Monsoon on the menu

t_ismat@dnaindia.net
Let’s give you a glimpse of the ultimate monsoon pleasure. Your boss is madly trying to get in touch with you on your mobile while you are watching your window panes getting drenched by the first monsoon showers. Your’s phone’s on silent mode and that was your boss’ ninth call.

Want a better idea than that? Well, pamper your taste buds with some ‘monsoon food’. And you don’t have hunt for that as the best eateries in town are already overhauling their menu with rainy day specials.

Says chef Ananda Solomon of Taj President, “Nature controls your food intake rather than you trying to do so. Thus, in the monsoon people want tangier and peppier food. Their level of intake of spices is greater at this time as this food keeps you warm.”
Thus at the Konkan Cafe one will find sukka coconut dishes such as Mutton Sukka, which is a Kolhapuri specialty, Taute Puli Munchi (mango, cucumber and tamarind with chillies) as well as local fish like Bombay Duck, rawas and clams. Warm payasam and pancakes replace sorbets and ice-creams too, he adds.

Chef Vasant Khot of Le Royal Meridien has also prepared different sweets for the rainy weather.

“People relish cinnamon in their desserts during this time,” he starts.

For Pinky Chandan-Dixit of the Jain restaurant Soam at Babulnath, “Eating what is fresh and piping hot in the monsoons is the norm,” she advises. “Since we cannot use onions, we have cabbage and raw mango bhajiyas that are delicious,” she says. Khichdi is the specialty here. “It’s bajra khichdi,” she says. “The dish can’t be had in summer as it’s too difficult to digest.”

If you’re a fan of Oriental food, you can dig in to some tasty fare too. At China House, the oven readies for a special Jasmine Tea Spring Chicken and Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Prawns served in a pineapple shell. And starting June, India Jones at Trident, Nariman Point, Mumbai has delicious new dimsums — Suimai with chicken, prawn and crab, and Barbecued Pork, which goes specially with spicy chilly sauce.

With so much on the menu, get set to get wet and dig in!