Because food is always better than people.
Monsoons are undoubtedly the mother of all seasons. Especially in Mumbai, the rains only enhance the beauty of the city. However, there’s nothing more comfortable than being at home and watching the rains fall onto the ground. And a perfect combination would be munching on delicious food. For your one of those evenings, here’s some sinful mouth-watering dishes that you could refer to –
Kanda Bhajiya
The best invention since penicillin, Kanda Bhaijya is the king of snacks, especially for monsoon. It’s basically fritters, made by adding onions, chickpea flour (besan) and a mixture of masalas, which is fried and served along with sweet and sour chutney for a better taste. You can add spinach as a substitute for onions, replace besan with moong dal, but make sure you serve it hot and crunchy, which is the whole point of a bhajiya. Combining it with pav is icing on the cake. Eat it while the rains pour heavily, you’ll need nothing else.
Samosa
Made with maida as an outer covering to the lip smacking filling inside made of potatoes, peanuts, masalas and coriander, samosas are the best option to eat in accordance with the lovely weather outside. Served hot along with sweet and sour chutneys, they make your evening a delicious ride onto the seventh heaven and back. However, make sure it’s cooked properly. Uncooked maida, if eaten, can lead to stomach disturbances. Take help from your mom while cooking samosas, they’re the experts here.
Aamras Puri
As if mangoes did not bless the mankind enough, people started turning them into ras and the result is absolutely magical. Aamras Puri is the MVP of food during monsoons. The best part about them is that they can be eaten anytime of the day. They make a delicious lunch, dinner or evening snack. Aamras is turning the fruit into a thick juice, you can add milk and sugar according to your preference, however sugar is not need if the mango is sweet enough. Make some puris to go with it and you have a perfect relationship right in front of you.
Mutton Roll
There’s not really a specific time of the year needed for eating mutton, but as you know, we just need an excuse for food. Mutton roll is simple. Gather the ingredients for the filling and the dough, vegetables according to your preferences. Cook them together, roll out the dough, add the filling and roll it out, you have yourself a date with the most beautiful thing on earth. Make sure the mutton is cooked enough, and add the desired sauces you want to. You can also add egg to the roll, which makes it even more scrumptious.
Jalebi
A sweet dish is what you need for an evening date with self. Making jalebis is easy, you just have to get the paste and sugar syrup right. It does take sometime to cook, but the end result will make you forget all the time you spent on it. To get the paste going, you need to start preparing 12 hours prior to when you plan to eat it. For the batter, add maida, besan, haldi, baking soda, water and 2 table spoon of all purpose flour. Keep it for fermentation, 12-15 hours will do. Once it’s ready, give it a spiral shape for frying, take it out when crunchy and put it in the sugar syrup. Take it out and you have the sweet outcome of your hard work.
Pav
Pav is like that friend in your squad who has good relations with everyone. Serve it with gravy, and you have misal pav. Serve it with Vada, you have Vada Pav. Making the list short, there’s nothing in the world that doesn’t go with Pav. You can also eat it plain along with tea, but you do have a wider option available. Samosas, Bhajiyas, Vadas, Misal, Usals, you can combine it with all of these and enjoy a perfect evening with rains and delicious food on your plate. Don’t forget tea/coffee, Pav dishes need a beverage to go with them.
Bread Pakora
Bread is that cousin of Pav who is cool but under appreciated. However, there a lot of things that can be made using bread. Particularly, bread pakora is one such dish that you could easily make and enjoy during monsoon. Make a potato based filling, just like the one for samosa, stuff it between two bread slices and cut them in half. Coat the slices in besan and water mixture (add salt to the mixture) and deep fry it. Serve hot bread pakoras with chutneys for a better taste. And you have yourself a simple yet tasty dish to look forward to.
Aloo Paratha
Parathas are the desi version of pizzas, which are equally tasty and delicious. There are a lot of options for the filling. You can make gobhi paratha, mooli paratha and also paneer paratha. For Aloo Paratha, boil potatoes for the filling. Mash them up and add chopped onions, green chilly slices, masalas, salt and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them together and fill it in the wheat dough. Roll them out like rotis, and cook the paratha. Serve it with dahi and chutney, and your soul with thank you for making one.
Bhutta
Let’s just take a moment and thank god for creating corn. Bhutta is especially eaten during monsoon, while watching the rain gushing down. While it’s more fun to buy it and eat it on the street, you can also make it home, because it’s so simple. Just buy some raw corn from a store, cook it on the gas stove until brown. Rub some lemon juice and chaat masala on the corn along with salt. Keep biting until there’s not even a little bit of it left. You have a delicious as well as healthy snack.
Chaat
When we say chaat, it comprises of pani puris, bhel puris, sev puris, dahi puris, kachoris, and everything that was invented for the betterment of mankind. Chaats are easy to make, and if you don’t want to make them, just go to a local shop and have some. Believe me, they get even more tasty during monsoon. If you’re making one, gather the ingredients for the specific one you wish to eat, and sit near your window to enjoy them. Most of the chaats take less than half an hour to prepare, which is what makes eating them even better.
Happy Monsoon, y’all!
