2 days ago
'Puranpoli' baklava and 'bombil' tacos amp up Marathi fine dining
For one of his tasting menus in Mumbai, chef Akash Deshpande plates up a piquant dried bombil or Bombay duck over a brioche toast. The dish is served along with bombil mousse shaped like seashells, and prawn papad clipped to resemble the bamboo frames used to dry fish along the coastline. He calls the course 'Bombil", a fish synonymous with the coastal communities of Maharashtra, and the city's food culture. 'My mother grew up in Konkan, and so, when there is no fresh fish or meat, she prepares a sukhat with dried fish," says the chef and co-founder of Luv restaurant while talking about his inspiration.
At a time when fine-dining menus evolve with fresh takes on hyperlocal cuisines, the culinary culture of Maharashtra remains confined to a few select dishes. But there's more to Marathi food than vada pav and misal. A new era of chefs is changing the narrative by showcasing the diverse food heritage of the state with bold, progressive formats. Think puranpoli baklava, karvanda Cosmopolitan, and goda masala pizza, that too served in an omakase in Japan.
In her cookbook Pangat, A Feast (2019), Mumbai-based author and culinary consultant Saee Koranne-Khandekar deep dives into the food practices of the Marathi community. It began with a Facebook group called 'Angat Pangat" in 2015 when she realised the need to spotlight the traditional cuisines to 'understand them in the context of topography and produce, historical background and migratory patterns, and literature," as she notes in the book.
Since then Koranne-Khandekar has collaborated with restaurants in Mumbai and Pune for pop-ups (approx ₹2,500 for a set meal), and attempts to go beyond the banana leaf or thali format, at the same time keep the seasonality, produce and skill in mind. 'Unfortunately, Marathi food is still misinterpreted as the impressions have been primarily shaped by commercial establishments selling thalipeeth or Malwani restaurants, which can be quite textbook-ish," she says.
Some of her stellar creations include mutton loncha, a popular meat pickle from Kolhapur that she served with pita as bar bites for a pop-up at Pune's Cobbler & Crew restaurant in 2023; a custardy ghavlyachi kheer crème brûlée that highlights the region's dying craft of hand-rolled pasta at Masque in Mumbai; and dhondas madeleines inspired by a Konkani sweet of summer cucumbers at a catering college event last year. 'The reception has been encouraging. But, I wish the community was open to taking more risks with the iterations," she adds.
Deshpande agrees. 'The food is largely perceived as what is served at seafood restaurants. Also because Maharashtrians cook the same food at home, why would they go out and eat it," he says. At Luv, he wants to surprise his diners with ingredients from his mother's kitchen using technique and storytelling. His French culinary training sees him experiment with fanas or jackfruit tucked inside a bao, a tadgola or ice apple dessert, bombil tacos, duck meat glazed with karvanda (summer currants) jus, and a family favourite chicken curry prepared like a roulade. 'I don't want to use foam or caviar as I want my dishes to speak for themselves," he adds. The tasting menus debuted this summer, and will change every season, are priced at ₹3,000 (non-veg) and ₹2,600 (veg), and cater to 10 diners only on Thursdays. The slots are usually sold out a week in advance.
At Aragma in Pune, chef Amit Ghorpade is creating flavour bombs inspired by his childhood growing up on a farm in Sangli, often borrowing from his grandmother's recipes, and produce available in the city's century-old vegetable market Mandai. For the tasting menus ( ₹2,200 for lunch; ₹3,200 for dinner), the chef has come up with pastas using everyday legumes such as kulith or horsegram and matki or moth beans. 'My grandmother prepared a porridge of kulith on sick days, and often made a flour out of matki to prepare the traditional flatbread bhakri," he reveals. Both the versions comprise staples integral to the community, for instance, fried methi (fenugreek) leaves as garnish, and sauce/oil made of dill, locally known as shepu, and eaten as a stir-fry in Marathi homes. The pasta idea came from his stints at Italian restaurants — Alto Vino at JW Marriott Pune and Giovanni's Table at Royal Caribbean Cruise. 'And also because chef Massimo Bottura is my idol," he adds. Ghorpade believes modern spins can familiarise diners with the nuances of the cuisine, 'but they should be by someone who understands the context, and the depth of the flavours."
In a city like Mumbai, chefs also point out the strong influence of global cuisines, and those from south or north India in the dining scene. 'Marathi cuisine with its home-cooked traditions, is often overshadowed in the realm of progressive Indian fine dining, despite the city being the cultural and economic hub of the state," says chef Pankaj P. Nerurkar, senior chef of HyLo. The Fort restaurant elevates the festival-favourite sweet flatbread puran poli in the form of a baklava.
Last year, chef Varun Totlani of Masque took the spice blend goda masala to The Pizza Bar on 38th at Mandarin Oriental in Tokyo as part of an omakase experience. He used it as a base along with karandi loncha, a Marathi-style shrimp pickle, and crab salad. 'The initial thought of the diners was Indian spices could be overpowering, but they came together very well," says Totlani, who seasons potato salli with the masala for a dish of lamb neck pastrami at the cocktail bar Paradox.
The sheer expanse of the region provides a dynamic playground for chefs, who are trying to create some sort of an aspirational value for the cuisines. The time for Marathi fine dining may have finally come.
