Description
Pune has a food culture that is deeply rooted in everyday favourites, traditional Maharashtrian flavours and much-loved local institutions. In this episode, Nilesh Amdekar and Nikhita Nanavare take us on a food trail through the city, introducing us to some of their favourite and iconic food stops, from a simple breakfast to a hearty misal, traditional sweets, a homestyle thali and the much-loved Mango Mastani.
We began at Bipin Snacks and Juice Bar near Sahyadri Super Speciality Hospital, where we tried sabudana khichdi served with kakdi and yogurt, along with their crisp bread pattice. From there, we headed to Bedekar Misal in Narayan Peth for a rich and spicy Maharashtrian-style misal, served with bread slices on the side.
The food trail then took us through the streets of old Pune, including a visit to Shrimant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Mandir before stopping at Chitale Bandhu in Sadashiv Peth. Here, we sampled an assortment of their much-loved sweets and savoury snacks, including amba burfi, pista burfi, sukha gulabjam, satori, kadboli, matar karanji, aalu vadi, bakarwadi, ola naral karanji and poushtik laddoo. We also tried their thick and creamy chakka, along with vilayati chinch and amla.
For lunch, we made our way to Poona Guest House, a much-loved Pune institution, for a spread of Maharashtrian dishes. The meal included aaluchi patal bhaji, koshimbir, matar usal, batata bhaji, vangyachi bhaji, dal and masale bhaat, along with gulab jamun and khaman.
Our next stop was Puran Poli Ghar, where we tried their pineapple puran poli and traditional steamed modak. And no Pune food trail would feel complete without ending with a glass of Mastani. At Sujata Mastani, we tucked into their thick and creamy mango mastani topped with mango ice cream.
This was our first food trail through Pune, bringing together some of the city’s iconic snacks, sweets, Maharashtrian preparations and beloved local institutions. There is plenty more to explore, but these were some of the flavours that gave us a delicious introduction to Pune.