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It wouldn't be incorrect to describe Maharashtrian food as a fusion of several cultural influences. Maharashtrian food is a masterful fusion of tastes and culinary methods, from spicy curries to mouthwatering sweets. A delicious variety of sweets that highlight the state's rich culinary legacy are served in Maharashtrian cuisine. A sweet tooth won't be able to resist these irresistibly delicious desserts. Desserts such as Shrikhand and Aamras are favourites whereas Basundi and Puran Poli are often prepared during festivals. This is your chance to sample these treats if you have a particular fondness for traditional sweets as Maharashtra provides some of the best when it comes to desserts.
Shrikhand
Known for its thick, creamy texture and sweet taste, shakhand is an Indian yoghurt-based dessert that is sweetened with sugar and fruits. It's normally served as a dessert after the main course in South India, whereas breakfast is the traditional serving time in North India.
On Janmashtami, the day that marks Lord Krishna's birthday, Maharashtra and Gujarat also prepare the celebratory dessert shrikhand. In order to make shrikhand easier to carry when travelling, ranchers were known to hang yoghurt or curd overnight, according to a widely accepted legend.
Aamras
Essentially pureed mango pulp, aamras is usually consumed as a dessert. Ripe and juicy mangoes are chopped or sliced, then blended into a creamy, sweet, and aromatic concoction. Ripe mangoes provide the sweetness for the finely puréed cream, but it can also be sweetened with sugar or jaggery.
It may be simply enhanced by adding cardamom, saffron, or dried ginger, but its simplicity makes it flexible enough to be altered, and many variations can be made. While traditional aamras is a summertime delicacy, canned versions are available year-round.
Basundi
Basundi is a well-known Indian delicacy made with thickened, sweetened milk and chopped nuts, including pistachios, cashews, and almonds. Typically, cardamom and saffron are used to flavour the dish. On Indian festivals like Diwali, Bhai Dooj, Raksha Bandhan, and Gudi Padwa, it is customarily made.
Sweet and creamy, basundi is frequently enjoyed during the fasting season or at Indian weddings. Its origin is unknown, but it has been enjoyed as a milk dessert for generations in India, with Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Karnataka being its most popular regions.
Modak
Maharashtra is thought to be the birthplace of the Indian sweet dumpling known as modak. Modak is made in many different ways and goes by several names in India, such as kudumu in Telugu, modhaka or kadubu in Kannada, and mothagam or kozhukattai in Tamil.
There are geographical variations in the ingredients, preparation, and cooking techniques. But the most popular kind is known as ukadiche modak; it's a steamed rice flour version loaded with a sweet mixture of jaggery and shredded coconut.
Karanji
Karanji is a deep-fried pastry with a crescent form that is mostly associated with Maharashtra. It is made of thinly stretched dough with a filling of cardamom, crushed cashew, almond, or pistachio nuts, and fresh or dried coconut.
It occasionally contains raisins, poppy seeds, jaggery, and rava (semolina). After folding the dough into a half-moon shape, the pastries are deep-fried till they turn brown. Traditionally, people enjoy karaji during the Holi or Diwali celebrations. It is comparable to gujiya from northern India, which is usually made without coconut and can be baked or fried.
Chavde
The deep-fried, crispy Indian dish chavde is usually made during the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration. It is made of circular dough that has been thinly folded and a fragrant concoction of sugar, cardamom, sesame seeds, and roasted coconut. The dough is filled with the coconut mixture while still warm after being cooked until it turns crispy and fluffy.
After folding, the pastry may occasionally have more filling sprinkled on it. Typically, this speciality is connected to the Maharashtra and Karnataka states, as well as the Konkani people.
Puran Poli
This delicious and incredibly soft flatbread, dripping with ghee, screams indulgence. There are two parts to Puran Poli: a sweet lentil filling (puran) flavoured with cardamom and jaggery. This mixture is placed within poli, a type of flatbread made by maida. It's prepared with a lot of ghee on a tawa. The dish is made for festivals such as Sankranti and Diwali.
