Chef Paul Kinny
Chef Paul Kinny
The Director of Culinary at The St. Regis Mumbai
The rainy season is nice, no doubt, but it can get gloomy, too. So monsoon typically means a lot of fried, hot and interesting food to get over the gloominess because one cannot go out as often either. Therefore, being innovative in the kitchen is essential. Much like the Bunny Chow instead of a normal misal pao. I thought I would be able to do that with a Bunny Chow by adding an interesting South African touch to our Maharashtrian dish. Monsoon in India is synonymous with bhajiyas, so for the UpperCrust cook, we have given it a twist: vegetable tempura which is typically Japanese, and you can spice that up with a spicy sauce. So yes, monsoon means cooking and eating different and experimental food to get over the gloomy times.
The idea of curating these recipes for this article was to really take classic monsoon food and turn it into something different, also mouth-watering. The best example is bhutta, the roasted corn that we crave during the monsoon season which we converted into Roasted Corn & Jalapeno Soup, so we get the flavour profile of the roasted corn and the masala which goes on the corn and a dash of lime. I have added the roasted corn puree, and the spice comes from jalapeno and lime. Another example is the classic Chilli Cheese Toast which is a very quintessential recipe which becomes an interesting snack during the monsoon.
Personally, what I like to do is cook up some heartwarming dishes for my family and then get cosy under a blanket with a good book at my house in Gorai. That is my go-to place during the monsoons, especially because it is by the beach, and taking a walk during this time has always been a favourite thing to do. It’s a great family outing, away from work and completely stress-free. I do try to go to Gorai as much as I can during the monsoons. It’s heavenly there!
