#blahvsfood goes to Maratha Kitchen, Khar outlet, Mumbai

Maratha Kitchen has grown from a locality favourite to a nationally respected brand over the last few years by serving Maharashtrian food with a degree of quality, consistency and comprehensiveness that has never been achieved (or even attempted) before. 

Tambda rassa, alani soup, Agri prawns, surmai rawa fry

Foudned by first time founder Abhishek Tulaskar, the menu has both a breadth and a depth that are the result of obsession and not just passion. This isn’t a menu as much as a love letter to Maharashtrian cuisine, with dishes representing the length and breadth of the state other than coastal Maharashtra.

The challenge with Maharashtrian cuisine is that its robust flavours come from masala mixes that don’t have a canonical recipe. Every house has its own approach, every cook has her or  his own instincts. Abhishek solved for this by taking taking a chef trained in French cuisine to eat at Maharashtrian homes for years, eating each dish at least twenty times, before creating a whole system of processes and standardisation without compromising on the authenticity of the food. The result is the largest and most comprehensive repository of Maharashtrian recipes in the country, built over a decade of researc. 

Bhats and gravies 

As an aside, this is why Abhishek doesn’t serve coastal Maharashtrian food. He feels that the supposed coastal Maharashtrian restaurants serves Mangalorean and Konkan cuisine rather than Malwani food, and while the food maybe good, this isn’t real Maharashtrian food. To do justice to the cuisine, he would like to give it the respect he has given landlocked Maharashtra and the same depth of research. That’s why the seafood dishes that Abhishek does serve are more from places like Alibag, the food from fishing communities in and near Mumbai, rather than the larger Maharashtrian coast. 

Coming back to my meal at Maratha Kitchen… while the menu is largely à la carte with a few thali options, Abhishek was kind enough to create some sort of bespoke thali that allowed me to try a lot of their greatest hits. And this was a meal where the hits kept coming. 

We started with two broths, the fiery and garlicky Tambda Rasa and a gentle, soothing Alani (which means less salt) chicken soup. 

Mutton fry, chicken saoji 

Then it was on to the proteins. Despite the reputation of Maharashtrian food being very spicy, I found that the food was more robust than spicy. The prawns with Agri masala, kokum and whole dried garlic packed some serious heat. But the mutton fry and chicken fry were more smoky and bold than spicy. And I was very impressed with the surmai rava fry, with a rava batter that felt crustier but still lighter than most places. 

Alani Bhat 

I then had their legendary Alani Bhat. Like I said, Alani means with little or no salt. This is a 3 ingredient dish- Alani, Indrayani rice and lots of Ghee.. cooked in chicken broth. This is the Maratha answer to Hainanese chicken rice and it’s so soulful that you can see why it’s so beloved.

My favourite though wasn’t the Alani Bhat. It was the kala mutton with Indrayani rice. This starchy, sticky rice from Triambakeshwar went very well with the Saoji chicken and its red chilli gravy. But it reached a whole other level with the Kala mutton, a dish cooked with two sets of masalas (both wet and dry masala) and cooked in ghee. This felt both comforting and luxurious at the same time, it was intensely flavoured but balanced, bold but restrained and I felt it was absolutely stunning.

Kala mutton, Indrayani rice

I sadly didn’t have enough time for dessert but I’m sure I’ll be back because after Amar Khamar, this is the most interesting regional Indian restaurant I’ve been to in years. 

I ate:

• Alani Soup: A Puneri thali essential  Chicken Broth to go with all meals

• Tambda Rassa: A Kolhapuri Mutton Broth made with Kanda Lasun Chutney, Poppy Seeds, seassame seeds, dried coconut and whole spices.

• Agri Prawns: A Roha style preparation of river fish available locally. Whole prawns tossed with Agri Masala, Kokum and whole dried garlic.

• Surmai Rawa Fry: Every Maharshtrian home's Sunday ritual, Surmai, masalas coated with semolina, tawa fried till crispy on the outside.

• Mutton Fry/ Chicken Fry: The Maratha Kitchen's signature meat dishes. Curries that are smoked in a pan till they lose most of the moisture and turn it into this thick almost dry masala that coats the meat.

• Gavran Chicken Saoji: Umred style Desi Chicken Saoji. Rightly spiced with only whole garam masalas and red chilli powder.

• Kala Mutton: Khandeshi Style Mutton made with dry and wet Kala Masala and cooked in ghee.

• Indryani bhaat

• Prawns curry: A typical household fish curry from Alibaug

• Alani Bhat