3 home chefs share monsoon-special recipes you must try

Maharashtrians make a lot of monsoon-specific delicacies with seasonal produce. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

Kela poli

Kela Poli or banana poli is made in the month of Shravan on a Saturday or Monday," says Sunetra Sil Vijaykar, chef and founder of Dine with Vijaykars, adding, "We prepare it at home quite often. It goes perfectly with a cup of tea on a rainy day."

Ingredients
>> 7-8 pieces Rajeli banana (Overripened)
>> 2 tbsp ghee
>> 1 cup sugar
>> 1/8 tsp jaiphal and cardamom powder
>> All-purpose flour (knead and make into dough for poli)

Method
Boil the bananas. Grind in a mixer with sugar, jaiphal and cardamom. Heat ghee in a pan and pour the mixture. Stir and let the moisture dry up. Stirring is the tedious part and it takes a couple of hours for the banana mixture to fully dry and darken (dark brown colour) to look like halwa. Ghee is crucial for making it pliable for the poli. Once done, take it off the gas to cool. It is best to leave it overnight. Next day, make a dough with flour. You can use 1 tbsp of ghee and 1 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt while kneading the dough, along with water. The dough should have the consistency required for making rotis or pooris. Flatten a 1.5-inch size dough ball and fill it with a tsp of the kela halwa. Close and flatten. Now, on a flat pan, roast with 1/2 tsp of ghee (or as desired). You can bake it in the oven too with a little smear of butter on both sides.

Crab miravani

"Miravani is specially made during the rainy season because that's when crabs are available; and fresh fish is not easy to find. It's a very community-specific dish for the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu (CKP) community," shares Parikshit Vilekar, chef and co-owner of Kitchen Cornucopia. He suggests that it can also be made with dried Bombay duck. "It has a slight punch which comes from the black pepper (like a peppery soup) making it perfect for a rainy day. It has no chilli in it and is also recommended for lactating mothers post pregnancy to help them rebuild their strength."

Ingredients
>> 2 tbsp black pepper powder
>> 3 onions (medium-sized, 2 sliced & 1 diced)
>> 1/4 dry coconut (grated)
>> 5-6 garlic cloves
>> 2 tbsp ghee
>> 2 mud crabs (cleaned and washed thoroughly, ensuring there are no mud sediments)
>> Crab legs are to be washed and pulsed in a mixer jar with 200-250 ml water, the resultant juice to be strained with a three-fold muslin cloth
>> 3 kokum petals
>> Salt to taste

Method
Roast sliced onion, grated dry coconut, 4-5 cloves of garlic and a teaspoon of black pepper with ghee. Grind to a paste. Add the crabs to chopped onions, once it changes colour add the, coconut-black pepper paste. Add warm water as required. Add 2-3 petals of kokum, previously hydrated in water for 5 minutes, to the curry and bring it to a boil. Add salt as per taste. Serve hot with plain rice. The curry can be eaten on its own too.

Kheema bhakharwadi

"Kolhapuri bhakarwadi is different from the bhakarwadi made in other parts of Maharashtra. The major difference is in the use of dry coconut and Kolhapuri kanda lasun masala," explains Sneha Kaulavkar Jadhav, chef and founder of Kolhapuri Kala. It's typically a vegetarian dish but certain royal families of Maharashtra and people in some parts of Karnataka prepare it using meat. "I learnt the recipe from Shobha Jadhav, a member of the royal family of Chinchali in Karnataka. It's a popular tea-time snack made during monsoon."

Ingredients

For the bhakar/ filling:
>> 250 gms mince mutton/chicken
>> 2 tsp ginger garlic paste
>> 1.5 teaspoon Kolhapuri kanda lasun masala
>> 4 tsp roasted dry coconut (grated)
>> 1 tsp white til
>> 1/4 tsp khuskhus
>> Chopped coriander
>> 1 tsp garam masala
>> 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
>> 1 tsp coriander powder
>> 1 lemon
>> Salt as per taste
>> Oil for frying
>> Kokum water

For vadi/ top covering:
>> 1 cup besan
>> 1/2 cup maida
>> 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
>> 1/2 tsp salt
>> A pinch of carrom seeds
>> 2 tsp hot oil

Method

For the stuffing:
Add kheema to hot oil in a nonstick pan. Add ginger garlic paste, and let it cook for some time. Now, add all the powders to it and let it cook on medium flame. Don't add water. Once cooked, let it cool down a bit and then add chopped coriander and lemon juice to it. Your stuffing is ready.

Dragon stalk yam. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

For the covering:
Take 1 portion of besan and add half cup of maida to it. Add salt, red chilli powder, and roughly crushed carrom seeds to it. Heat 1 to 2 spoons of oil and add it to flour. Knead it slowly. Add water as required. Let it rest for some time. Roll a medium size dough ball into an oval shape. Then apply a little kokum water to it and spread the meat filling on it. Start rolling it tightly from one end such that the stuffing does not come out. Cut the roll into small pieces and press them gently. Heat oil and deep fry them on medium flame to make them crispy.

Also try

Shevlache Sambhare

Shevlache Sambhare is a heavily recommended dish to savour in the monsoon. "The dish is a Pathare Prabhu specialty. Shevla (dragon stalk yam) is available only during monsoons. People often fry it and store it in the freezer for the rest of the year. You can make a vegetarian version by not adding the shrimp but Pathare Prabhus usually love shrimp with their vegetables," explains Sunetra Sil Vijaykar.

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