Indian food is still often treated as one broad cuisine, even though the food can change quite a bit from one region to the next.
Malvani food comes from Malvan, a coastal town and surrounding area in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Maharashtra is a state in western India, and Mumbai is its capital. Malvan sits along the Konkan coast, a long stretch of land beside the Arabian Sea. The cooking from this area is known for seafood, coconut, kokum and regional masalas.
I visited Kavita for the first of their new monthly dinner series featuring one region or culture at a time. Chef Tushar Tondvalkar started the series with Malvan, a region he has a personal connection to.
The guest cook was Shalaka Hodavadekar of Malvani Kitchen. Her family is from Hodavada in Devgad, another part of Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district. She started Malvani Kitchen after moving to BC in 2023 and missing the food she grew up with.
The five-course menu was served family-style and was priced at $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity.
Here’s what we tried.
The first course included Kothimbir Vadi, Fanas Cutlet and Pej, with tamarind and mint chutneys.
Kothimbir Vadi is a Maharashtrian snack made primarily with cilantro, chickpea flour and spices. The mixture is traditionally steamed, cut into pieces and then fried. The version here came as squares with a crisp exterior and a soft, dense middle. There was a good amount of cilantro throughout, along with a warm toasted spice flavour.
Fanas is the Marathi word for jackfruit, so the Fanas Cutlets were jackfruit patties shaped into small rounds. These were crisp on the outside and softer inside. I liked trying both snacks with the chutneys. The tamarind was sweet and tangy, and the mint chutney tasted lighter and more herbal.
Pej is a simple rice gruel, sometimes compared to a thin congee or rice porridge. It is commonly made with parboiled rice and is often eaten as a comforting everyday food. Kavita served it in a small cup. It was mild and cooling, especially after the fried snacks and chutneys.
Next were the Prawn and Fish Rawa Fry with coconut chutney. Rawa is semolina, which was used here as the coating for the seafood before frying.
The prawns were firm with some natural sweetness, and the coating added spice and a bit of crunch. The Dover sole came in narrow pieces, so there was more of the crisp coating in each bite. I preferred the fish, though I enjoyed both. The coconut chutney was creamy and worked nicely with the fried seafood.
The Chicken Sukka came with vade. Sukka refers to a drier preparation where the masala cooks down and coats the meat instead of being served as a separate curry. It had a darker roasted spice flavour with some coconut, and the chicken was tender.
Malvani vade are fried breads made with rice and lentil flour, sometimes with other grains and spices mixed into the dough. The vade here were round and puffed with a crisp surface and softer middle. I tore off pieces and used them to pick up the chicken and masala. There was quite a bit of flavour left on the plate, so the bread was useful here.
For the main course, we had Goat Curry with amboli, basmati rice and kohlrabi loncha.
The goat was tender, and the curry had a deeper spice flavour with some heat that came through gradually. There was a generous amount for the table, and we tried it with both the rice and amboli.
Amboli is a soft, thick pancake made from fermented rice and lentil batter. It is similar to dosa, but thicker and softer. The amboli soaked up the goat curry nicely.
We finished with Ukadiche Modak, a traditional Maharashtrian steamed dumpling.
The modak had a soft rice flour exterior and a sweet filling made with coconut and jaggery. It was served on a banana leaf with saffron and ghee poured tableside.
The outside was lightly chewy, and the coconut filling was moist with a caramel-like sweetness from the jaggery. The warm ghee added some richness, but the dessert was not overly sweet. I enjoyed cutting it open and seeing how much filling was tucked inside.
For drinks, I had the Kokum Spritz mocktail.
It was interesting to try Malvani cuisine in Vancouver, especially dishes that are not commonly found at local Indian restaurants. I am curious to see which regions and cultures Kavita features at future Cultural Dinner events.
Kavita
250 W 3rd Ave, Vancouver, BC
