Summer foods

[Suvir Saran]

What do you cook in the realm of Indian cooking during the summer?

What are those dishes?

What makes them suited for this season?

[Suvir Saran]

I will take a first jab since you are all quiet here...

I often see myself preparing eggs in many forms but adding Indian spices.  I make home fries with cumin and chilies and chopped mint leaves.

Grilled meats and vegetables are a staple at parties at home.  It makes it easy since we have a Tandoor on the deck.

Yogurt based soups of different kinds; seasonal stir-fried veggies from the farmers market make it to the table at night. Lemon rice becomes an evening snack.  

Mint and cilantro chutneys are staple.  Lassis (yogurt based drink) with different fruits or even plain and sometimes with salt and savory spices are drinks of choice.  Panna (green mango based mocktail) is an all time favorite in India.  We do not have very good green mangoes here to make it with.  Will see how my luck turns this summer.  If I have any success I will share that recipe here.

Light, somewhat spicy, sour, cooling and refreshing is what does it for me in the summer.  The heat in some light dishes is nice to me for it makes me sweat and that in turn cools me as I sit under a fan or feel a breeze.

Enough from me... what do the rest of us make or think of as summer engulfs us????

[vivin]

Grilled meats.

Grilled veggies.

Grilled fruits.

Lots of fruit drinks (smoothies, milk shakes) especially when good mangoes are around (so far this season, I have not seen any good ones).

Maybe I should start another thread - where do you buy your mangoes?

Vivin.

[Suvir Saran]

I love fruit drinks.. and I can have them any time...

[Simon Majumdar]

Summer foods to me mean

Lightly spiced Grilled meats.  Lamb cutlets tossed in roasted cumin and then grilled is a fave.

Chutneys.  Onion and mango ( I hate to tell you Suvir, we get exceptional mangoes from India here ) is a good one and goes with cheeses and snacks

Dhals - particularly a slightly sour lemon dhal with tamarind pulp mixed through it.

I am not a fan of Lassi on he whole, but one cannot neglect the restorative power of a salty fresh lime soda.

I also have a strange, almost perverse hankering for Thumbs Up Cola.  I have not seen this in years apart from a dusty bottle in a store in 6th ave on my last visit to NY.

When I get back to NY next week for the book fair, I may have to go and hunt it down. Perhaps they may even have a Limca

S

[Suvir Saran]

Good mangoes from India... good for you Simon.

I am not much of a fan of mangoes.  But as I said.. tasting the rather sad ones in the States made me a fan of what I had left behind in India.

There is a hindi proverb that says "Jo mil jaaye woh mitti hai, jo kho jaaye woh sona".  Loosely translated it would mean: That which you find today is mere dirt, and that which you loose then becomes golden.

So actually, I would rather see NYC get better Lychees, Chikoos, Apricots, Pears, Plums and other fruits that I love.  But while we get some of these fruits, they leave much to be desired in terms of taste.  A fruit expert friend of mine was talking about the intense sun in tropical countries making a huge difference in the flavor of fruits and also that fruits are mostly seasonal in India.  While Cold Storage is becoming more and more of an entrenchment in India as well, it is still not as widely spread.  

I love Sweet Lime Soda in the summer.  Takes me back to days at Gymkhaana Club in Delhi where after we swam in the morning, the server would have Cheese sandwiches, home made thick and crisp jaali wafers (potato chips with the waffle cut, maybe someone else could describe them better.  Jaali is the hindi word for Lattice work) and fresh lime soda.  My siblings, our friends and I were in heaven and refreshed to begin another day in the heat of Delhi.

Khatti Daal from Lucknow is my favorite in the summer.  I make it with Arhar kee Daal (Toor Daal) and cook it with the juice, flesh and rind of an entire lemon.  The Tadka (tempered oil) is made with ghee and has cumin seeds, asafetida and whole red chilies and a pinch of red chili powder that I add to  the oil just as I turn the flame off.  This is done so as to not kill the heat of the chilies and turn the color black.  Also I always have a cup of water handy and soon after I add the chili powder (cayenne) I splash a few drops of water.  This reduces the temperature of the oil and also makes the color of the chili bleed into the oil.  The tempered oil then takes on a very intense and beautiful red coloring that is at once tasty and very chic.   And I forgot, after I have finished cooking the Daal to my desired consistency, I fold in freshly chopped cilantro leaves (coriander leaves).  There is much to be said about the crunchy fresh savor added by these greens.

Lastly I too have a hankering for Thumbup Cola and Limca but on this recent trip to India, it was hard to find even back there.  I was saddened and also proven correct.  Coke ruled everywhere.  Most all of the large brands from the past are in the background I assume... not that I could see that background.  And most sadly, the very small soda fountains that made amazing sodas are closed and out of business.  

In fact even the soda factory at Delhi esteemed and very old world Gymkhaana Club shut down 4 or 5 yeas ago.  And with its closing stopped the production of my favorite soda, Vimto.  They also made great icecream soda, gingerale, lemonade and orange cream sodas that were our staple in the summer Holidays for those times when sodas were served.  We were not allowed to drink sodas at home other than for large parties.  Fresh Lime Soda, Nimboo Paani (sweetened fresh lime water), Panna (mango water), Jal Jeera (water spiked with toasted cumin and other spices), home made gingerale, Lassis and Cold Coffee were our summer staples.

[Simon Majumdar]

If I recall correctly there was a wonderful Ice cream shop in Dheli called Snowmans.  I used to go and buy snow cones there regularly.

I suppose it too has fallen prey to multi national market forces

S

[ajay]

Simon,

I think Snowmans may well be a chain within India; I have recall fonldy many trips to an ice cream store of the same name in Breachcandy, Mumbai.  Perhaps these stores are unrelated, but I suspect not.  I can't speak  to Delhi (our souce for ice cream/junk in Delhi has always been Neerulas), but the Snowman in Mumbai is still open.

[Suvir Saran]

Snowmans in Bombay is open and till selling the soft icecreams.