If you ask Gujaratis and Marathis about their favourite snack, you are very likely to get the answer that their hearts are trapped in deep-fried dough discs filled with a decadent mixture. Needless to say, bhakarwadi is one of the most popular snacks that the Western part of the subcontinent treasures.
These crispy, tasty and flavourful bhakarwadi is enough to woo even the simplest of minds in the first bite itself. This disc-shaped snack is filled with a flavourful mixture of dried coconut, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, cumin powder, amchoor powder and a hint of chilli. These go perfectly with a hot cup of chai on a winter or rainy evening. I mean, can we even deny the delicious combo of chai and deep-fried snacks? We don’t think so.
Tracing the origin of Bhakarwadi, we know that most Indians think that bhakarwadi is probably Maharashtrian due to its popularity in the Chitale Bandhu shops. However, you’ll be surprised to know that bhakarwadi actually has its roots in Gujarat. Bhakarwadi has been a part of Gujarati farsan for a long time now. The Chitales are responsible for the popularity of bhakarwadi, and not really its origin. While the Gujarati bhakarwadi was primarily sweet, Raghunathrao Chitale decided to experiment with the flavours of the snack and decided to add more spices to it. Now here’s how Chitale came to know about Bhakarwadi.
In 1970, Raghunathrao tried this snack through a Gujarati. He then decided to add a spicy edge to the snack by adding more spices. He did this to cater to the Maharashtrian palate. This variety of bhakarwadi is the one we fondly savour these days.
Now that you know the origin of Bhakarwadi, don’t forget to thank the Gujaratis, along with the Marathis, when you savour the crunchy snacks with a cup of tea or coffee.