Catering Diaries: A Monsoon Lunch Crafted with Hyper-Local Ingredients

For this intimate dining experience, we curated a lunch menu that carried the very soul of Alibaug’s monsoon—lush, seasonal, and deeply rooted in coastal Maharashtrian comfort. It was designed as a warm, cozy afternoon for the client and her closest friends, a space where conversation, nostalgia, and food came together naturally.

This experience wasn’t just a meal—it was a small journey through everything the monsoon brings to our region. The earthy vegetables that arrive only with the rains. The greens that thrive in damp soil. The textures and flavours that feel right only when the air is heavy and the skies are grey.

A Menu Built Around the Season

We anchored the meal in traditional monsoon delicacies—dishes that have been part of coastal households for generations.

To begin, there were:

• Suranache Kaap, delicately marinated slices of yam, shallow-fried to crisp edges

• Aluchi Amti, a silky, tangy preparation made from colocasia leaves—the kind of dish that instantly evokes the rainy season

• A selection of crisp monsoon bhajjis, because nothing captures this weather more perfectly

These were paired with refreshing, locally sourced salads to balance the plate with lightness and colour.

Celebrating Local Produce

The heart of the menu was built around ingredients that appear only during the monsoon months:

• Paale Bhaaji, tender, leafy goodness cooked gently to preserve its freshness

• Root Vegetable Medley, a comforting mix capturing the sweetness and earthiness of seasonal roots

• Bhopla Gavaar Bhaaji, where pumpkin and cluster beans lend both softness and bite

Every dish was chosen to express what the land gives us this time of year—no excess, no overworked techniques, just honest produce treated with respect.

Completing the Meal

For the breads, we served:

• Nachni Bhakri, warm and nutty, the perfect monsoon pairing

• Puri, for a celebratory touch

To refresh the palate, we poured chilled Sol Kadhi, offering that soothing, pink wave of coconut and kokum between bites.

And to end on something truly festive, we served:

• Ukdiche Modak, soft, aromatic, and gently sweet—the quintessential monsoon treat in Maharashtra, and the perfect finale to a meal that celebrated the season.

The Spirit of the Afternoon

What made this experience meaningful wasn’t just the food—it was the intimacy of it. A small group gathered around a table as rain softened the landscape. Slow conversations. Familiar flavours. A menu designed not to impress with complexity, but to transport—to remind the guests of where they were, and what this region tastes like when the monsoon is in full swing.

These are the meals we love crafting the most: rooted in place, shaped by season, and remembered long after the last plate is cleared.