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Maharashtra is situated on the western coast of India bordering Madhya Pradesh in north, Gujarat in north-west, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in the east, Karnataka in the south and the vast coastline of Arabian Sea in the west. The climate of Maharashtra is temperate and moist with hot and humid summers and cool winters. The Western Ghats receive plenty of rainfall throughout the year. Fish, coconut, rice, jowar, bajra, wheat, pulses, cotton, sugarcane, groundnut, cashew nut etc are extensively grown.
Cooking medium is ground nut oil, sunflower oil or mustard oil. The cuisine includes mostly subtly flavoured vegetarian delicacies, hot aromatic meat and fish curries eaten both with bhat (rice), bakhri (rice breads), and rotli (wheat bread), Vada (deep fried nuggets made of fermented rice, Urad dal and semolina), amboli (rice puris also form a part of the main meal), ukdiche modak (crunchy and crispy sweets made from rice and jaggery), panpole ras, shreekhand (thick sweetened curd flavoured with green cardamom and saffron) and puran poli (which is roti stuffed with a sweet mixture of jaggery and gram flour) are the most popular desserts of Maharashtra, served in all occasions. Nagpur is famous for its oranges, whereas Ratangiri district produces the world famous alphoanso or apu mangoes. Marathi snacks include chaat, bhel puri, Pani Puri, khandvi, vada pao and poha etc.
Maharashtrian cuisine can be divided into two broad sections: the coastal and the interior. Seafood and coconut are essential ingredients of the first category. Among seafood, the popular varieties of fish are Bombay duck, mackerel, bangda and Pomfret. The interior cuisine is dominated by Brahmins who avoid onions and garlic. There are five distinctive cooking schools in Maharashtra:
- Vidharbha: – Northeastern part includes Nagpur; people enjoy mostly vegetarian dishes with mild flavour. Powdered coconut is used on cooking. Besan is used extensively. Chicken and mutton are eaten in the form of mutton sukha, patodi etc.
- Kolhapur: – Situated in the southeastern region. It is famous for its spicy foods especially in meat, like mutton/vegetable or chicken kolahpuri, golyachi biriyani, and vegetable dishes such as missal, batata vada.
- Marathwada: – Situated in the eastern part, the people feed on rich and spicy food with lots of chillies and garlic. This region is famous for homemade pickles and chutneys. Koshambir is marathwad’s speciality.
- Western Ghats: – This is near the Arabian Sea and is famous for its fish and coconut dishes. Food here is mildly spicy and fresh coconut is used. Speciality is vada pao, pav bhaji etc. this region has been influenced and inspired by the Parsis, Jews, Sindhis and other communities who have some special dishes. Mumbai, Pune are the famous cosmopolitans of this region.
- Konkan: – This southern tip is influenced by the Portuguese tradition. It is famous for its coconut and fish dishes. Karnataka influences the cuisine of this region. People use cocum (deep purple berry that has a pleasing sweet and sour taste), instead of tamarind to impart tangy flavour in their dishes. Food is served on a mat made of palm leaves tat bandhaney. Some dishes include bnaivedia (sweet coconut dumpling), tambdi bhaji (dry vegetable curry), and penury (sweet nugget).