Anil Mulchandani pics Dinesh Shukla
The 71-year old Padma Guest House in Kolhapur created a Kolhapuri Thali that helped popularize Kolhapuri cuisine commercially. This eatery launched in the year of India’s independence is not only thriving today but its owners are now taking the cuisine forward.
Kolhapur has a fascinating history that dates back to the 10 th century when it was ruled by a Yadav dynasty. The Bhonsle dynasty ruled Kolhapur Maratha Kingdom from 1710 to 1949, and many heritage buildings were erected in this period in this city. Rajaram II, who ruled from 1866 to 1870 AD, began the modernization of Kolhapur but died aged 20 in Florence, Italy and was cremated on the banks of the Arno River by special permission granted by the Italian Council of Ministers. He was succeeded for a brief time by Shivaji IV, after which Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, the Maharaja of Kolhapur who was a philanthropist and a reformer took the princely state to its zenith. Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, introduced wide-ranging social reforms, built theindustrial base of the city, and patronized art and culture.
Jyotiba Phule, the social reformer, who fought for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system, women’s emancipation and girl child education in India. If you visit Kolhapur you cannot escape picking up on Shahu Maharaj’s pioneering initiatives in constructing different educational institutions which included a boarding school for socially challenged students and Vedic schools. Back then, he made
primary education free and compulsory for all in his state. He also started schools to train village administrators. Opposed to the caste system, he removed Brahmins from the post of Royal Religious advisers, when they refused to perform religious rites for non-Brahmins. He ensured the untouchables equal access to public utilities, and discontinued the hereditary transfer of titles and tenures of revenue collectors who exploited or enslaved people. He also championed the cause of girl child education, took action against exploitation of women, legalized widow remarriage and discouraged child marriage.
He also began the economic progress of Kolhapur by building the Shahu Chhatrapati Spinning and Weaving Mill in 1906, establishing banking facilities and co-operative societies for farmers, and laying the foundations of the Radhanagari Dam. The Marathi Film Industry also grew in Kolhapur from 1917. Because of his vision and his multiple initiatives for social reform, he was given the title of Rajarshi Shahu.
Despite this rich history, I am surprised that not many heritage tourists visit Kolhapur though it has many architectural attractions like the New Palace and Town Hall constructed between 1877 and 1884, and older buildings in the Juna Rajwada area. It has a living heritage of wrestling – this sport was patronized by the Maharajas and the stadium built in 1912 has a seating arrangement for about 30,000 people
Our main reason for visiting Kolhapur was to visit the Padma Guest House for their historical Kolhapuri thali. The present owners Gauri and Ruturaj Ingle met us at Padma Talkies, the heritage cinema theatre. Ruturaj explains, . “ Late Col. Nanasaheb Dattajirao Ingle, Military Secretary to HH Rajaram Chhatrapati, Maharaj of Kolhapur, built a cinema hall and called it New Talkies. Inspired by the 1930s Art Deco style of Mumbai’s Metro Cinema of Bombay, the theatre was inaugurated by Lt. Col P Gaisford, British Resident of Kolhapur in 1941 and renamed Padma Talkies after Princess Padmaraje, in 1942, with the consent of the royal family. It used to show English films and housed a bar. In those days a camp for Polish Jews was created in Valivade on the outskirts of the city, – they would come to watch English classics here. The matinee 10 am show slot was fixed exclusively for Laurel & Hardy movies. The Padma Talkies also catered to the local audiences by showing Marathi and Hindi movies. The 3 pm show was reserved for women and the theatre provided separate seating arrangements for women for all the other shows!’’While digital technologies are used in theatres today, he has created a fascinating museum of projectors and other old equipment, and some cinema memorabilia from the theatre, for interested visitors.
From here, we walked with the couple to the nearby Padma Guest House. The stairway is lined with historical photographs of Kolhapur Princely State, and the restaurant still has old fans, furniture, screens and sepia tinted photographs. Says Gauri Ingle, who currently manages Padma Guest House and Padma Hotel, “The Late Col. Nanasaheb Dattajirao Ingle, who was Military Secretary to the Maharaja of Kolhapur, founded the Padma Talkies in 1941 and the Padma Guest House in 1947, just after India’s independence. Both were named for Princess Padmaraje. In the 1950s, Padma Guest House started serving Kolhapuri food – a curated combination of Kolhapur’s most famous main and side dishes, which is now served in many restaurants in India as Kolhapuri Thali. My father in law, Dhairyasheelrao Ingle, continued the work of his father Nanasaheb in managing the two establishments’’.
Goat meat is the most preferred food of Kolhapur, and mutton dishes feature prominently on a thali though now chicken is also becoming popular. Being close to the Konkan coastal region, fish and seafood like prawns or clams are also consumed.
The popular components of a Kolhapuri thali are Tambda Rassa or red curry which is a thin gravy made with mutton stock and tomato puree seasoned with coriander, ginger, cumin and red chillies, Pandhra Rassa which is a white gravy with mutton stock eaten in alternation with the hotter Tambda Rassa, Kolhapuri Thecha, a mutton pickle called Lonche, and acccompaniments like rotis, papad, kachumber salad. Gauri, elaborates, “we are known for our thalis – Rassa Mutton Thali, Rakti Mundi Thali, Veg Special Thali, Chicken and Mutton Thali, etc, but also have a la carte. The Mutton Lonche a dish of pickled dry mutton, is one of our signatures – many travelers get our Mutton Lonche and Veg Vindaloo packed to carry for onward journeys, and there is a Kolhapur Diaspora that takes these pickled dishes with them when they go back abroad because they stay long and can be mixed with regular dishes to get the fiery flavor of Kolhapuri cuisine’’.
In August 2001, Gauri and Ruturaj Ingle decided to start a branch of Padma in the Tarabai Park area of Kolhapur. The tagline of both the Padma restaurants is Proudly Traditional. “There are many old timers who still go to Padma Guest House, even though Padma Hotel has the same menu. The people living in the new upscale areas of Kolhapur and tourists or business visitors to Kolhapur are the main clients for Padma Hotel’’, says Gauri, “since I am from Gwalior, I have added the Gwalior style Puran Poli Thali to the repertoire – this is an attraction for residents of Kolhapur as they get their veg comfort food in a slightly different version. My sons, Aaryamaan and Shatrunjai, have both studied hospitality management at Lavasa. They have started Epicure Catering that is offering on-site catering of r oyal cuisines of Kolhapur,
Baroda, Gwalior and other Maratha princely states, as also national and international cuisine’’, says Gauri.
