Be it crispy pakodas, soulful ramen, or a fish curry, these monsoon recipes will make your rainy days delightful and delicious.
With the monsoon in full force across the country, it’s time to switch up your diets and dig into some of the season’s specials. We spoke to some of the country’s biggest chefs and got their recommendations for monsoon recipes that you can make at home and enjoy the best seasonal produce India has to offer.
Here are 5 monsoon recipes to make those rainy days an indulgent affair.
Pakodas
By Chef Ravish Mishra, Executive Chef, The Westin Goa
Ingredients:
- 3 gobhi florets
- 3 dices of capsicum
- 3 slices potato
- 3 steaks of paneer
- 50gm cashew nut
- 3 slices onion
For the batter:
- 200gm besan
- 25gm ajwain
- Salt to taste
- 15gm turmeric
Preparation
Add all the batter ingredients together with water and mix well. The consistency needs to be thick.
For the vegetable pakodas, dip the sliced and cubed veggies in the batter and coat evenly.
For cashew pakoda, make a dry mixture of whole cashew using besan, chilli powder, turmeric powder, ajwain, salt and sprinkle some water and mix well.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the batter-coated vegetables and cashew for 6-7 minutes.
Put all fried pakodas in a serving vessel and sprinkle chaat masala on top. Serve with tamarind chutney and mint chutney.
Kudampuliyitta fish curry
By Chef Regi Mathew, Culinary Director and Co-owner, Kappa Chakka Kandhari
Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4tsp mustard seed
- 1/4tsp fenugreek seed
- 1 inch piece of ginger cut into long strips
- 10 pieces of garlic
- 1/2 cup shallot sliced
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 1/4tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Guntur chilli powder
- 1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 Kudampuli (Malabar tamarind ) soaked in 1/2 cup hot water for 20 minutes
- Salt to taste
- ½ kg fresh-water fish cut into medium size pieces
- 1 cup water
Preparation
Soak Kudampuli (Malabar tamarind) in 1/2 cup water and keep it aside.
Heat oil in a pan or an earthen vessel, once the oil is hot, add mustard seed, fenugreek and allow them to crackle. Next, add curry leaves.
Add peeled garlic, ginger and shallots into the pan and sauté until the shallots turn light golden-brown in colour. This should take approximately 7-8 minutes.
Reduce the flame, add turmeric powder, Guntur chili powder, Kashmiri chilli powder.
Add 1 cup of water and allow it to cook for a while.
Once the raw aroma of the masalas is gone, add in the kudampuli water along with salt and allow it to boil for a while.
Finally, add in the fish, and allow it to cook for at least for 10 min on slow flame.
Remove the dish from fire and allow to rest for 1 hour before transferring to a serving dish.
Serve with boiled tapioca.
Wild mushroom ramen
By Chef Prashanth, Executive Chef, The Fatty Bao
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 cup white button mushrooms, quartered or halved
- 1/2 cup white fungus
- 1/2 cup black fungus
- 1/4 cup beansprouts
- 2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal
- 30gm brocolli blanched
- 20gm boiled sweet corn
- 200gm ramen noodles
For stock:
- 1 pod garlic clove chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger
- 50gm carrot
- 50gm leek
- 50gm onion
- 30gm celery
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds for garnish
Preparation
Soak shiitake mushrooms and white fungus in hot water until soft, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and reserve soaking liquid. Remove any stems and slice if whole. Set aside.
Heat large saucepan over medium high heat. Add vegetable oil. When oil is hot, add mushrooms, garlic and ginger. Cook until mushrooms are tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in soaked and sliced shiitake and white fungus mushrooms. Cook for 1 minute.
To make stock
Add all the ingredients for stock and reserved mushroom liquid, water, soy sauce, sugar and rice wine vinegar. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30-45 minutes.
To make ramen
Boil water with some salt, add ramen noodles into water and cook for 2-3 minutes until ramen are al dente.
To assemble
Using tongs, divide noodles evenly among serving bowls. Ladle in broth. Arrange mushrooms, green onions, broccoli and corn over top of noodles. Sprinkle with toasted sesame garnish.
Bhuna Masala Chicken Wings
By Chef Vivek Tamhane, Senior Executive Chef, BLVD Club Bengaluru
Ingredients:
- 10-12 chicken wings (cleaned)
For bhuna masala:
- 2-3 chopped green chili
- 2 chopped onions
- 2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1 chopped tomato
- 1 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp fennel, crushed
- 1 tbsp black pepper crushed
- Salt to taste
Preparation
Take some water in a pan and boil the chicken wings for about 20-25 min till they become tender. Take care to not overcook it. Drain the water and keep the wings aside.
Heat a saucepan with oil, add chopped onions, garlic and ginger and sauté for some time. Add tomatoes and cook until it’s mashed.
Once done, add in red chilli powder, coriander powder, fennel crushed, cumin powder, black pepper crushed and salt. Mix well once it is cool, grind to a smooth paste.
Marinate chicken wings with the prepared paste.
Place the marinated chicken wings on a baking tray. With some oil and bake it in the grill for 15-20 minutes, turn them in between.
Add some cornflour to paste and then marinate chicken wings, if you like to fry in oil.
Serve the chicken wings with coriander or green chutney.
Roasted Tomato Soup
By Chef Arun D’Souza, Perch
Ingredients:
For soup
- 1kg ripe tomatoes
- 150gm garlic
- 100ml olive oil
- 1 or 2 large basil leaves, torn
- 150gm chopped onion
- 100gm chopped carrot
- 75gm chopped celery
- 2 bay leaves
- Warm water
- 30ml cream
- 1-2 pinches Za’atar powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the Grilled Cheese
- 2 slices sandwich bread
- 25gm butter, room temperature
- 10gm Dijon mustard
- 60gm – 80gm shredded Darima Farms Cheese
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Roughly cut the tomatoes into large cubes, toss them with olive oil, salt, garlic and basil. Place into the oven and roast for 20 – 30 minutes or until all visible liquid has evaporated. Remove and cool.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté, onions, carrots and celery. Cook over medium heat until soft. Add the bay leaf and sauté for another minute. Add the roasted tomatoes and mix well. Add warm water till the mixture is covered. Let this cook for at least 5 minutes. Once done, let it cool and then blend until smooth. Place back in the pot and bring back to heat. Finish with the cream and Za’atar powder.
For the grilled cheese, pre heat the oven to 180 degree C and a pan over low/medium heat. Spread mayonnaise over each slice of bread, and then sprinkle the shredded cheese, ensuring that it completely covers the bread. Place into the oven and let melt.
Once melted, remove from the oven and lightly spread the Dijon mustard on the melted cheese. Close both halves of the sandwich together, and evenly spread the butter on top.
Cook each side in the pan until, browned and crisp, usually 3 mins per side. Serve hot with the tomato soup.
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