Rains,
Lush green forest laden mountains,
Cascading milky white waterfalls, cloud filled valleys,
Turbulent coastlines, lush paddy fields, colorful insects,rolling blanket of blossoms,
Piping hot bhajiyas at the roadside stall with steaming cup of Masala chai ,
Long drives, romantic music and getting drenched in endless greenery…
Monsoon brings in a lot of bitter-sweet memories
with itself every year. For the nature lovers residing in the western
part of the country it’s time to pack their bags and set out to
experience the wet and wild. The entire Konkan belt is
rich in flora and fauna and monsoon brings out the best in them. Even
the mundane chores like travelling to office and back becomes a pleasure
ride as the entire pathway is bedecked in different shades of green –
all fresh and sprightly.
This entry will be more of a photoblog instead of the normal writeup.Want to share with my readers the awesomeness of monsoon in the Konkan belt.
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| Lonavala 2012 |
I look forward to this time of the year when one
can forget every tension in their life just by looking out of the
window. The whole of Maharashtra becomes a nature lover’s paradise. The
light drizzle and rumbling clouds strikes an instant
romanticism even in the most unromantic souls. It’s time for garma garam
Khichdi and some vegetable fritters to go with it. The contrast of the
chill in the air and the warmth of a homemade meal is something to die
for.
The irony is that this is considered to be the low
season time for tourism industry because rainy season doesn’t attract
the high spending party goers. This is an added boon for the monsoon
lovers who can enjoy some of the best nature destinations
at dirt-cheap prices. I try to plan an outing near
mid-June when the monsoon had already set in and the backdrop has
changed from light brown to dark green. Last year we had visited this
amazing place called
Wildernest, safely hidden inside the deepest jungles of
Chorla Ghats in Goa. Goa usually means sunny beaches, seafood shacks and
wild parties. But most are unaware of the breathtaking forest cover
that Goa offers. The place was everything beyond
our imagination with rooms facing thundering waterfalls, an infinity
pool which opened up the cloud laden jade valleys, delectable Konkani
fare served in earthen bowls and endless walks through the forest trail –
an experience which I would rate as the best-est
among all the places I have visited worldwide.
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| Swapnagandha Valley @ Wildernest |
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| Waterfalls visible from Reception @ Wildernest |
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| Mesmerizing Konkan Yatra by rail |
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| Kacchi Kairi @ Sinhagad Fort |
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| Cutting Chai & Bhajjis |
Lets come to the recipe part of this photo blog now. In Bengal we have Bhaja instead of
Bhajjis. The essential difference between a Bhaja and a Bhajji is
that the later is dipped in batter and then fried whereas a Bhaja may
or may not have a coating over it. Simply frying the cut vegetable
seasoned with salt and turmeric makes a Bhaja like
Potol Bhaja (Parwal fry), Shak Bhaja (leafy vegetable fried), Kumro
bhaja (Pumpkin fry), more royal Ilish Mach Bhaja (Hilsa Fish Fry)to name
a few. It makes for some great side dish to go with the normal rice and
daal. Young or old it will be hard to find
a person who will not love any kind of fritter.
The recipe for today is
a very simple Bhaja – Kumro Phool Bhaja or Pumpkin blossom fritters.
During childhood days we used to get a lot of pumpkin blossoms in the
local market. I found these pillowy and buttery
saffron yellow delicate blossoms with soft green stems tied in a bunch
of 6-8 very attractive as a kid. My father used to frequently get them
which was a good thing for me as I loved to devour the piping hot
pumpkin blossom fritters freshly fried. There was
another blossom fritter that I used to love equally – Bok phool (or
Heron flower, as its white and hangs like a heron from the tree) bhaja/
Humming bird tree blossom fritters. Now a days when I visit Kolkata I
can see Pumpkin Blossoms being sold but never
saw any Bokphool. Maybe those got lost with our childhood.
Coming back to Pumpkin Blossoms. A pretty simple recipe for those rain soaked evenings.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes Cooking Time: 5 minutes
Serves:2
Cuisine: Bengali
Ingredients:
- Kumro Phool (Pumpkin Blossom)-8
- Besan (Bengal gram flour) - 1/2 cup
- Rice Powder - 1/4 cup
- Kalonji (Nigella seeds) - 1/4 tsp
- Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
- Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste
- Refined oil - for deep frying
Procedure:
1. Remove the stigma and the stem from each blossom. Wash the blossoms properly in a colander taking care not to tear them (the blossoms are very delicate)
3.Heat oil in a skillet. When the oil is hot enough, dip the blossoms one by one into the above batter and place them in the skillet. The blossoms will quickly get fried in about a couple of minutes. Fry them till they turn a shade of golden brown.
4. Remove the blossom fritters from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them over tissue paper so that extra oil gets soaked.
Note: You can try the same recipe with other Squash family blossoms like Zucchini blossoms.
Serve as it is with any chutney or sauce or you can serve it as an accompaniment to daal rice.
It's also my Birthday today. So it's a day of celebrating my birthday, the monsoons and plenty of warm memories to go with it. Today is no-cooking day for me. It will be a dinner of delectable mutton pulav and chicken kabab from a famous Parsi joint in Pune.
Signing off with a few lines I read somewhere:
My kaleidoscope dreams have all been unfurled
Since you Green have colored my world,
You rescued my heart, Green
You rescued my heart...
Take care everyone and enjoy the rains!
Sending this to Just not the cakes' "Let's celebrate Halloween" event and Pari & Jiya's "Only Traditional Recipe",.
