The real regional food bazaar waiting to unfold

In last week's column I wrote with scepticism about the 'boom' that's supposed to be taking place in regional Indian food restaurants. I argued that regional food faces regional prejudices, and, paradoxically, suffers from being too close to the food of other Indian communities to find favour with them. A Bengali trying out Gujarati cuisine, or a Tamilian trying Punjabi, is less likely to be receptive than if they were trying Thai or Italian where they would have no close standard of comparison.

But despite my scepticism, I have to admit that regional food is more widely available - and from regular restaurants too, rather than the ultra-basic eateries that were the only place you could find it in earlier. So who's eating in them? I got an answer at Diva Maharashtracha, a new Mumbai restaurant that showcases food from Maharashtra's districts. It's the latest offering from Mumbai's most annoying restaurateur, Suhas Awchat, and as with his Goa Portuguesa close by, its packed with kitsch, pictures of Awchat and much evidence of his intense desire for publicity.
As with Goa Portuguesa too the food mixes the promising and the average.

We started with a startlingly good kothimbir vadi, besan and coriander leaves, with added cashews in this version, cooked till its just set to a creamy consistency and cut into squares. Nothing else quite lives up to this. Stuffed brinjals, chicken Kolhapur style and I can't remember what else, all decent enough, but not really memorable. What I find most depressing is how the restaurant takes what to me is the most interesting aspect of Maharashtrian, its austere and healthful simplicity that manages to give even strong flavours like garlic and coriander seem delicate, and reduces it to a standard over-rich restaurant style.

But the tables around me were packed and the crowd seemed almost entirely Maharashtrian. Many were even from that older generation which views restaurant eating as a deeply suspicious habit - and who I would have though would find this food seriously wanting - yet here they were eating as heartily as anyone else.

I realise this might suggest that my own sense of what's good Maharashtrian food is questionable, but I prefer to think it fits in with what seems to be the real regional food trend: its main market is with people from that region itself. Even if Diva Maharashtracha's food was only just acceptable, the people who went there would rather have that than anything else.

That seems to be the pattern with other (much better) regional restaurants such as Kewpie’s and Bhojohori Manna in Kolkata which seem capable of satisfying even the most chauvinistic Bengali gourmets. Cash conscious Gujaratis seem to have no problems paying the relatively high prices at Mumbai restaurants like Swati Snacks and Soam simply because their Gujarati inspired vegetarian dishes are so good.

And in Bangalore Halli Mane serves akki rotis, holige and other North Karnataka dishes to an almost exclusively Kannadiga crowd: the day I went they had to hunt for an English menu. (Also, despite being hugely popular - its not small, yet was packed and you even had to fight for take away - many non-Kannadiga Bangaloreans don't even seem to have heard of it).

This reflects, I think, a shift in how we now cook at home. Many of the regional dishes were meant to made in large joint family houses where there were always hands to help with the cutting, grinding and (endless) stirring that the recipes required. Few people have the time or energy for this any longer. Many of the dishes also only make sense when made in quantity - it doesn't make sense, for example, to grind and ferment just a cupful of idli-dosa batter.

But in smaller families you don't need so much, and while you can now buy ready to cook batter, the results are never quite the same. We eat simpler and smaller these days, but that doesn't mean we've lost our taste for the elaborate regional dishes.

That's where these restaurants come in. By taking the hassle of cooking from our hands, they enable us to enjoy the food we like. That's why people from an older generation, who in the past would only eat at home, or at most at a community wedding, are now willing to eat in them (and its worth noting how several regional restaurants have been started by wedding caterers).

Why go to the hassle of getting banana leaves, making rice batter and then smearing and steaming it in the leaves for just a few panki, the delectable pancakes served at Swati, when you can just go and order a plate there? We'll eat basic dhal-chawal daily, as long as we know that more particular cravings can be satisfied at these places.

I think this is an excellent development. It means that these regional specialities are preserved and that their knowledgeable local clientele should ensure that they stick to high and authentic standards - even if the dismal Diva Maharashtracha isn't evidence of this. To do Awchat justice I think he's on the right track in creating a mid-level restaurant for this market.

This is where regional food works best, not in five star hotel restaurants where its out of the price range for most, or in the old eateries which are too simple for people who do want eating out to be a bit more of an experience than that. As the trend for Maharashtrian food catches on, more such restaurants should open, offering more authentic food and the chance to eat without Awchat's photographs grinning oppressively down at you.