Monsoon Food: When it Rains, Some Foods Reigns!

When it Rains, Some Foods Reigns!

The monsoons arrives with a waft of mud smell that brings memories galore, something triggers the brain’s “memory of food” section and you start craving for typically Rainy menu. It is just like when you smell aroma of some food being made or think of the food you have eaten in earlier years and the taste is almost felt in mind....the power of taste buds n mind combined don’t forget certain foods. It gives a rise to nostalgic food memories and we start looking at our mother or wife to make the delicacies so wanted in the season. We have emotional ties attached with monsoon, bitter sweet memories resurrect and there is surge of emotions. Body temperature drops in rains and due to need of calories and change in our chemistry with rains we star craving for food !!

The most popular demand is for Pakodas (fritters), Hot Chai adrakwali (tea) and shorbas (soups). Depending on the region in India, in North India it is Moongdal Pakodi, Samosas, Bhutta (corn on the cob) 

Bhutta

while in South India it is Rasam (hot pepper soup), Bondas, hot Filtered Coffee, Karakadaka Kanji (njavara rice gruel cooked with coconut milk & herbs) and Tamilnadu’s popular Sundal (spiced up chickpeas).. The eastern regions serve Aloo Chap (a version of batatawada), steamed or fried Momos, Hilsa Fish, fried Tapioca Chips, Kakrol Bhaji (spiky teasel gourd) and the west thrives on Onion Pakoda, lilva kachori, fafda chutney, Alu wadi,

kanda Bhaji (onion pakoda)

Thalipeeth, methi na gota, wild greens Shewla & Phodshi bhajis while sipping on hot ginger tea.

mutton ghee roast

The meals in north India mainly are rich in fatty foods during monsoon & winters so ghee Parathas (pototo or raddish or cauliflower or mutton mince) served with dollops of butter, dal makhani, non-veg delicacies like tawa fried chicken or gizzards, laal maas, mustard oil cooked mutton biryani are famously eaten in households as well as eateries. Common street food like mutton seekh, hot chana (gram) chaat, samosa chaat, poori aloo, jalebi are gorged upon by the people.

The east India is diverse with hilly & sea side regions. They have fatty Pork dishes, Hingi Maas Jalukia (catfish peppery), fish curries are cooked with fiddlehead ferns, spiced up brinjals, Bengals Hilsa from Ganga river in any form, Khichuri (rice, roasted moongdal, whole garam masala, ginger, gr chillies, mustard oil).

kabab

South India savours its Dosai with variety of sambhars, masala dal Wadas,  

Dosai

Mosuru Kodubale (rice flour & yoghurt fried rings), vegetable bhajjis variety (includes gr chillies, tapioca, raw banana, potato, cauliflower), Milagai Bhajji of Kerala (gram flour and spices), Hyderabad’s Punugulu a type of fritter (made from dosa batter mixed with curd, chillies & onions).  The non vegetarians like Kari Wada (minced meat patties), Naada Kozhi Varythathu (chicken fried in coconut oil, its spice), Hyderabadi meat potli with a bowl of haleem (broken wheat, lentils, ginger & spices). 

The western region has stark contrasts within the regions with pure vegetarian and sworn  non vegetarians. The Gujarat gives the vegetarian flavours with the common vegetables like turned into delicacies, hot yoghurt kadhi, patra (colocossia leaves steamed with spices)

Patra

, bardoli ki khichdi, dal dhokli. The Maharashtra food is my favourite and from break fast to dinner I can name them. Breakfast popular dishes are hot ghavane (rice pancakes) with coconut chutney or sweetened coconut milk, thalipeeth (flat fried bread with mixed lentils, spices & herbs), missal (variety from Kolhapur to Puneri to Nagpur)

Misal

, Poha with chana rassa (puffed rice with red whole gram curry), Hot Bhataji Pez (gruel) ani pickle. Lunch all time I can eat can be hot Besan or Kulith Pithale with brown rice, vatana ussal (black gram in coconut curry), non vegetarian fare includes dried Bombay duck bhujane or Javla (dried shrimp) koshimbir.  For snacks the evergreen Onion Bhajji cannot be replaced so also Mirchi Thecha (crushed green chill, rock salt, garlic) with all food. Dinner is normally heavy with Nachani-Kulith Shorba, Vade Kombdi (fried rice pancakes with coconut cooked chicken)

Vade Kombdi

, tawa fried chicken liver, bhakri (rice or nachani). Go north in Maharashtra you cannot miss Khandeshi Mutton, Warli chicken and variety of bhakris.

Javlaa Bhakri

With these delicacies available all thru the country, one can travel all monsoon and come with satisfied taste buds, a few kilos added to your weight and memories of different regions taste & languages. Just like language in India changes every few kilometres, the food eating habits also change. That’s Indian food for you......this covers only monsoon !

Vegetarianism in Lockdown

Vegetarianism in Lockdown

The lockdown forced many Carnivores into vegetarians. The side tracked stocks of vegetable varieties got a boost at the vendor stalls. Some were smart enough to push the non moving vegetables to customers and the gullible, scared of shortage customer just bought it. I for myself a proclaimed Carnivore was in for a shock and it did bring out the poet in me sarcastically extolling the new stars in my vegetarian basket.....bhindi (ladies finger), dudhi (snake gourd), karela (bitter gourd), parwal, turia (ribbed gourd) and so on.

To plan from breakfast to dinner was a task.

Options for breakfast (without cholesterol) poha, upma, sheera, bread chivda, vermicelli upma, sabudana khichdi. Missed eggs & sausages. So some different innovations like Oats Thepla, Thalipeeth, Dhokla, Idly were introduced to my menu. If bored then a Oats in hot milk quick fix was handy.

Meals were a task, Dals were easy to think from akkha masoor, masoor dal, toor dal, moondal, black urad dal etc. Favourites turned out to be Varan (toor dal tempered with ghee & cumin), akhha masoor spiced up and  Maa ki Dal (dal makhani though time consuming but yummy. Time anyways was plenty). Missed Fish curry. No Option found !

From the available vegetables it was a rotating menu, no questions asked. Bhindi was tried with curd gravy, with stuffing (cumin coriander chilly stuffing), just masala sautéed. Dudhi (snake gourd) did manage to slither in with addition of chana dal (gram), with different flavoured mint green masala. Cabbage was big disappointment as I tried paratha, kofta, porial. Capsicum was partnered with potato... stuffed capsicum, sliced potato capsicum, capsicum mixed with besan (gram flour) and passed with flying colors. The failures but essentials were parwal, turia, karela, tindli, beans, cauliflower. Missed chicken & Mutton. Options tried were Arbi malvani masala fried (tastes like malvani fried fish), Soya Kheema, Soya kofta biryani, Suran Masala (same method as mutton masala).

Paneer scored good marks in the menu with its variety show of bhurjee, makhani, kadhai, biryani, pakoda. Aloo or Gobi Paratha with curd and pickle always gave abreak from the routine.

Some odd menus were – Sheer with French fries, Maggie with Kanda Bhajiya, knorr soups  and chapatti tawa pizza, Beans & Carrot Pulav with spicy tomato chutney (tomato thecha).

Yes lockdown did teach us self reliant, crisis cooking, enjoying the own cooked food, doing the house chores and also understanding how much the housewives do for the family. Salute to the women folks. Salute to the vegetables !

Sabzi Ke Gaane

Sabzi ke Gaane in Lockdown. No non-veg is available so these vegetables are the saviours but liking them ??? the poem says it all in good humor

घर मे बैठे ईन चीनीयोंकी वजहसे

गाने सूझने लगे सबजीयां की वजहसे !

(tune: Banda parwar manlo jigar..)

बंदा 'परवल'मानलो जी भर

बन के यार मै आया हूं

किस्मतमे आपके हुजूर

फिर वही 'परवल' लाया हूं !"

 

(tune: Duniya banana wae kyat ere mann me samaai..)

दुनिया बनानेवाले क्या तेरे दिल मे समाई

काहेको 'तुरीया' बनाई

(tune: main tulsi tere aangan ki..)

मै बीवी तेरे आंगन की

क्या रेसीपी बनाऊं 'बैंगन' की

(tune: Bindiya  chamkegi..)

'भींडी' कटेगी , थोडी पकेगी

तेरी भूख उडे तो उड जाए.

(tune: Zindagi kaisi hai paheli haai..)

ये 'दुधी'...कैसी है पहेली हाय

कभी हलवा तो कभी सबजी बनके सताय.

 (tune: main shaayar toh nahin..)

मै 'गाजर' तो नहीं....मगर ऐ 'बीन्स'

जबसे देखा मैने तुृझको, 'मूली"को शायरी आ गयी.

(tune: jhoot bole kaowa kaate..)

झूट बोले करेला खाए कडवे करेले से डरीयो,

मै मैके चली जाऊंगी तुम करेला खैयो.

 

'तोंडली' आहे एवढीशी

पण खायला खीळते बत्तीशी.

foodmall on expressway

FOODMALL ON EXPRESSWAY

It's been 15 years since the mumbai pune expressway became functional. The daily vehicle traffic then was 15k grown now to over a lakh vehicles.

In 2002 the Foodmall was a great halt for traffic from Mumbai thane. It was the first of its kind in maharashtra and the mall was a challenge to large scale catering, catering to different classes, catering to different taste and top it all catering to daily 10000 cars/ buses.

It was like a small food town planned with food stalls serving maharashtrian, southindian, punjabi, chinese meals n snacks, along with stalls of chaat, sandwich burger, dhokla…... u name it and that item was available. Beverages hot n cold, prepared and packaged were available. There were shops for chikki to chocolate, paan and tobacco.

The magnitude of malls operation then has changed 3 fold. In 2004 just to give insight in operations read the following data -

Cars 15000, private buses 110, ST buses 300

Food cooked - batatwada 8000pc, misal 200kg, idly- wada 9000pc, samosa 5000, other foods approx 300kg, tea 20000 cups, water bottles 6000 etc

Travellers visiting toilets 25000. The average time taken to serve food (self service) from buying coupon to being served was 12 minutes….a neat competition to MNC food chains

All this managed by a team 120 staff round the clock.

To cope up with increasing crowd, Foodtrack was opened in 2004 for exclusive use of car travellers. This had a food court and AC restaurant.

Being on main connecting route of mumbai pune many VIPs made a halt, celebrities of film prem chopra, ashok saraf, sadashiv amrapurkar, TV crews, TV stars to name few were regulars.

From 2002 till date the quality is still maintained though hygiene standards have lowered. Even the grooming and smile of food counter service boy is missing.

I still recommend both these spots for halt on expressway and yes it takes a maximum of 20 minutes to have your snack and get in car back….still a stiff competition to MNC food chains.

Enjoy the batatawada, misal, kanda bhajiya, idly dosa, samosa, kothimbirwadi, chole bhature...all are yummy and not oily.

decreasing trend of home cooking

Decreasing trend of home cooking

There was a time going out to eat used to be an occasion for the family or friends group. Today it’s a necessity for working people and essential for careers oriented for networking. The role of a housewife 👩 has not decreased but from cooking the focus is shifting to children education, extra curriculam activities, chats on mobile thereby leaving them drained by end of day.

The eating out trend is catching on due to numerous choices in food outlets, from junk food to restaurants to fine diners. The brands, international and local are churning out foods with quality and variety. The availability of food courts in Shopping Malls has made it easier to source food & beverage as per individual choice at one place....groups and families find it convenient.

The food habits due to these have changed drastically from home food to fast food to junk food to fine diners & lounges. The extra spendable income with couples working, families having more earning members, credit cards use habit that allows spending without having moolah in pocket !!

The younger generation of housewives are not very adept at home cooking and not really interested in daily chores of cooking. The mothers of mother-in-laws too are becoming flexible (or given up ?) towards this genxt daughters and daughter-in-laws, not forcing the cooking routine on them. Still there are en number of households upholding the tradition of cooking & eating at home irrespective of the changes around. We love home food BUT the times have changed are changing fast.

The traditional home cooking still happens but the experiments are taking a back seat as foods are easily available, though there is a whole lot of experimenting housewife chefs at home toiling to make their family happy through the stomach. Very contradicting.

The eating out class is increasing and the number of time the food eaten outside is more and that’s the impacting “Eating at Home”.

Home delivery of all types of food has made it convenient for a member of family to order what he likes if the home food is not to his liking. For occasions, one can order food & beverage at the click of a button and avoid all the hassle of cooking. Now with Recipe Food Packet ‘cook you own food’ types are in market giving housewives chance to experiment without having skills, different cuisines at lower cost and also avoid the routine home food.

The ready to serve or eat foods available off the shelf have added to the reduction of home cooking....open packet, heat, serve and eat in 5 minutes. The brands like ITC, Parampara and Vadila’s Quick Treat make great food (curries,snacks, Indian breads) so why not take a break from home cooking and give rest to the most precious member of the family....your mother or wife or daughter-in-law ?

The decreasing trend in home cooking is not healthy though. We are exposed to junk food, oily foods, cheese n pastas etc. Calories go for a toss, sometimes hygiene is compromised with street food, freshness could be a problem for digestive system. In today’s trend one needs to balance the food habits, exercise regularly and stay away from junk food. You can splurge on junk-fashion foods with a calculated eating out sessions in a month.

Home food is nutritious, hygienic, made with love and care. That’s the reason people do miss Home Food time and again. The decreasing trend in home cooking is sad but one cant burden the lady of the house with household duty and career targets. The males 🙏 need to chip in more in the household duties if they want Home Food otherwise this decreasing trend of home cooking will continue and Home Cooking will remain a Nostalgia for many !! 💑

Kolhapur Turns A New Leaf in Hospitality

Kolhapur Turns A New Leaf in Hospitality

Kolhapur, a heritage city best known for its Mahalakshmi Mandir has a constant flow of pilgrims from all over India. The city has Shahuji Maharaj Palace which is a museum too. Rankala Talav a beautiful lake supplying water to Kolhapur.

A large MIDC area is on outskirts of kolhapur and this has the traders - business community coming to Kolhapur.

Kolhapur has no dearth of hotels but inspite of this new hotels are still mushrooming .......Some typical, some boring, some half hearted.

Hotel 3 Leaves, a hospitality unit started by a young hotel graduate reflects the enthusiasm in its brightly colored corridors, young staff, fresh menu with Indian and Global cuisine.

 The 3 categories of rooms spell comfort.

 The Conference Hall is equipped with the AV aides. 

The terrace party venue is one of largest in the city.

An ideal combination for a hotel in location, ambiance and cuisine is 3 Leaves. The names of the Food outlets make you think of the theme...... Mango Leaf Global Diner, Red Door all day lounge, Marigold Banquets.

It's on a soft launch mode currently, so go make the most of attractive offers. 🙌

DIWALI AND ITS DELICACIES....HOME MADE -3

DIWALI AND ITS DELICACIES....HOME MADE -3

One of the Diwali delicacy icon....even depicted on cracker boxes to show "chakri", is a recipe which will make your head go round n round while making and also if it does not turn out good. That’s CHAKLI....a fried savoury made from mix of rice, pulses and spices. The roasting style gives it the name Bhajani Chakli.

This chakli can be made in different combinations like -

Roasted rice pulses and spices

Only Rice butter and mild spices

Rice besan and methi

Rice pulses spices and butter.

Chakli is also called "Murrukku" in south, "Chakri" in gujarat.

It is best eaten as a snack all round the year, but Diwali time it tastes different. Yes, don’t believe ? Try this Diwali and experience the spicy, crispy Chakli.

Recipe (courtesy Madhavi Mane)

Kolam rice – 500gm

Gram Dal (chana dal) – 125gm

Moong Dal – 50gm

Urid dal white – 50gm

Corriander Seeds dhania whole) – 50gm

Cumin (jeera) – 50gm

Sesame seeds white (til)- 25gm

Chilly powder – 25gm

Salt – as per taste (25gm)

R.Oil for mixing – 50ml

R.oil for frying – 500ml

Preparation

Wash and dry rice. Roast all other ingredients (dals, spices). Once rice is dry, roast it for 10minutes till it changes color. Grind all ingredients together.

Make a dough by adding warm oil, mix properly. Add warm water for making dough. The dough should be soft enough to press through the Chakli dye.

Brush the dough with oil, and make small portions to fit in the dye. Press the dye handle while making circular motion to make a perfect Chakli (use butter paper to for putting chakli rounds). Heat oil, leave one by one chakli rounds and fry till dark golden brown. Remove on paper to soak excess oil. Do not put in tin/container till completely cooled.

On the first day of Diwali, after having bath with scented herbal powder “Uttana” and the nostalgic MOTI Chandan soap, a traditional way of morning breakfast will consist of Chakli, Besan Ladoo, Coconut Karanji, Sev, Anarse. Yummy it is !😋😋

Enjoy a Bright Noiseless Diwali.