Kiss of Love!!!

Monsoon Contest

Your Best Monsoon Food Trip Story

Kiss of Love!!!

The fresh muddy smell when the first raindrop touches the earth along with the subtle romancing breeze alluring you to sit on your portico to enjoy the dance of the rain. For a food connoisseur, this becomes an exciting experience when accompanied by regional delicacies. This is a kiss of love experience, how? Well, an experience is always amplified with the environment. And in this case it would be the “monsoon”. Just like wine paired with food, there is certain food which is best paired with climate. You have fried, crunchy savories accompanied with tea during monsoon and winter, to spiced buttermilk, lassi – an Indian version of yoghurt-based smoothie and lemon mint cooler for summer. The first monsoon of the year always brings a different side of an individual, you become a dreamer or chef or a child or singer or poet. There is a sense of enthusiastic excitement that kicks in and one can witness a lot of subtle happy faces

If you are staying in the city or an urban area the monsoon is witnessed with folks walking with polythene covers over their head, umbrellas, two-wheelers either stopped by the side of the bus stand or jam the roads especially near bridges by waiting under bridges to avoid getting drenched. People probably try to stay away from water puddles to prevent themselves from being drenched from the water splashed from the puddles by the cars or two wheelers. The place in demand during the monsoon are the tea shops. They are filled with folks cramping themselves in the tiny space of the tea stalls with a strong piping hot tea to bring warmth to their body. The steam from the tea is undeniable invitation to an individual to have the sip. The monsoon season is best accompanied by hot food.

Different parts of our country have different delicacies. In North India, it would be spicy hot pakoras which batter-dipped vegetable fry accompanied with green chutney or Samosa – a deep-fried wheat base stuffed with boiled potatoes tempered with finely chopped onions, peas and seasoned with Indian masala served with tamarind chutney, mint chutney, or Tomato ketchup. Both are great accompaniments to Indian tea.

Western India would prefer having an eggroll a type of spring roll or Aloo chop which is potato mash flavored with green peas, tomato slices, ginger paste, and various spices.  North-Eastern India would prefer having steamed momos which are borrowed Nepali cuisine. The rice flour sheet is filled with either vegetarian or non-vegetarian filling. The filled-in flour sheet is made into various intricate shapes which are steamed or deep-fried. This is accompanied by a red chutney.  You dip the cooked momos into the red chutney and as you eat you can feel the spice tingling on your tongue as you bite into the momo.

Eastern India prefers having hot vada pav or pav bhaaji, famous chaat savories. There is plenty of roadside stall crowded during this time. The hot vada pav is a deep-fried batter coated potato dumpling sandwiched in-between butter toasted pav which is an Indian bun variety. Green chili pepper is placed in the sandwich and is served with chutney. Pav Bhaji is a thick vegetable gravy served with a dollop of butter and finely chopped onions and a lemon half. The lime juice is squeezed into before dipping the mildly toasted bun in the gravy.

Of places, I have stayed when it comes to monsoon, I recollect one of the times when I was in Mangalore working for an earlier organization. Extremely tired after a weeklong work, I decided to sleep beside the window listening to the music of the rain. The cooling breeze and rhythm of the rain were like a lullaby to my ears. As it was getting late in the evening and after many failed attempts of trying to wake me up, my mom the worlds’ best chef decided to wake me up with her magic. She made crunchy semolina fries made from homemade clarified butter seasoned with minced small onions and chilies that gives the sumptuous flavor along with her secret ingredient. While I could smell the fries being made, my rain music-induced sleep, stayed dominant. My mother chose to try a different trick. Knowing the food lover I am, she bought the hot fries and placed them right in front of my nose. The aroma of the fries was playing tug of war with my sense to wake me up. My eyes were still heavy with sleep, but the fries flavorful fragrance got me to smile, and as she moved the fries towards her, my body just raised from the bed with my eyes still closed.  After few seconds I just could not resist that I chose to wake up and gleaned with joy to see the plate filled with fries and steaming strong masala tea. I took them both, looking haggard, and rushed to the balcony to enjoy rain along with homemade food. No matter what nothing beats your mother’s handmade food which is made of love

The other all-time favorite food to relish in the monsoon season is piping hot cutting tea as we call it accompanied with onion pakora. The onion pakora is onions cut into bit size which is coated in flavor-packed chickpea flour. This is then deep-fried. The sizzling noise is a welcome invitation to get your stomach excited.

The factory that I was working for was situated in a historic place called Sultan Battery. Known for its historic purpose which had the watchtower constructed in the era reigned by King Tipu Sultan. This place had great importance as it intercepts enemy warships. The factory overlooked Gurupa river had its serene beauty that always kept your mind cool despite our pressurized job. The space behind the factory closer to the river was the best place to be during the monsoon. Though the walkway had many potholes of water, allowed us to hop around like our childhood times.  We had covered seated areas apt to have conversations with these delicacies and strong piping chai.

The evening snacks in a nearby tea stall with a tiny space for dining area was time always looked forward, after some heated arguments with the union, this Ada as we call it became our place of gossip, patch up and vent out between close colleagues who turned to my best confidants. When the rains were heavy, we always chose to wind up early to go places that made their name for their simple signature food dishes. My life only desire to create memories and never to regret my past and these experiences make it possible reinforcing the positivity in living

Emotion with food and Indian Tea is a place of irreplaceable ecstasy. Nature’s kiss of love expression for a food connoisseur is best experienced during the monsoon. For a food lover, there is music to the way the food is made. Be it mixing the ingredients or chopping the vegetables or frying or sautéing the food, the sizzle from frying or the whistle from the pressure cooker put together is a language itself. Every step of cooking the food has an invitation to relish the final dish. An emotion is best expressed through for a food lover or chef. Lastly, the monsoon food with masala tea with an opportunity to witness is the best soul healing medicine from your pain or worries. The beautiful coincidence is that I am experiencing rains as I write this article, which got me nostalgic of my stint in Mangalore.  

Written by: Reshma Jacob |HR Professional| Self-Esteem Coach

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