Meals served during the monsoon are about dishes that soothe and focus on comfort, to elevate our mood and dispel the gloom of the grey skies.
Heavy downpours are the perfect setting for piping hot, spicy, steaming food. Of course, the options are endless.
Tastes apart, the body needs certain types of foods to boost immunity and keep infections at bay during the rainy season. Hot soups, masala chai, bhajiyas, corn-on-the-cob, khichdi with papad + pickle, last but never the least, are favoured by all.
Yet each person has their favourite monsoon home-cooked dish. Many of these may not necessarily tick all the boxes, but are definitely about well-being and evoke nostalgia, delivering a warm embrace when temperatures fall.
IMAGE: Chef Amol Desai
In the rains, Chef Amol Desai prefers to serve Patolis or steamed rice pancakes with fresh coconut and jaggery.
Executive chef at The Crown, Goa, Desai says: "During the monsoons in Goa, we receive lots of fresh turmeric leaves. This dish is mainly prepared in this season and is popular during the holy month of Shravan, and made for Nag Panchami. Goan Christians also prepare this on August 15 as a celebration of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary."
IMAGE: Mumtaz Kazi
While Mumbai home chef Mumtaz Kazi, who hails from coastal Ratnagiri and is the creator of Mumtaz's Kitchen, Andheri, north west Mumbai, chooses stirring up a leafy lentil dish of her childhood when the weather is wet.
"In the Konkan region, alu leaves grow in abundance only during monsoons and this is a special (seasonal) dish. In earlier days Tera or Alu Ke Patte was slow-cooked on a chulha in a large quantity and distributed to all the neighbours. I have fond memories of this dish."
Patolis
Recipe: Chef Amol Desai
Serves: 2-3
Ingredients
- 2 fresh turmeric leaves
- 200 gm rice flour
- 30 gm ghee + a little extra for spreading on the turmeric leaves
- 200 gm fresh coconut
- 200 gm jaggery
- 50 gm channa dal or Bengal gram, boiled, lightly mashed
- 5 gm green elaichi or cardamom
- Water as required
- Salt to taste, about ½ tsp or less
Method
- In a bowl, mix the coconut, jaggery, cardamom, 15 gm of the ghee, Bengal gram.
Keep aside.
- Spread the ghee on the fresh turmeric leaves.
Keep aside.
- Make a smooth thick batter with the rice flour, the remaining 15 gm of ghee, salt, a little water.
- Spread half of the rice batter on one of the turmeric leaves.
Place half of the coconut-jaggery-dal mixture on top of the spread rice batter.
Fold the turmeric leaf and seal the borders completely.
- Repeat for the second turmeric leaf.
- Steam the patolis for 20 minutes in a plate inside a steamer/double boiler.
- Once cooked, cool and remove the patolis gently from turmeric leaves an serve warm.
Tera
Recipe: Mumtaz Kazi
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
- 15 alu or tera or colocasia leaves
- 8-10 pods garlic
- 1 large onion.
- 1 tbsp haldi or turmeric powder
- 4 tbsp roasted dry or desiccated coconut.
- 50 gm vaal or field beans, soaked overnight, boiled
- 4 tbsp toor dal or pigeon peas
- 2 dry mango pieces
- Salt to taste, about 1½ tsp
- 2 tsp oil
- 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
For the dry masala:
- 2 tbsp brown dhania seeds
- 1 tsp jeera or cumin seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 5-6 dry red chillies
For the tempering at the end:
- 5-6 pods garlic, finely chopped
- 2-3 dry red chillies
- 1 tbsp oil
Method
- Dry roast the ingredients for the dry masala on a tawa or griddle, over low heat.
Take off heat and cool.
Grind the dry roasted masala with the garlic, onion to a fine paste.
Keep aside.
- Wash the alu patta thoroughly, removing the stems and veins of the leaves.
Chop finely and keep aside.
- In a pressure cooker, add the finely chopped alu patta, ground masala, haldi, toor dal, salt and cook, over medium heat, for 3-4 whistles or until done.
Let the pressure release naturally, open and puree with dal ghotni (wooden ladle) or with hand blender.
Keep aside.
- In a large saucepan or a kadhai, heat the 2 tsp oil over medium heat and add the jeera.
Once it crackles add the dal-alu leaves puree, dry mango, boiled vaal.
Lower the heat and cook well until it thickens and take off heat.
- In another small frying pan or tempering pan, heat the 1 tbsp oil over medium heat.
Add the chopped garlic, dry red chillies and fry a few minutes, take off heat and pour the tempering into the tera and mix thoroughly.
- Serve hot, garnished with the dry coconut, with steamed rice.