5 easy-to-do snacks for your monsoon cravings

Craving for something spicy and tangy to tickle your taste buds? Here’s our pick of easy-to-do monsoon snacks that’ll leave your guests impressed.

Come monsoon and one is hit by an ­irresistible yearning for something spicy, tangy, sweet and sour, something that you can team with a steaming cup of tea, while you unwind in your balcony. Move over the same old ­pakoras and please your taste buds with some new flavours. From Bread Crumbed Stuffed Salan Ki Chilli to Baked Irani Samosa, here are a few ­recipes that will have your guests heaping praises on your cooking skills.

*Stuffed Aubergine on the bed of Quinoa and Cracked Wheat upma with Tomato Chammanthi

Ingredients:

Aubergine

1 big Aubergine, 1 boiled potato

50gm mashed cottage cheese

red chili powder, salt

olive oil, coriander leaves

2tbsp corn flour

Tomato chammanthi

4 tomatoes finely chopped

1 onion chopped

2 green chilli

5 curry leaves

1/4tbsp red chilli powder

1/4tbsp turmeric powder

4 pinch mustard seed

3tbsp coconut oil

salt to taste



Method

Cut the aubergines in 1cm ­thickness roundels and grill ­slightly, hollow from between and stuff with the remaining ­ingredients. Coat with corn flour and grill on hot plate till golden. Cook in oven for 5 minutes.



Splutter mustard seeds in coconut oil. To this, add chopped onion. Fry till onions are translucent. Then, add tomatoes, and cook till they are softened and cooked through. Add green chilli, curry leaves, red chilli, turmeric powder and required salt. Sauté for a minute. Yummy tomato chammanthi is ready to serve.



Diwas Wadhera, executive sous chef, Crowne Plaza, New Delhi*Bread Crumbed Stuffed Salan Ki Chilli





Ingredients:

8 achari chilli

50gm dal moth

100gm paneer (grated)

20gm ginger (chopped)

30gm green coriander (chopped)

100gm bread crumb

50gm English mustard paste

50gm white flour

20gm pepper

30ml lemon juice

100ml refined oil

Salt

Method
Wash chillies, dry them and roast on charcoal. Remove their skin properly. Separately, mix grated paneer, dal moth, coriander, ­ginger and other spices together in a bowl. Make a long cut on the ­chillies and stuff this mixture inside. Take a bowl; put mustard paste, salt, pepper, lemon juice and mix. Then, take each chilly individually, and dip in this ­mixture. Cover with bread crumbs and fry till golden brown. Serve hot with tamarind or mint ­chutney.

Neeraj Tyagi, executive chef, Shangri-La’s - Eros Hotel, New Delhi

*Baked Irani Samosa





Ingredients:

1 cup poha/ground beaten rice

1/2tsp chat masala, 1/2tsp cumin powder, 1 bunch ­coriander leaves, 1tsp chili powder, 1/2 bunch curry leaves

3 green chilies, 1 cup onion

water, salt, filo pastry (easily available in market)/ spring roll sheets

Method
For the mixture, heat the oil in a pan. Add curry leaves. When it starts crackling, add chopped onion and sauté it on low-­medium flame. Add chopped fresh green chili, red chili powder and cumin powder. Sauté it for some more time and add ground beaten rice, coriander leaves and mix. Remove to a bowl; leave aside while you ­prepare the samosa pastry.

Cut the filo pastry one by three vertically. Apply clarified butter on the sheet, put the filling on one edge and make a triangle out of it by folding it. Preheat the oven at 220 degree celsius, and put the triangle on greased tray. Oven for 5 minutes.

Sahil Sabhlok, executive chef, The Claridges, New Delhi

*Chicken Tikka Fritters





Ingredients:

250gm chicken leg boneless

2tsp ginger juice, 2tsp garlic juice

salt, 1tbsp red chili paste,

2tbsp yoghurt,

1tsp roasted cumin powder,1/2cup gram flour,

salt to taste, 1/4tsp baking ­powder, 1/2tsp red chili powder

1/4tsp turmeric, 1tsp ginger chopped, 1/2tsp green chili chopped , 1/2tsp carom seeds (ajwain), oil

Method
Making the batter:
Mix gram flour with baking ­powder, salt, chili powder, ­turmeric and carom seeds. Add water and mix until it turns into a smooth batter. Leave aside for 30 minutes.

Preparation:
Cut each boneless chicken leg into bite size pieces, clean and pat dry on kitchen towel. Make a paste of salt, lemon juice, yoghurt, ginger-garlic juice and chilli paste, and apply on the chicken pieces; leave aside for 2 hours. Heat oil, dip the ­marinated chicken in the batter and fry until the ­chicken is cooked from within. Serve hot with mint chutney and saunth chutney.

Gunjit Chawla, senior kitchen executive, Threesixty degrees, The Oberoi, New Delhi

*Crispy mushroom on watermelon





Ingredients:

For 10 portions

1kg button mushroom

1 tin Milkmaid

1 bottle mayonnaise

5 lemons

1 watermelon

50gm mint

2 ripe mango

1 bottle sweet chili sauce

20gm black sesame seed

200gm green chili paste

40gm corn starch

1kg refined flour

200gm baking powder

refined oil

salt



Method

Marinate watermelon with mint and a bit of salt for one hour. In the meantime, mix corn starch, refined flour and cold water to make batter. Separately, for the chili dip, mix green chili paste with Milkmaid and mayonnaise. Dust mushrooms with refined flour and dip them in the batter. Fry them till crisp. Now, coat mushrooms with chili dip.



To make mango salsa, take ripe mango, cut into fine dices, add sweet chili sauce and lemon juice. Serve the fries ­mushrooms with marinated watermelon, mango salsa and black sesame seed.



Nishant Kumar Choubey, ­executive chef, Dusit Devarana, New Delhi