Cloudy days, sears and sizzles

The first spell of rain that decorates the dusty parched soil with little puddles never ceases to make people nostalgic That first smell of wet mud walking back home drenched with a cricket bat in one hand and a chargrilled corn cob in another staring out of the window while studying for unit tests hastily parking the bike and elbowing fellow bikers to get them to make some room under the leaking tin roof of a kirana store mdash the rain has many memories associated with it Rajdeep Kapoor executive chef at ITC Maratha prepares Besan Ka Cheela PicsAnita Anand Prominent among these are the smells of certain dishes that our mothers or grandaunts cooked to accompany our wet jaunts on cloudy days Delhibased food critic and chef Marut Sikka says ldquoIn the scriptures the monsoon is called pradhan which means to give The rains quenches our thirst and end the parched times Monsoon foods give us enjoyment comfort and nourishment Itrsquos natural that the rains stir a memory of comforting recipes handed down to us by our eldersrdquo he says lsquoMalpua is great with rabrirsquo Malpua Ingredients 12 litre milk 14 cup maida 14 cup rava 1 tsp saunf 3 tbsp sugar Ghee Water Method gtgt Roast the rava till it turns light brown gtgt Add the roasted rava to the milk along with maida saunf and sugar Make a smooth batter Ensure that the batter has a smooth consistency and does not have lumps gtgt Heat the ghee and transfer the batter into a glass gtgt Pour in circular movements into the ghee to form small discs gtgt Fry and flip gtgt Ensure that the malpua is golden brown and crisp before it is removed from the frying pan lsquoRain is equal to Besan Ka Cheelarsquo Rajdeep Kapoor executive chef at ITC Maratha dishes out gourmet delicacies to customers who visit his restaurant but till date the monsoons remind him of his childhood in Delhi where he along with his family would indulge in raucous games on the carromboard with the entire family cheering on and competing with each other as the black and white discs raced across the board ldquoThe highlights of these evenings were savouring my motherrsquos impromptu yet laboured preparations Pakodas stuffed with onions potatoes chillies or plain paneer were an absolute must The rain clouds heralded a large sampling of these crispy batterfried delicacies It was nothing but comfort food at its bestrdquo recalls Kapoor However his most preferred dish in the monsoon he reveals is Besan Ka Cheela served with green chutney or yogurt and malpua served with large servings of pabdi Ingredients 2 cups besan 2 onions 2 green chillies chopped A few sprigs of coriander finely chopped 12 tsp ajwain A pinch of red chilli powder Water to make a flowing batter Oil to fry Salt to taste Method gtgt Mix the ingredients except water in a big bowl gtgt Start adding small quantities of water to make a smooth batter gtgt Add water till it comes to a dropping consistency and keep it aside gtgt Heat a nonstick tawa or heavy bottom frying pan on a medium flame Pour a little oil on the tawa and spread 1 serving spoon of batter evenly on it gtgt Cover the tawa with a lid for a minute gtgt Remove the lid and apply some more oil on the cheela and flip it gtgt Cook till itrsquos brown and crispy on both sides gtgt Serve hot with mint chutney and yogurt lsquoEast Indians gorge on crabs and Bombil in the rainsrsquo Genevieve DrsquoSouza 49 mother of one a homemaker and an active member of the strong East Indian community in Vakola says that her community looks forward to the rains so they can eat Muthias mdash crabs found only in the fields and the foothills after the first rains ldquoWhen I was young my family members would go hunting for those crabs in nearby fields Today there are only concrete buildings around so we have to buy them from people coming from Kalyan Uran and Thanerdquo says DrsquoSouza Genevieve DrsquoSouza loves to make Bombil Batata for her family on a rainy day PicSayyed Sameer Abedi In the olden days most East Indian men worked in the paddy fields while women stayed at home ldquoFish wasnrsquot easily available in the season and hence would be dried and stored in advance I remember eating a lot of dried fish curries and chilli fries in the wet season In March we would go out and buy kardi mdash small dry prawns These were used to make kolim balchowrdquo she says Bombil Batata Ingredients 6 dried Bombay ducks Bombil 2 small potatoes with skin properly cleaned and chopped 100 ml ground coconut paste or milk 1 big tbsp East Indian bottled masala 1 onion sliced 2 green chillies finely chopped 2 tbsp oil 1 small tamarind ball Salt to taste Method gtgt Clean and cut each dried Bombil into two pieces Chop potatoes into mediumsized pieces gtgt Heat oil in a pan add sliced onions Sauteacute till translucent add chillies and stir gtgt Add bottle masala and fry well gtgt Add coconut milk paste and stir ensure the curry isnrsquot watery gtgt Add Bombil pieces potatoes and a little water gtgt Cook till potatoes are done gtgt Add tamarind pulp and salt gtgt Cook for a few minutes ensure the tamarind blends in well with the gravy gtgt Serve lsquoWe make special dishes to sip with tearsquo Bimba Nayak grew up in a large joint family in Girgaum where every meal was a feast ldquoMy grandmother 11 to 12 older cousins and aunts would get together and make sure we had something interesting to eat with our cup of tea Bimba Nayakrsquos favourite dish is Pangoji a soft cheese balllike fritter made using maida PicSatyajit Desai There would be crispy kanda bhajias spicy sode batata gravy dish with dried prawns and my favourite Pangoji a soft cheese balllike fritter made with maida and either prawns or Bombil Another monsoon favourite was the Bhanavle mdash a baked pie with cabbage and fresh prawns or Bombil ldquoI belong to the Pathare Prabhu community and we love our fishrdquo smiles the Prabhadevi resident who conducts cooking classes at her residence Pangoji Ingredients 1 cup maida 1 tbsp oil for batter 5 green chillies chopped 1 tsp jeera 1 tsp methi seeds 34 tsp salt 14 tsp soda 12 cup freshdry prawnsu00a0water Oil to deep fry Method gtgt Dry roast and grind jeera and methi seeds gtgt Mix maida chillies salt soda oil and roast together with the ground spices Add water and make a smooth batter thick enough to coat the prawns Ensure there are no lumps gtgt Add prawns to the batter and mix well gtgt Keep aside for four hours gtgt Deep fry in oil until it puffs upu00a0