Veg Maharaja Mac A Delight For Vegetarian Customers

The Big Mac is a world-famous hamburger sold by McDonald’s, the international fast-food restaurant chain. Introduced first in Pittsburgh, United States, in 1967, it was such a huge hit that it was sold in the rest of the US by the following year. Today, it has become one of the signature products of the company and is sold across the world.

The burger originally consisted of two 100 per cent beef patties, a special sauce which is a variant of the Thousand Island dressing, iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, and onions, served in a three-part sesame seed bun. To this day, the recipe remains the same in the US.

The first Indian version of the legendary American burger was the Chicken Maharaja Mac. It was a combination of grilled double-chicken patty, flavoured with smokey sauce and a slice of cheese, with slivered onion, crisp, shredded iceberg lettuce, and juicy tomatoes.

After years of the Indian Big Mac experience being reserved for non-vegetarians, McDonald’s surprised its vegetarian patrons with a Veg Maharaja this year. Now, vegetarians can also enjoy the delicious concoction of double patties with fine cheese slices, fiery jalapenos and crunchy onions, placed on a bed of fresh lettuce patty with cheese and corn, with a topping of smooth, exotic sauces.

Explaining the reason for the launch, Smita Jatia, Managing Director, Hardcastle Restaurants, the master franchisee of McDonald’s India(West & South) said, “Seeing a lot of demand for food that is filling and indulgent, made us launch the Maharaja Mac some years ago. But we did not want to exclude our vegetarian customers.”

“We did surveys among our customers, which revealed that vegetarians liked the corn-and-cheese combination. Taking a cue from that, we took the Maharaja Mac and launched its vegetarian version in the form of the Veg Maharaja Mac.”

She added that a lot of vegetables - like lettuce, jalapenos, tomatoes and onions – had been added to the new Maharaja burgers so that the vegetarian customers get to taste the freshness of the ingredients when they bite into their burger.

The Veg Maharaja Mac is surely a vegetarian's ultimate food. Huge in size and high on taste, everyone will take longer to finish the burger.

From India’s own version, let’s find out what the Big Mac looks like in other countires. Australia, a country always known to like things big, has the Mega Mac or Double Big Mac – four-ounce beef patties with an extra slice of cheese. It is the biggest regular hamburger produced by the chain and has 680 calories.

In Europe, it is known as the “Big Big Mac”, which is a quarter-pounder-like product, while Alaska, US, has its exclusive burger named after its mountain, Mt. McKinley - The McKinley-Mac. It’s made of two quarter-pound patties.

In West Asia, the Chicken Big Mac - with two breaded chicken patties – is sold.  Ther countries are Pakistan, Egypt, UAE, Kuwait, and Qatar. The Giga Big Mac is a larger version, with three times the meat of a Big Mac. This belongs to Japan.

McDonald’s in Hyderabad Serves up a Kebab Burger

When the McDonald’s Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) arrived in India around 20 years ago, the earliest strategy by the company to please its clientale was to create a menu that would be familiar to the local customers. Viola! the McAloo Tikki burger was born!

This desi addition to an otherwise international menu, thrilled the customers and helped the restaurant to quickly increase footfalls inside its restaurants.

McDonald’s (West & South) recently took efforts to replicate its success story in the southern city of Hyderabad by launching a range of new products with local flavours – it was a kebab inside a burger!

So, what’s the connection between Hyderabad and kebabs? Hyderabad is as famous for its kebabs as it is for its biryanis. The kebab, which originated in Iran and the Middle East, was inspired by culinary methods from faraway places like the Mediterranean. Today, a huge variety of kebabs are cooked using a variety of exotic spices. Then, when the kebabs came to India, the city of Hyderabad added its own Mughlai tradition by cooking it with hot South Indian spices. The kebabs of Hyderabad bore the smokey flavour of skewered meat and vegetables, topped by the unmistakeable flavour of Indian spices.

Now, McDonald’s India (South & West) has launched not one but three new kebab dishes. The new meals launched in Hyderabad are: the Chicken Kebab Burger, the Kebab Wrap, and the Chicken Kebab Double Patty Burger. Just the names can make you feel the whiff from the kitchens.

The three new flavours were first launched at the McDonald’s restaurant at the busy City Centre Mall in Hyderabad. Today, the menu has been extended from one store to 22 stores across Hyderabad.

In the words of Kedar Teny, Director, Marketing and Digital, McDonald’s India (West and South), 

“We aim to delight our customers in Hyderabad by offering them their favourite kebabs in a unique recipe. We continue serving innovative dishes in South India, which has been a major market to adopt and cater to the changing consumer trends. We are testing here, and if it gets a good response, we will expand it pan-India.”

The new menu is a blend of the familiar with the new, which makes for an exciting combination. It’s certain that Hyderabad’s locals will welcome the new flavours, as they are a city of food lovers who love new tastes even they appreciate traditional flavours.

This sentiment was echoed by Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman, Westlife Development Limited and owner of the McDonald’s (West and South India), when the franchise reached the 20-year milestone, recently. He said the 20-year journey had been about “thinking global, but being local”, which meant keeping the international chain relevant to a global visitor, yet having a lot of appeal to a local customer.

“Our menu has evolved unbelievably in the last 20 years. We have built a solid foundation with our menu and succeeded in building sub-brands like McSpicy and McAloo Tikki. When other burger companies come in, these brands really help to differentiate our offering,” he said.

Moreover, established brands help in new products succeeding. For instance, McAloo Tikki - which is the biggest brand for McDonald’s India - has aided the success of new flavours like Mexican and Lebanese in the AlooTikki burgers. “The people’s faith in the brand make them try out new menus, which have a positive impact on same-store sales,” adds Jatia.

So, what makes a McDonald’s kebab different? It is a traditionally cooked, spicy, square-shaped patty, made of minced chicken and seasoned with Indian spices, breadcrumbs and chickpeas, and accompanied by sliced red onion. The Chicken Kebab Burger is accompanied by a spicy Hariyali sauce, which has the taste of green chillies, mint and coriander leaves, which lend a typical local flavour to the tasty dish.