsters, from various parts of the country -Gujarat, South India, North India and elsewhere, have started living here. To cater to them, several restaurants sprang up. Maharashtrians, who earlier preferred home-cooked food, started eating outside as they became well-off. With the woman in the house stepping out to work, eating out became the norm and people began experimenting with food from different cultures,“ Prafulla Khare says.

He is the proprietor of Annapurna Caterers and has witnessed the changing palate over the years. “Today, Italian, Chinese, Gujarati and Punjabi food are served in weddings and other social and religious occasions, apart from the traditional Maharashtrian food.This was unthinkable even a decade ago,“ he points out.

Till a few years ago, a meal at a typical Maharashtrian wedding would comprise varan bhat (dal rice), masale bhat (spicy rice), aaluchi bhaji potato bhaji, bharlele vanga (stuffed brinjal), kakadichi koshimbir (cucumber salad), pakoras, puran poli (sweet flatbread), jalebis, mattha (buttermilk laced with gingercoriander) and curd rice. Only the rich could afford shrikhand and gulab jamuns at their weddings. Today, the traditional food items have been replaced by a melange of dishes. “For example, masale bhat, once the most sought-after delicacy, has been replaced by veg pulao veg biryani or jeera rice. Vegetable dishes like bharlele vanga have been replaced by Punjabi North Indian variety like alu ki sabji, matar paneer, paneer tikka masala, paneer butter masala, chana masala, bhindi alu sukhi. Amti (a traditional Maharashtrian dal preparation) has been replaced by dal fry or dal tadka. Even puris have been replaced by chappatis as people have become health conscious. Mini cutlets, mini samosas, dhoklas and dahi vadas have replaced crunchy pakoras,“ Sarpotdar notes.

In fact, culinary specialists contend that some lip-smacking savouries like panchamrut, sukhi chatni, coconut chatni and fresh fruit aachar are “lost forever“ as nobody makes them anymore. “Even the sizes of jalebis and papads have become too small. People now prefer Rajasthani (small-size jalebis) and disco papad, which comes in mini sizes,“ he rues.

Actually, Maharashtrian cuisine has always been open to influences from diverse cultures. Also, many communities among the Marathi people have their distinct cuisine.

While typical Maharashtrian food is generally austere and sweetish, food prepared in Vidarbha region is spicy while in coastal Konkan, copious quantities of wet coconut and coconut milk are used in many dishes. While a majority of Maharashtrians do eat meat and eggs, an independent cuisine Malvani, predominantly non-vegetarian, has developed in

South Konkan

region. All of these give Maharashtrian food its unique identity.

The traditional Maharashtrian thali, known to offer a balance of flavour and nutrition, too has also undergone changes. To cater to diverse tastes, some restaurants, known to serve authentic Maharashtrian cuisine, have tried to incorporate distinct flavours of Maratha food. “Though we haven't changed our traditional Maharashtrian dishes, we have incorporated sev ki bhaji, which is popular in regions like Solapur, Aurangabad and Nagpur, to match the palate of people who like some spicy food.For people with a sweet tooth, we have introduced Konkani cuisine in our thali. For example, there is a speciality from Konkan called kolache pohe, made from coconut. We have introduced chat items like shev potato, dahi puri,

bhel

and pani puri. In snacks, we have introduced spicy misal from

Kolhapur

. Then we make soybean rassa, which is also from

North Maharashtra

. We have two items, not typical of Puneri food in our meals everyday ,“ says Radhika Chitale, director (marketing) at Hotel Shreyas.

According to her, people generally prefer to stick to typical Maharashtrian cuisine for marriages but for receptions they prefer Punjabi, Chinese, continental or multi-cuisines.

“People who generally prefer Panjabi-style food go for panner tikka masala, methi matar malai etc. In Chinese, we offer manchurian, hakka noodles. In the continental variety, we offer Italian pasta. We are also serving South Indian meals such as dosas and uttapams.Then we also serve soups. The orders that we get for weddings are a blend of all of these and there is no preference for food from a particular region,“ she adds.

Sarpotdar agrees. “A mixed crowd comprising Gujaratis, Rajasthanis, Punjabis, North Indians, South Indians and others, has given rise to a mixed food culture. There is an amalgamation of cultures and that is bound to leave an impact on food,“ he says.

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