MAATI BAANI for awesome food

MAATI BAANI

Maati Baani….language of the earth "मिट्टीकी भाषा" implies the ties with the roots. 

Maati Baani is a restaurant of Saj By The Lake in Malshej Ghat, Maharashtra. Saj group of hotels is known for it's vegetarian cuisine over the past 20 years. I am a hardcore non-vegetarian but I love to be vegetarian at Saj properties at Mahabaleshwar & Malshej Ghat.

Over the years the kitchen head "maharaj" has now evolved to "chef", the greeting from "केमछो महाराज?"  has been replaced by "hi chef".

At Maati Baani the menu was added with NonVeg dishes….the theme & location demanded them. The local flavours of spices, the farm produce of Indrayni Rice, Jowar & corn, fresh fish from the lake and 100 year old grandma recipes helped in designing a menu fit to say " Maati Baani".

Maharashtrian food, local flavours to cover all the meal sessions of the day are available. Breakfast begins with poha or thalipeeth  or misal with matki/ white vatana

. The Misal is made in 3 varieties…..local with 2 pulses, puneri with 2 pulses & potato, nagpuri with red chana only but in all one thing is common….they all are spicy "झटाक" to say in local lingo. 

To the discerning the chef can produce "घावणे" (rice pancakes) 

to be eaten with sweetened milk or peanut chutney. 

You must try the crispy sabudana wada (sago pattice) or sabudana khichdi (with potato & crushed roasted peanuts).

The Speciality of food also lies in Pit Cooking where the food is put in mud pots, sealed, covered with grass in a pit and cooked on slow fire. The "माटी पका मुर्गा" (pit cooked chicken),  भाजका मसाला कोंबडी (chicken cooked in dry coconut & roasted spices), भरलेली अंडी (stuffed eggs) recipes are 100 years old as they were passed on from grandma to menu ! Another unique egg dish " कांद्यावरचे अंडे"  sunny side up eggs on a bed of sauteed spiced onions (tibetien shakshuka is similar but with tomatoes added). These all can be devoured with rice or jowar or nachani (millets) bhakri (flat breads). There is the special rice preparation "मसाला भात"  typically made with आंबेमोहर variety rice but a local variety available here "ईंद्रायणी" is equally aromatic n flavorful.

Maati Baani also has some selected dishes from gujarat, kathiawad, south india along with the popular Punjabi dishes. Snacks to suit the atmosphere pakodas, tikka, bangdi samosa are truly delicious. Don’t forget to order MB special Kheer as dessert. Any request of an out of menu dish is cooked by chef with love depending on availability of ingredients, restaurant being at remote location.

Villas facing the lake will make your holiday memorable too.

Maati Baani + Rains + Hill view + Moving Fog = Happiness Cocktail

Monsoon Food: When it Rains, Some Foods Reigns!

When it Rains, Some Foods Reigns!

The monsoons arrives with a waft of mud smell that brings memories galore, something triggers the brain’s “memory of food” section and you start craving for typically Rainy menu. It is just like when you smell aroma of some food being made or think of the food you have eaten in earlier years and the taste is almost felt in mind....the power of taste buds n mind combined don’t forget certain foods. It gives a rise to nostalgic food memories and we start looking at our mother or wife to make the delicacies so wanted in the season. We have emotional ties attached with monsoon, bitter sweet memories resurrect and there is surge of emotions. Body temperature drops in rains and due to need of calories and change in our chemistry with rains we star craving for food !!

The most popular demand is for Pakodas (fritters), Hot Chai adrakwali (tea) and shorbas (soups). Depending on the region in India, in North India it is Moongdal Pakodi, Samosas, Bhutta (corn on the cob) 

Bhutta

while in South India it is Rasam (hot pepper soup), Bondas, hot Filtered Coffee, Karakadaka Kanji (njavara rice gruel cooked with coconut milk & herbs) and Tamilnadu’s popular Sundal (spiced up chickpeas).. The eastern regions serve Aloo Chap (a version of batatawada), steamed or fried Momos, Hilsa Fish, fried Tapioca Chips, Kakrol Bhaji (spiky teasel gourd) and the west thrives on Onion Pakoda, lilva kachori, fafda chutney, Alu wadi,

kanda Bhaji (onion pakoda)

Thalipeeth, methi na gota, wild greens Shewla & Phodshi bhajis while sipping on hot ginger tea.

mutton ghee roast

The meals in north India mainly are rich in fatty foods during monsoon & winters so ghee Parathas (pototo or raddish or cauliflower or mutton mince) served with dollops of butter, dal makhani, non-veg delicacies like tawa fried chicken or gizzards, laal maas, mustard oil cooked mutton biryani are famously eaten in households as well as eateries. Common street food like mutton seekh, hot chana (gram) chaat, samosa chaat, poori aloo, jalebi are gorged upon by the people.

The east India is diverse with hilly & sea side regions. They have fatty Pork dishes, Hingi Maas Jalukia (catfish peppery), fish curries are cooked with fiddlehead ferns, spiced up brinjals, Bengals Hilsa from Ganga river in any form, Khichuri (rice, roasted moongdal, whole garam masala, ginger, gr chillies, mustard oil).

kabab

South India savours its Dosai with variety of sambhars, masala dal Wadas,  

Dosai

Mosuru Kodubale (rice flour & yoghurt fried rings), vegetable bhajjis variety (includes gr chillies, tapioca, raw banana, potato, cauliflower), Milagai Bhajji of Kerala (gram flour and spices), Hyderabad’s Punugulu a type of fritter (made from dosa batter mixed with curd, chillies & onions).  The non vegetarians like Kari Wada (minced meat patties), Naada Kozhi Varythathu (chicken fried in coconut oil, its spice), Hyderabadi meat potli with a bowl of haleem (broken wheat, lentils, ginger & spices). 

The western region has stark contrasts within the regions with pure vegetarian and sworn  non vegetarians. The Gujarat gives the vegetarian flavours with the common vegetables like turned into delicacies, hot yoghurt kadhi, patra (colocossia leaves steamed with spices)

Patra

, bardoli ki khichdi, dal dhokli. The Maharashtra food is my favourite and from break fast to dinner I can name them. Breakfast popular dishes are hot ghavane (rice pancakes) with coconut chutney or sweetened coconut milk, thalipeeth (flat fried bread with mixed lentils, spices & herbs), missal (variety from Kolhapur to Puneri to Nagpur)

Misal

, Poha with chana rassa (puffed rice with red whole gram curry), Hot Bhataji Pez (gruel) ani pickle. Lunch all time I can eat can be hot Besan or Kulith Pithale with brown rice, vatana ussal (black gram in coconut curry), non vegetarian fare includes dried Bombay duck bhujane or Javla (dried shrimp) koshimbir.  For snacks the evergreen Onion Bhajji cannot be replaced so also Mirchi Thecha (crushed green chill, rock salt, garlic) with all food. Dinner is normally heavy with Nachani-Kulith Shorba, Vade Kombdi (fried rice pancakes with coconut cooked chicken)

Vade Kombdi

, tawa fried chicken liver, bhakri (rice or nachani). Go north in Maharashtra you cannot miss Khandeshi Mutton, Warli chicken and variety of bhakris.

Javlaa Bhakri

With these delicacies available all thru the country, one can travel all monsoon and come with satisfied taste buds, a few kilos added to your weight and memories of different regions taste & languages. Just like language in India changes every few kilometres, the food eating habits also change. That’s Indian food for you......this covers only monsoon !

Vegetarianism in Lockdown

Vegetarianism in Lockdown

The lockdown forced many Carnivores into vegetarians. The side tracked stocks of vegetable varieties got a boost at the vendor stalls. Some were smart enough to push the non moving vegetables to customers and the gullible, scared of shortage customer just bought it. I for myself a proclaimed Carnivore was in for a shock and it did bring out the poet in me sarcastically extolling the new stars in my vegetarian basket.....bhindi (ladies finger), dudhi (snake gourd), karela (bitter gourd), parwal, turia (ribbed gourd) and so on.

To plan from breakfast to dinner was a task.

Options for breakfast (without cholesterol) poha, upma, sheera, bread chivda, vermicelli upma, sabudana khichdi. Missed eggs & sausages. So some different innovations like Oats Thepla, Thalipeeth, Dhokla, Idly were introduced to my menu. If bored then a Oats in hot milk quick fix was handy.

Meals were a task, Dals were easy to think from akkha masoor, masoor dal, toor dal, moondal, black urad dal etc. Favourites turned out to be Varan (toor dal tempered with ghee & cumin), akhha masoor spiced up and  Maa ki Dal (dal makhani though time consuming but yummy. Time anyways was plenty). Missed Fish curry. No Option found !

From the available vegetables it was a rotating menu, no questions asked. Bhindi was tried with curd gravy, with stuffing (cumin coriander chilly stuffing), just masala sautéed. Dudhi (snake gourd) did manage to slither in with addition of chana dal (gram), with different flavoured mint green masala. Cabbage was big disappointment as I tried paratha, kofta, porial. Capsicum was partnered with potato... stuffed capsicum, sliced potato capsicum, capsicum mixed with besan (gram flour) and passed with flying colors. The failures but essentials were parwal, turia, karela, tindli, beans, cauliflower. Missed chicken & Mutton. Options tried were Arbi malvani masala fried (tastes like malvani fried fish), Soya Kheema, Soya kofta biryani, Suran Masala (same method as mutton masala).

Paneer scored good marks in the menu with its variety show of bhurjee, makhani, kadhai, biryani, pakoda. Aloo or Gobi Paratha with curd and pickle always gave abreak from the routine.

Some odd menus were – Sheer with French fries, Maggie with Kanda Bhajiya, knorr soups  and chapatti tawa pizza, Beans & Carrot Pulav with spicy tomato chutney (tomato thecha).

Yes lockdown did teach us self reliant, crisis cooking, enjoying the own cooked food, doing the house chores and also understanding how much the housewives do for the family. Salute to the women folks. Salute to the vegetables !

Sabzi Ke Gaane

Sabzi ke Gaane in Lockdown. No non-veg is available so these vegetables are the saviours but liking them ??? the poem says it all in good humor

घर मे बैठे ईन चीनीयोंकी वजहसे

गाने सूझने लगे सबजीयां की वजहसे !

(tune: Banda parwar manlo jigar..)

बंदा 'परवल'मानलो जी भर

बन के यार मै आया हूं

किस्मतमे आपके हुजूर

फिर वही 'परवल' लाया हूं !"

 

(tune: Duniya banana wae kyat ere mann me samaai..)

दुनिया बनानेवाले क्या तेरे दिल मे समाई

काहेको 'तुरीया' बनाई

(tune: main tulsi tere aangan ki..)

मै बीवी तेरे आंगन की

क्या रेसीपी बनाऊं 'बैंगन' की

(tune: Bindiya  chamkegi..)

'भींडी' कटेगी , थोडी पकेगी

तेरी भूख उडे तो उड जाए.

(tune: Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haai..)

ये 'दुधी'...कैसी है पहेली हाय

कभी हलवा तो कभी सबजी बनके सताय.

 (tune: main shaayar toh nahin..)

मै 'गाजर' तो नहीं....मगर ऐ 'बीन्स'

जबसे देखा मैने तुृझको, 'मूली"को शायरी आ गयी.

(tune: jhoot bole kaowa kaate..)

झूट बोले करेला खाए कडवे करेले से डरीयो,

मै मैके चली जाऊंगी तुम करेला खैयो.

 

'तोंडली' आहे एवढीशी

पण खायला खीळते बत्तीशी.