The state of Maharashtra is not only known for its Bollywood culture. There are a lot of Maharashtrian cuisines that are consumed and liked in all over India. Most of the famous food of Maharashtra is vegetarian. Although you will find a lot of non-veg food in the Malvani region.
The main food of Maharashtra is made up of wheat, rice, jowar, peanuts, a lot of spices, herbs, coconut oil, etc. As Maharashtra being a large state the food habits of peoples also varies from region to region.
What is the Staple Food of Maharashtra?
The staple food of northern Maharashtra is Chapati and Bhaji. People of the Konkan region prefer different items of rice along with coconut. And the staple food of Deccan plateau is spicy vegetables along with rice and dal.
List of Famous food of Maharashtra
1 Pav Bhaji
Pav Bhaji is not the special food of Maharashtra only. Today it is one of the most liked recipes among all Indians and you can find it in every part of the country. Pav Bhaji originated during the growth of textile industry in Mumbai. This was the most nutrient-rich food item for mill workers.
Today you can find different versions Pav Bhaji in every corner of Mumbai. It has gone under tremendous modifications. You will find Paneer Pav Bhaji, Mushroom Pav Bhaji (My favorite), butter Pav Bhaji, Cheese Paav Bhaji, etc.
Bhaji is made up of mixed vegetables like carrot, cauliflower, tomato, onion, etc. and it is served with Pav. It is definitely one of the nutrients rich and tasty foods of Maharashtra.
2 Vada Pav
Vada Pav is one of the most famous fast food of Maharashtra people. If you will visit Mumbai you will find Vada Pav at every corner.
Many times when I am in a hurry and can’t have breakfast I buy Vada Pav at the local railway station. It would cost me around Rs 8-10. Vada is made up of boiled potato along with some spices. They serve it with boiled green chili.
You will find a lot of people having Vada Pav and Tea during an office break. It is one of the most affordable evening snacks for Maharashtrian people.
Nowadays you will find a lot of variations of Vada Pav. One of them is Bhajia Pav. Apart from that, you can also have masala Vada Pav
3 Misal Pav
Misal Pav is one of the popular food of Maharashtra. If you like eating spicy food then you are definitely going to like it.
Misal is made up of sprouted lentils, species, onions, tomatoes, etc. On top of that, they squeeze some lemon juice. It is mainly served with butter Pav and yogurt.
You can have Misal Pav at breakfast or lunch. It is definitely one of the tastiest food item of Maharashtra.
4 Pohe
Pohe is a typical Maharashtrian dish that is served in breakfast along with tea. It is prepared by pounded rice. Pounded rice is first soaked in water and then some green vegetables are roasted in oil. And then soaked pounded rice is mixed in that. You can check the full recipe online.
This famous dish of Maharashtra is popular in the whole of India and there are hundreds of varieties of it.
5 Thalipeeth
Thalipeeth is one of the most protein-rich foods of Maharashtra people. It is multigrain bread prepared by rice, wheat, bajra, jowar, chana, urad, etc. Apart from that coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green vegetables are also used. It is one of the tastiest traditional food of Maharashtra.
Thalipeeth is also popular in some parts of Karnataka and Goa. Depending upon the location you will find different variations of Thalipeeth.
6 Modak
Modak is the sweet dish of Maharashtra which is cooked on Ganesh Chaturthi. When I saw it the first time I mistook it as Momos. It just looks like them from outside and its outer layer is also made up of maida(wheat is also mixed) similar to Momos. Its inner part is made up of coconut and jaggery.
7 Malvani Cuisine
Malvani Cuisine is best traditional food of Malvani region of Maharashtra. It is mainly served in the South Konkan region of Maharashtra.
Most of the Malvani cuisines are non-veg but there are various veg cuisines also. Coconut is the predominant part of Malvani Cuisine.
Chicken Malvani is one of the famous Malvani cuisines which you can find at many restaurants in Mumbai.
8 Sabudana Khichadi
Sabudana Khichadi can be placed among the 10 most popular Maharashtrian dishes. It is easy to made and nutrient-rich item. Maharashtrians people eat it during many religious fast.
Apart from that, in the morning you will find Sabudana Khichadi at every corner of Mumbai. Many people who don’t have breakfast at home eat Sabudana Khichadi.
It has a good amount of protein and comes under very healthy food. You can have Sabudana Khichadi in breakfast along with tea.
9 Bhelpuri
If you live in Mumbai then you would definitely know about Bhelpuri. It is mainly famous in big cities of Maharashtra like Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, etc. Bhelpuri is a spicy snack that is made up of puffed rice, some vegetables (Tomato, Onion), and sauce.
10 Puran Poli
Puran Poli is the sweet dish of Maharashtra. I call it sweet paratha because of its look. It is made up of Chana dal, cardamom, wheat, and sugar.
Puran Poli is famous in many parts of India. You will find different varieties of Puran Poli depending upon the place.
11 Ragda Pattice
When it comes to making a list of Maharashtrian food we can’t leave Ragda Pattice. It is one of my favorite Maharashtrian fast food. You can find Ragda Pattice at almost every fat food stall of Mumbai. It is spicy and yummy.
Ragda is the gravy made up of different vegetables and Pattice is fried potato.
12 Thalipeeth
Thalipeeth is one of the famous multigrain dishes of Maharashtra. It is mainly made up of rice, wheat, bajra, jowar, spices, legumes, etc. Vegetables like onion, coriander, and other vegetables are also added.
Apart from Maharashtra Thalipeeth is quite popular in some parts of Karnataka and Goa.
13 Malvani Fish Curry
As I already told there are many types of Malvani dishes. Malvani Fish Curry is one of the most popular Malvani Dish. You can find that dish at a lot of restaurants in Mumbai.
The Malvani curry is mainly made up of Malvani masala, tomato, onion, coconut milk, kokum, etc. You can check out the full recipe of Malvani Fish Curry on the internet.
14 Pithla Bhakri
Pithla Bhakri is one of the most popular staple foods of rural Maharashtra. Pithla is made from Chickpea flour/ Gram flour and is very tasty. Bhakri is round bread made up of mainly wheat or bajra. Nowadays Pithla Bhakri is gaining some traction in cities also.
15 Aamti
Aamti is the special kind of dal prepared in Maharashtra. It is a little sour and sweet. For mild sour taste, kokum is mixed and for the sweetness, jaggery is used. Sometimes instead of kokum lemon juice can also be used for sour taste.
16 Rassa
Rassa is one of the most popular non-veg dishes of Maharashtra. Rassa is a special kind of curry which is used to make mutton, fish, and chicken.
It originated from Kolhapur and today it is very popular among Maharashtrian people. It is a little bit spicy but very tasty. You can find the best chicken Kolhapuri at a lot of restaurants in Mumbai. It is mainly served with chapatis.
If you are a non-veg lover then you should definitely check out this famous Maharashtrian dish.
17 Solkadhi
Sokadhi is one of the most popular appetizers in Maharashtra. It is drunk after or along with the meal. It is made up of coconut and kokum. Kokum is one of the best anti-aging agents due to its anti-oxidant nature. Apart from that, it also helps in keeping body cool along with digestion.
Summary:
In this list, I tried to tell as many as possible popular food items of Maharashtra. But there are many other food items also because Maharashtra is a pretty big state and food habits changes drastically from one region to another.