Thriller called thecha

Representation pic

At a recent sit-down dinner, Chef Amninder Sandhu of Pune's Ammu's kitchen added thecha prawns to the menu. She charcoal grilled tiger prawns, added a little confit garlic aioli and a sugarcane glaze, served them on a bed of thecha. It was a definite winner.

Sandhu vouches for the thecha's versatility and thinks it can be eaten with almost anything Indian. "The spice balanced out the smokiness of the prawn and the sweetness of the sugarcane. Thecha gets a nutty flavour from the crushed peanuts, and the spice of the roasted green chilli and garlic, completed the experience."

Home Chef Swapneel Prabhu's childhood memories include his Belgaum-based grandmother's thecha

In her book, Pangat, author and culinary consultant Saee Korane Khandekar says the name for this fiery Marathi chutney comes from the verb ‘thechne' which means to ‘pound'. "At its most basic, a thecha is some green chillies pounded with salt, and is what the poorest farmer carries with raw onion and bhakri for lunch to the fields. It gains complexity when you add ingredients to it - oil, garlic, peanuts, coriander, lime juice, cumin seeds. And, with every addition, you have a new recipe."

Traditionally made by hand using a grinding stone or mortar and pestle, thecha is served in Marathi homes with the everyday bhaji-poli meal or with flatbreads like thalipeeth, appe, ghaavan and amboli. It works well as a marinade for meats or potato, too. Khandekar says she loves oven-roasted potato wedges that have been slathered in thecha. "It is a condiment that can enliven a meal, making you wonder how many taste buds your tongue has. It also helps relieve a blocked sinus!"

Home chef Swapneel Prabhu says the success of the thecha depends as much on its flavours, as its texture. Coarsely grounded is how it should be. A smooth paste fails the test. "It's staple Maharashtrian peasant food and is a permanent fixture in the shidori [food basket/bundle] the farmer carries to work. Millet bhakris, raw onion and sometimes sauteed seasonal greens or a dry pithla make up the contents of the basket."

Chef Sandip Dalvi drizzles thecha oil over spicy nona pizza at Bandra's Jamjar Diner. Pics/Sameer Markande

At home, Khandekar makes a dip by whisking thecha in a bowl with hung yogurt. This is an excellent accompaniment to chips of all manner as well as cucumber soldiers. However, at the risk of sounding pessimistic, she thinks thecha is the easy way out for commercial eateries trying to ‘go regional'. "There is an influx of dishes [with thecha] on menus. I too have used it in many ways but one must try to understand its provenance when you reimagine a dish. Like in thetcha-thalipeeth, the thecha is mixed with dahi and served with thalipeeth crackers [basically thalipeeth, but thinner and baked]. I've tried to keep the spirit of the condiment and the dish it is paired with, intact. We often mix dahi with thecha or mirchi loncha to eat with thalipeeth. So, I've changed the format slightly. But making a thecha into a stir-fry or marinade is nothing more than using its good press to make an easy dish."

Prabhu thinks regional flavours have gained the limelight they deserve, but like with all things trending, an aspirational following brings with it the fear of compromising on quality. The thecha that Prabhu grew up eating is a recipe his maternal grandmother made in Belgaum. "Our family version uses broken green chillies [whole chillies can burst while frying] and peeled garlic pods, lightly crushed to prevent them from popping. These are fried in a smidgen of oil till they blister and get lightly charred. These are cooled and pounded in a stone mortar and pestle along with coarse sea salt. It's an abrasive that helps break down the ingredients. Finally, some freshly-squeezed lime juice is added for a bright acidic finish and to round off the pungent edge of the garlic and heat of the chillies. Rarely, we would add roasted, skinned peanuts or sesame seeds. These cut down the spice and lent the thecha a nutty richness, adding to its volume. Add coriander leaves if you want a milder version."

Saee Koranne Khandekar's thalipeeth crackers with thecha dip

Prabhu says another version uses raw chillies and garlic, pounded together and then topped with raw peanut oil before storing in a jar. "The result is something between thecha and a chimichurri-esque oil that tastes particularly delicious with stale bhakri," he adds. Prabhu replaces lime with kokum for acidity, adds lightly toasted cumin for grounding earthiness and mixes a dollop of softened butter before slathering this onto butterflied lobsters or jumbo prawns, grilling them on half-shells.

Sandhu's Ammu's Kitchen serves a delicious plate of thecha prawns

One of Prabhu's peculiar breakfast favourites is a thick slice of crusty bread toasted till shatteringly crispy, slathered with thecha and topped with sliced hard-boiled eggs, and a drizzle of honey.

Chef Amninder Sandhu

"The combination may sound a bit outlandish but it works surprisingly well together. I also love to serve it like a gremolata alongside roasted meats. While I do like to innovate, nothing beats thecha paired with a hearty millet bhakri and piping hot pithla. The flavours epitomise the unpretentious charm of Maharashtrian Cucina Povera for me."

Thecha goes west

Niyati Rao

Sahil Timbadia, partner and co-founder at Jamjar Diner, says the latest favourite dish on their menu is the spicy nonna (Rs 575). "The idea was to replace the usual jalapeno/dried chili topping with another spicy condiment. And what better than thecha?" Head Chef Sandip Dalvi adds, "We felt it provided the necessary heat and depth of flavour to complement the roasted eggplant on the pizza. The response has been good. It's still a traditional pizza, just a little bit more interesting than usual." On Ekka's tapas menu, one of the most loved dishes is churro with potato silk smoked thecha dip (Rs 180). Chef Niyati Rao says, "The thecha gives the dish a sharp edge because of its smoky flavour. People love mixing it with the potato silk and dipping the churro in it."

Bombil thecha

Maharashtrians love their dried fish as much as they do chillies, so another version uses dried bombil (sun-dried Bombay ducks) pounded with chillies and garlic and charred dried coconut. This puts a coastal spin on the iconic condiment.

Going red

Parth Purandare

The Kolhapuri laal thecha corn ribs (Rs 175) has sat firmly on the Bombay Taco's menu since it opened in Bandra in December 2021. Founder and chef Parth Purandare says, "We wanted to give street food a facelift and nothing hits home quite like the thecha. Green being common, we worked with the red one that has a robust flavour and gives the dish an awe factor."

Bottled success

The thecha hummus (Rs 299) from Wonder Foods and Farms is a spicy dip launched a month ago after it was served at an event they hosted and realised that it was polished off in no time.

Mayuri Rao

Mayuree Rao, CEO and founder, says, "I wanted to make spicy hummus for a lunch I was hosting, and experimented to combine both flavours. It turned out so good, we had to have it on the menu. It works as a dip, spread in a wrap or a sandwich." Little Treats also hawks a thecha flavoured butter (Rs 403), while Nomad Foods mixes chilli with pork in their bacon thecha (Rs 350), which has long been a success.

Starring at restaurants

Thecha babka dough at Goan eatery O Pedro, BKC

Easy-to-make and store, thecha is incredibly versatile and can be turned into a delicious spread, flavourful marinade, a base for compound butters, aiolis or dips and even worked into dough and batter. Prabhu thinks, "In the hands of skilled chefs, thecha is the perfect flavour bomb that can set off some seriously flavourful fireworks on the palate." For vegetarians especially, it's a simple but welcome change in flavour profile - different from the usual, but familiar still and chefs in the city are cashing in.

Chef Hussain Shahzad

The Bombay (Meri Jaan) Sandwich (Rs 490) at O Pedro made with thecha babka is inspired by the humble vada pav and packs in masala aloo, cheddar cheese and pickled chillies. Babka is traditionally a sweet braided bread that comes with chocolate. Here, it is reworked with a puree of thecha so that it's easy to smear over the dough, which is then braided and baked. It lends a savoury note and spicy flavour profile to the sandwich. Hussain Shahzad, Executive chef atHunger Inc. Hospitality, tells us, "Indians love the combination of spicy green chilli with garlic, and the thecha is a beautiful amalgamation of both. The ability to use it wisely can transform a dish."

Chef Gaurav Gidwani

BrewDog Bandra's chef and F&B director, Gaurav Gidwani has put an aloo thecha naan bomb (Rs 390) on the menu. Here, samosa patti is stuffed with hand crushed baby potato, and open-fire roasted Vaishali chilli and garlic cloves crushed with sea salt. In goes a hint of mustard oil. It's served with a tangy tomato chutney from Telangana. "The dish is a subtle melange of flavours Indian customers can relate to. The spice comes from Gujarat's Vaishali chillies and the earthiness from open-fire roasting of the garlic and the khada [whole] namak offers a salty burst but in a pleasant way," Gidwani says.