IDEALLY, the caption to this picture should read �like lamb (or goat) to the slaughter�. For that is what this Kolhapur shepherd is upto. They rear lamb and goat in this princely city of Maharashtra just for the pot. Not even for the milk, that the Kolhapuri will only depend on the buffalo for.

The Kolhapur Marathas, who were once India�s best warriors, are now a working class of agriculturists who cultivate sugarcane and make jaggery. Traditionally, they have hunted and eaten quail and wild boar, the meat shredded, marinated in yogurt, cloves and black pepper, then fried in red chillies. Or made into a Loncha (pickle) that lasted forever!

Today they employ the same recipes for some of the finest mutton available in the country. Hearty meat eaters, mutton is the mainstay of the Kolkapur Maratha�s non-vegetarian diet; not even gaoti chicken will do as an alternative, and fish, which is got from the coastal districts of Ratnagari and Devgad, is barely acceptable.

They lace their extravagant and rich diets with spicy and ebullient curries of meat and chicken that are watery thin, but delicious and blistering hot. Onion, garlic, dry coconut, black pepper, red chillie, these form the base of much of the non-vegetarian food�s masalas.

The Brahmins of Kolhapure on the other hand, are mainly vegetarian. When they entertain, then they do so with meat. Otherwise, they are happy with their amtis and bhajis, their bhakris and koshimbirs. They consume a lot of fresh, leafy veggies and sprouted ones as well.

Kolhapuri usals made of sporuted moong dal is very popular among the Brahmins, and they have green vegetables like methi, palak, ambada, kokla, chakwat that are very local and not grown elsewhere in Maharashtra. Desserts are not a must-have dish on the Kolhapuri�s menu, but if they have anything, it will be shrikhand, kheer, puranpoli or gulpoli.