Flavors Of Maharashtra Food Festival Solitaire Kohinoor Continetal | Food Review | Food Photography

Was here for their Thai Food Festival almost 5 months ago and was floored, was back here on Saturday with family for Maharashtrian Food Festival (going on till 17 sep) and once more, we all thoroughly loved the experience. Delicious food, very value for money price point, elegant calm ambiance, excellent staff and superb service-pick your reason to visit Solitaire and just do it :) 

My high school best friend is Maharashtrian, so I have been privy to some authentic Maharashtrian food at her home for more than a decade, and so can completely vouch for the authentic lip smacking flavors of every single dish at this food festival. They have got some of the most famous dishes in the buffet, from Pune, Konkan region, Sindhudurg, Malvan region and so on, in both veg as well as non-veg, replete with home-made spices. There aren't 500 items in the buffet, but more than enough for anybody to feast like royalty. They have tried to introduce some 'forgotten gems' and the way everything tastes like prepared by a loving grandma, we would say they have completely succeeded. Also,enjoy the fantastic selection of classic old-school Marathi songs playing, creating a rustic festive vibe in the air. And the walk till Solitaire is adorned with information about some famous Maharashtrian public figures over the ages, nice touch :)

Started off with Sol Kadhi, tangy and tingling, just like it should be, and moved on to Pineapple Soup, something I tried for the first time and 100% loved with its spicy-tangy-sour medley of flavors,

The starters section was hands down my favorite with plethora of bites in crunchy and healthy avatars, including-
Poha Chivda,
Cucumber-dahi salad,
Beetroot-Coconut salad,
Shankar Padi (bite sized sweet crunchies, we call it shakkarpara in north :D)
Adu Wadi (one of famous street food in Mumbai, you see these little green sweet-spicy monsters everywhere :D)
Curd Rice,
Farsaan,
Chakli,
Mashed Potatoes (not continental ones, these have a healthy dose of spices,onions etc. to create an explosion of flavors),
Kothimbir Vadi,
Matar Karanji (Same as Gujhiya but filled with mashed peas instead of suji/rawa, so this becomes a savory item instead of sweet, still so lip-smacking :D)

And so on!

I specially loved Puneri Misal Pav with the mix of Poha, Farsaan, Spicy curry, Sprouts all going beautifully with buttered pav, culinary heaven.

For main course, we noshed on another set of down-to-earth dishes found in Maharashtrian households. Think veggies with grated coconut, daal with distinct tanginess, curries with ample red chillies to warrant arrival of fire brigade, chapatis made of healthy ingredients such as amaranth, bajra way before quinoa and kale became fashionable! We had and loved-
Bhindi-coconut,
Methi-Aloo,
Jhunka Bhakar,
Puris made of rice,
Bajra roti,
Rice flour roti,
Masala Bhaat (my favorite)
Papad, Home made Pickles...

Everything made with limited use of ghee/oil, something my sister pointed out because she hates seeing a layer of oil floating on top of any dish,thankfully she was supremely happy here :)

And then we had to save some space for dessert too, again some dishes not seen anywhere else made their appearance, starting right from everyone's favorite Puran Poli to Homemade Modaks to assorted Chikkis from Lonavala to Amrakhand (I could have had 50 of these alone!) to Gujhiya, Basundi, Pineapple Halwa, Mango Kulfi and Tutti-Frutti ice cream. Delicious end to this memorable meal came in the form of Meetha Paan. Seriously, what else is the definition of good life?