Bakarwadi

Bakarwadi is a traditional crispy, deep-fried, disc-shaped, sweet and spicy snack popular in the western state of Maharashtra in India. It was already popular before 1960 when these were not Gujarat or Maharashtra states; they were both a part of Bombay State, and both cultures added their own flavors to each other's recipes.

History
It is believed that bhakar comes from bhakri and once rolled with masala stuffing (vadi) and cut and fried, it becomes bhakar-vadi. Chitale Bandhu of Pune and Jagdish-Farsan of Vadodara popularized the snack by distributing it nationally and internationally. It was popularized by Raghunathrao Chitale, a Marathi businessman.

In the 1970s, Narsinha Chitale tasted bakarwadi, a popular Gujarati snack made by his neighbor. The only difference was that the neighbor made a "Nagpuri" variant of the snack. Popularly known as pudachi vadi, this "Nagpuri" variant was an extremely spicy roll, whereas the Gujarati staple snack had more garlic and onions. The amalgamation of the spicy pudachi vadi and the shape of Gujarati bakarwadi is the Chitale bakarwadi. "They combined the spiciness of the Nagpuri pudachi vadi and the shape of the Gujarati bakarwadi and deep-fried it for more crispiness," says Indraneel. The recipe, perfected by Narasinha’s elder sister-in-law, Vijaya, and wife, Mangala, went on sale in 1976.

This Chitale-Bakarwadi was launched in the market in 1976 (Chitale Dairy since 1939, Chitalebandhu Mithaiwale since 1950 and Chitale-Bakarwadi since 1976), and shortly the brand saw a massive surge in demand for this snack. Jagdish Foods (Since 1945) (Jagdish Bhakharwadi) is from 1945 till date in Gujarat and across the world. Many other brands like Haldiram's also started to manufacture this snack.

Recipe
Bakarwadi is made from gram flour dough made into spirals stuffed with a mixture of coconut, poppy seeds and sesame seeds. It is then fried until it gets crispy. It can be stored for weeks and enjoyed as an evening snack.

In popular culture
Bhakharwadi, a TV serial, aired on Sony SAB from 2019 to 2020. The comedy revolves around two neighboring families in Pune - one Marathi and the other Gujarati - that differ in their attitudes towards the snack.