In the world as it is, not everyone can spend time with their family and friends. Instead, we are all busy in our own lives. There is a season that compels us all to sit back and enjoy the scenic beauty of nature with a tasty dish in our hands. Yes, that beautiful season is across those monsoon days. Who does not relish the monsoons? What could be better than relaxing in your home and rejoicing in the rain with your loved ones? So here are some top 20 easy and delicious monsoon cuisines that everyone can prepare and make their monsoon days memorable.
1. Chole Kulche
Chole Kulche is the dish of INDIA (Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh). It consists of a boiled white gram, salt, spices, mango powder, and chat powder. Chole kulche can be a delicious option to opt for this monsoon.
2. Pav Bhaji
Pav Bhaji is a fast-food dish in Maharashtra and appears second on the list. It consists of a thick vegetable curry made of potato, tomato, cabbage, and cauliflower, firstly boiled and then mixed all together and then adding some spices which add flavor to the curry making it tastier. Thick bhaji goes with a pav and butter. In the present times, pav bhaji has become famous in every corner of India. Pav bhaji being spicy, is worth having during monsoon.
3. Samosa
Samosa is a dish from the Horn of Africa and stands third on the list. It is also called “Sambusa” It is more palatable than it seems. There are many different ways of cooking Samosa. A popular method is filling the potatoes and other vegetables like onions, peas, ginger, etc., and some spices that enhance their taste. Hot and crispy samosas are more delicious on monsoons.
4. Spiced Fritters
Widely known as Mix pakora, bhajiya, and bhaji (pronounced pakora) originated from the Indian subcontinent. Ingredients usually involve any assorted vegetable like potato, onion, cauliflower (gobi), big chilly, spinach (palak), and Raw banana, dipped in gram flour slurry and deep fried. It is available with pudina/dhania/ coconut chutney or tomato sauce on the plate. Mix pakoras are Best served hot with chutney and piping hot tea during rainy evenings.
5. Tapioca Pearls Fritters
These Melt mouth fritters are Popularly Known as Sabudana Vada or Sabu Vada, a deep-fried snack originating in Maharashtra, India. It is a simple yet time-consuming recipe that involves soaking tapioca pearls overnight, mixing them with mashed potatoes, powder of peanuts, and spices. It will turn into a thick mixture, out of which small portions of balls are taken and flattened. It is deep fried and served hot with chutney. Light and sumptuous snacks are usually present during Ganesh Chaturthi and Navratri Vrat. They go best with ginger tea (adrak chai) during monsoon season.
6. Biryani
Biryani is a famous dish that came into being from Iran. It has rice, chicken, and meat with a mixture of spices as the main ingredients. They add spices like coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and pepper to the mashed potato. Everyone loves having biryani in the monsoon. It is the perfect season for biryanis.
7. Aloo Ke Parathe
Aloo paratha is a Punjabi dish. It is made of boiled potatoes and fried with oil. While making this, cumin, chili, coriander with numerous other spices are all mixed. Green chutney and red sauce heighten their taste. It is one such dish that children and adults, everyone love very much.
8. Vada
While giving the names, how can we forget vada in the list? The bond between fried snacks and monsoon season is most divine and complementary to each other. Vada is a famous dish in South India, specifically amongst ancient Tamilians who consumed it for breakfast. It has legumes, black gram, green gram, chickpea, green chili, and spices added to the batter. It is later deep fried.
9. Alu Vadi
The cuisine that tops our list of top 20 monsoon cuisines is Alu Vadi. This succulent recipe is a vegetarian dish made with the goodness of gram flour, ginger-chili paste, tamarind, and spices on Colocasia leaves as its star ingredient. It is steamed and shallow-fried. Hence, it is a healthy, tasty, and lip-smacking recipe for the monsoon season. Alu Vadi is a popular dish in Maharashtrian cuisine, Malvani cuisine, and Gujarati cuisine (Pathrode, Pathrado, or Gujarati Patra). It is popular as Girwach in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
10. Pakora
Pakora are a main dish of monsoon. It has vegetables such as potatoes, onion, cauliflower, and paneer, covered with a paste of gram flour. Different spices are well mixed with it, then deep fried in oil. It is a starter served with different chutneys. It is crispy and spicy. Hence, it will surely add flavor to this monsoon season.
11. Puttu
Puttu means portioned in Tamil and Malayalam, originating from South Indian states. Puttu is a breakfast dish made of ground rice layered with coconut gratings, steamed in a cylindrical steamer to give its shape. It is served as a sweet dish with coconut milk, rice flakes, palm sugar and jaggery, banana, and jack fruit or as a savory dish with legumes, lentils, chickpea masala, or meat curries.
12. Barnyard Millet Dumplings
Popularly known as Kuzhi Paniyaram, Paniyaram, Appam, or Paddu is made using batter similar to idly or dosa batter made up of black lentils. Barnyard Millet (Kutharaivali) makes it a healthier option and is a popular snack in southern parts of India. The batter thus prepared is garnished with carrots, mustard seeds, ginger-green chili, and onions. It is famously served hot with coconut or tomato chutney during the rainy season.
13. Rice Lentil Dish
It is widely known as khichdi, khichri, and khichuri throughout the northern part of India and Ven Pongal in Tamil Nadu. It is a popular South Indian dish made with moong dal and rice that is sautéd with butter, curry leaves, black peppercorn, ginger, cumin, and Hing. It is a delicious dish served to gods for naivedyam in south Indian homes and temples on various occasions. The Ghee and spices in the dish are best to consume during the monsoon season with coconut chutney or sambhar with hot filter coffee.
14. Grilled Cottage Cheese
It is famous as Paneer Tikka, an Indian dish prepared using Paneer (Cottage Cheese) marinated with Spices and Hung curd, grilled in a tandoor (a large concave-shaped) oven made of clay originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is served hot with coriander or mint chutney with onions and a dash of lemon. It is best to consume in rainy weather with hot tea. It is a mouth-watering dish famously served in marriages and parties for guests as an appetizer.
15. Dim sums
Dim sum or Momo is a steamed dumpling that originated from Assam and the northeastern part of India. Dim sum can have any flour. On the other hand, Momo has refined flour (Maida) with a central stuffing of vegetables, cottage cheese, soya, or chicken. People prefer to buy it from local vendors and kioski. It is best served hot with red garlic chutney and mayonnaise in drizzling rain which is a delight to all.
16. Ghewar
Ghewar comes from Rajasthan. It is a concoction of ghee, flour and sugar. Rajasthani people gift it to the daughter’s new homes. It is a honey-comb shaped disc-like sweet. It provides the warmth required to produce the heat in the body during the raining season. They even help in digestions. Ghewar has different flavors. They are Malai Ghewar, Chocolate Ghewar and Rabdi Ghewar.
17. Jalebi
Jalebi is an Indianized dessert recipe of pre-existing dish named zalabiya that has its roots in Persia and an Arab country. Yeast batter is required while making it. Jalebi is best Served hot with Rabri and tea on a drizzly day. You can try it at least once in your lifetime.
18. Corn Cob
Corn cob is another most sought item to eat during a rainy evening. It can be roasted using Charcoal or steamed and served with a garnishing spice and a dash of lemon. Other dishes like crispy corn and cheese corn balls are all-time favorite snacks for a rainy day.
19. Rasam
Rasam is a South Indian main course dish consumed with rice. It has the best serving in the form of soup garnished with cilantro, ideal for winters and monsoon climates. It helps to reduce cold, cough, and sour throat. It has many variants depending on the use of herbs and spices.
20. Poha
Poha is an Indian snack prepared in almost every state of India. The main ingredients of poha are onion, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, tomato, peanut, Chura, etc. Everyone prefers eating it as a breakfast meal. Chura is another form of rice made by boiling poha before flattening. Monsoon would be the best season to serve some hot poha while enjoying the raindrops.
