5 lip-smacking monsoon snacks for rainy evenings
Can you tell us what, besides the reprieve from the sweltering summer heat, the monsoon season is most known for? A plateful of piping-hot, crispy pakodas. In addition to making us incredibly happy, a cool, rainy evening makes us even more hankering after fried foods. Here are five monsoon snack recipes you must make and enjoy while watching the rain
Moong dal pakora
Soak yellow moong dal in water for two hours. Blend together soaked dal, and green chilies with a little water. Transfer the dal mixture to a bowl. Add peppercorns, coriander seeds, and salt to it and mix well. Heat some oil, drop a spoonful of the prepared mixture and deep-fry the pakodas until golden brown. Serve the pakodas hot and crispy with green chutney.
Corn bhel
Your rainy evenings are incomplete without relishing a bowl of tangy and spicy corn bhel. To prepare the chutney, blend together coriander leaves, chopped garlic, chopped green chilies, tamarind paste, chili powder, sugar, and salt. Dilute the chutney with water. Mix together boiled corn, potatoes, onion, lemon juice, and prepared chutney. Garnish with lots of sev and coriander leaves and serve fresh.
Spinach and cheese samosas
Mix together plain flour, oil, water, and salt and knead a stiff dough. Roll the dough and cut it horizontally into two equal portions. Join the edges of one portion to make a cone shape and seal with little water. Mix together blanched spinach, salt, green chilies, and grated cheese, and stuff the cone with this. Deep-fry the samosas in oil and serve hot.
Banana bhajiya
A popular South Indian snack, banana bhajiya goes best with some hot tea on a rainy evening. Mix together besan, turmeric powder, chili powder, salt, asafoetida, and water in a deep bowl. Heat some oil. Dip raw banana slices in the prepared batter and deep-fry the pakoras in oil until golden brown. Drain the excess oil on an absorbent paper and serve hot.
Fried onion rings
One of the easiest snacks to prepare, these hot and crispy onion rings can be enjoyed with some spicy mint chutney. Thinly slice onions and separate them into rings. Soak the onions in ice water for an hour and keep aside. Mix together plain flour, black pepper, salt, and dried oregano. Dry the onion slices, coat them in the batter, and deep-fry. Serve hot.
