Food at any party or occasion is always considered very important as it brings happiness and satisfaction to the guests. No matter what the occasion is, the key to making your guests happy and having a successful event, especially a traditional Marathi Vivah is to plan a delicious menu very carefully. But what\'s so special if it is a wedding or a reception party? Simple, you have to be more conscious. As a leading Marathi marriage bureau, Sundar Jodi has curated a list of dishes that encompasses a traditional Marathi feast.

Although events in a Marathi marriage usually include both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, we have only listed vegetarian food as non-vegetarian food depending on tastes and the choice of the people.

Starters:

• Vada pav: Vada Pav is one of the most popular and favorite foods in Maharashtra. The vada is made of boiled potato, stuffed with spices, and deep fried in oil. It is served with pav (a type of bread preferred with Vada).

• Bhaji: The Marathi community enjoys spicy dishes and bhaji is very popular among them. Made with potato, onion, and green chilies, it is deep-fried after coating with besan (chickpea flour)  

• Dabeli: Dabeli is a famous dish in Gujarat and Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai. It is among the vast list of delicious street food and is made of bread, mashed potatoes, raw chopped onion, green mint paste (chutney), jaggery chutney, a variety of spices, sev (farsan), and sweet dates.

• Soup: Soups are the safe and preferred option for any family party. There are various types of soup available but tomato soup, sweet corn soup, mixed vegetable soup, mushroom soup, etc are popular.

Main Course:

• Puri Sabzi: Puri is a famous dish in many locations in India, enjoyed with various vegetables. It is a flour-made flat-fried food served with potato or mixed vegetables, always tasting delicious.

• Spicy vegetables: You can never go wrong by including vegetables like ladies finger (bhindi), potatoes (aloo), cauliflower (phool gobi), baby corn, spinach (palak), etc in the menu as they are ever-favorite vegetables in India. People may also enjoy Veg Kolhapuri, Veg Hyderabadi, Veg kofta, Veg Handi, etc.

• Daal: A daal is a must item in every Marathi Vivah food menu. Dal fry or dal tadka are delicious options. Many people also enjoy moong daal, Gujarati kadhi, Rajasthani daal bati, or even South Indian sambar.

• Paneer item: Paneer or cottage cheese dish is the most loved dish on any vegetarian food menu. There are various paneer dishes to choose from like kadhai paneer, paneer masala, paneer butter masala, shahi paneer, etc. People usually select a minimum of one or two items.

• Rice: Rice is an important dish in the Maharashtrian wedding food menu. Multiple options are found in rice such as jeera rice, pulao, biriyani, masala rice, onion fried rice, peas rice, etc.

• Roti / Naan: Roti is a must for any marriage reception food menu. Various options are enjoyed by people in roti, these are naan, paratha, butter naan, etc.

Beverages:

• Kokum Sharbat: Kokum Sharbat is not available in every part of India as it is mainly grown in the western coastal side of India. In Maharashtra, it is very popular and loved by the people. This sharbat is made of sugar and kokum giving it a unique blend of sweet and sour

Desserts:

• Jalebi: Jalebi are coil-shaped crispy and juicy sweet items which are very popular in every corner of India.

• Shrikhand: Shrikhand is a type of sweet-flavored yogurt. It is made of yogurt, saffron, cardamom, and other delicacies.

• Gulab Jamun: Gulab Jamun has always been considered the ‘king of sweets’. Almost everybody loves this dessert.  Sometimes, people enjoy hot gulab jamun with kheer. 

Puran Poli: Puran Poli is particularly famous in Maharashtra. So you may include this in a traditional Marathi food menu.