Vidarbha · Deccan Inland Plateau
Saoji mutton and chicken rassa, at a fixed lunch hour
A cluster of family-run eating houses rather than restaurants, most carrying a family name followed by Savji. They open around midday and close when the pot is finished. Ask for the heat to be reduced only if you mean it.
Poha flooded with tarri, from about seven in the morning
Sold from handcarts and pavement counters; the good ones have a queue and no signboard.
Santra barfi and Nagpur's sweet and namkeen trade
The firm began at Bikaner in Rajasthan in 1937; the Nagpur arm was set up by a later generation of the family and became the city's default gift shop. The orange barfi is the local item on an otherwise Rajasthani list.
Nagpur mandarin, by the crate
Two seasons — the ambia crop from about November and the mrig crop in late winter and spring. The fruit is graded by skin condition rather than sweetness, which is why the best-tasting ones are often the ugliest.
Handloom cotton saris with an interlocked saw-tooth border
Very few working looms remain. The test for handloom is the border — an interlocked saw-tooth has no float and reads identically on both faces.
Brass and bell-metal cooking and storage vessels
A working trade rather than a craft showroom, and it sells to households, not to visitors.
Khadi, village-industry products and the tools that make them
Set up as a working museum of village industry rather than a display case, and still attached to a functioning production and research operation.
Famous shops, markets and workshops in Vidarbha, and what each is known for. (7)