Varhadi is a dialect of Marathi typically spoken in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Vidarbha is the north-eastern region of Maharashtra and is known for its extreme climates - round the year dry weather and  also known for its boldness. This region primarily consists of Amravati and Nagpur. Here  there are two cuisines  "varhadi" and "saoji". Both these cuisines are particularly spicy, and not meant for the faint hearted.

Saoji is a community which is known for its super spicy non vegetarian food. Varhadi cuisine is a little milder than its counterpart saoji, but it is still on the spicier side. A typical morning in Nagpur would start of with a plate of "tarri pohe",which is served with a thin gravy that is spicy and hot. It is garnished with shev and coriander. Lunch would then comprise of many types of bhaats like - "gola bhaat","pithla bhaat" etc.. Unlike other Maharashtrian cities, rice is pretty staple here and part of both lunch and dinner. The Varhadi or Saoji non vegetarian spicy preparations go very well with these rice dishes.

Now you might be wondering how come me being a Bengali, I am talking about Varhadi cuisine. Well to tell the truth until this day I was not even aware of the cuisine name let alone the recipe. I have a very good friend who is a certified and a passionate chef. Since mom is visiting me now, he offered to drop by and prepare a very traditional Maharashtrian preparation for us. He didn't tell me what dish he was about to make, just gave me instructions that I should soak some 10-12 odd dry red chillies in hot water for half an hour before he arrived. And of course clean and keep the mutton aside.

He arrived at my home with a small blue tupperwear container. When I peeked in it looked like a fresh masala paste with a very unique aroma. I couldn't quite place it as to what was giving that different aroma, but it certainly didn't smell like the usual masala that goes into a mutton curry. Then began the cooking. The soaked chillies had to be made into a paste. Mom offered a lending hand and made the paste with the help of sil batta. It is a rectangular shaped rough unpolished stone with a cylindrical, movable stone on top is used to make wet/dry masalas and chutneys in Indian households. All my childhood I have always seen my mom making masala paste with sil batta. But I am devoid of that expertise and rather lousy at it. But I do admit the taste and texture of a sil batta based masala paste and that made in mixer grinder is very different.

Once the chilli paste was done, the actually cooking started.  I noticed the change in look and feel of the gravy base when the secret paste was added. The flavours were very unique and appetizing. Nothing I had have before. The color was also on the blackish side, which is signature to this cuisine. Finally it was kind of a picnic feel when we all sat down on the floor, placing all the food on top pf newspapers. The whole house was already smelling of the secret masala. I had made Indrayani rice to go with the mutton. Its a special kind of fragrant rice found in this part of the country which I like better than basmati. It needs to be cooked with a little more than required water to give that mushy texture. A dollop of ghee and the mutton tasted like a piece of heaven. It was not until we finished our food that my friend finally gave away the name of his recipe - Varhadi mutton. He also said, this preparation is so very traditional that its hardly found commonly in Pune. Nonetheless here is his special recipe for it.

Picnic style serving on a newspaper

Preparation Time : 30 minutes

1. Clean and wash the mutton. marinate it with salt and red chilli powder.

2. Take all the spices mentioned under Varhadi masala and make into a fine paste with required water. Consistency will be like the picture



3. Soak the dried red chillis in hot water for about half an hour
Tip: If you do not have the specific red chilli use any variant of spicy dry red chilli for this

4. Using sil batta grind the chillis to a fine paste
Note: You can always grind it in mixer, but the texture from using a sil batta is finer



5. Chop the onions and the garlic finely

6. Take a wok, and heat oil. When the oil is smoking add the onion and chilli paste. Add the ginger. Fry it till the onions are softer.

7. Add the Varhadi masala to it and cook till oil separates.



8. Switch off the flame and add the curd so as to not curdle it. Notice the rich dark brownish color the masala base acquires. Hence at times it is also called kala masala.



9. Add the marinated mutton. Fold in. Cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.



10. Take a pressure cooker and cook for 5-6 whistle or till the required time for mutton to cook.

11. Open the pressure cooker and transfer the contents back into the wok. Cook till oil floats up for about 5-10 minutes.




Serve with Indrayani rice, Basmati rice, sweet pulao or any other less spicy rice. If it is Indrayani rice add some desi ghee on top to accentuate the flavours of the mutton when had with the rice. Have a garden salad on the side.




Cuisine reference link