Monsoons and Winter! What are you Cooking?

I'm in Denmark, where we don't get monsoons as such, but during winter it rains. And rains, and rains, and rains, even more than it does during the summer. It's also darkly overcast most of the time, so by November, even getting out of bed seems way too demanding, never mind using my imagination to think of something marginally interesting to cook (and I like rain).

This year, I want to see if I can forestall the supposedly inevitable, fading-to-grey feeling, by starting to explore – now – what people in warm countries cook when rainy season comes around. I love the traditionally European things I tend to cook in winter, but just now, I think I'm in a bit of rut (even though I'm negotiating a challenging kitchen setup).

What are traditional winter specialities in various tropical/subtropical regions, including those in Asia (I'm including India), Africa, the Middle-East, South America?

I'm as interested in cold-and-rainy-season-specific ingredients as I am in recipes, so let me hear what you've got!

Are you looking for winter dishes or monsoon dishes? Because monsoon is over where I am, though I believe other parts of India may still be having a few rains (there are sort of two monsoons going in different directions).

The first monsoon starts some time in June and starts to fade away in September, travelling from the South West and going up the country. There's a secondary monsoon that goes from the North East back down the country from October but it should all be finished sometime in November I think. I think the South gets more of this, in Allahabad certainly we have had no rain since sometime in September.

Guess I didn't think of this time of the year as monsoon! But I'm happy to share that favourite monsoon foods include pakora and chai - actually any nicely fried snack with tea is very welcome!

Right now where I am we are all looking forwards to winter dishes! There are beautiful young mooli with lovely tops on them in the market, cauliflowers are reducing in price on an almost daily basis, loads of greens are becoming available and I've seen some carrots and beetroots starting to pop up here and there. Looking forward to winter's bounty!

Edited to fix crazy talk about directions!

Are you looking for winter dishes or monsoon dishes? Because monsoon is over where I am, though I believe other parts of India may still be having a few rains (there are sort of two monsoons going in different directions).

The first monsoon starts some time in June and starts to fade away in September, travelling from South to West (and North at the same time as going West). There's a secondary monsoon that goes from North to East (going Southwards again, I think) from October but it should all be finished sometime in November I think. I think the South gets more of this, in Allahabad certainly we have had no rain since sometime in September.

Guess I didn't think of this time of the year as monsoon! But I'm happy to share that favourite monsoon foods include pakora and chai - actually any nicely fried snack with tea is very welcome!

Right now where I am we are all looking forwards to winter dishes! There are beautiful young mooli with lovely tops on them in the market, cauliflowers are reducing in price on an almost daily basis, loads of greens are becoming available and I've seen some carrots and beetroots starting to pop up here and there. Looking forward to winter's bounty!

Please tell me more!

And yes, you got it, the winter dishes of tropical/subtropical regions are what I actually most want to hear about (I found out, by looking up 'monsoon season' after posting, that I messed up the usage ).

And yes, you got it, the winter dishes of tropical regions are what I actually want to hear about (I found out, by looking up 'monsoon season' after the fact of posting) that I messed up the usage

No worries, I completely flubbed the direction of the monsoon in my reply so I messed up too.

Well India is obviously a huge country so I'll just talk about Allahabad and touch on some other Northern areas too. Down South especially climate is very different. Also, every region has its seasonal specialities. I am just trying to learn about the local ones! I hope that others will chime in too.

On thing that majorly affects what gets eaten in winter is the climate. After the intense heat of summer, the downpour and humidity of monsoon and the hot and humid after-monsoon period, winter is a blessed relief! For many people here, it is the best time of year. It's a great time for picnics and enjoying the outdoors. Temperature wise it goes from around 10 °C up to 25 °C. These are just rough figures. It does dip cooler occasionally and I think the coolest temperature ever reached was somewhere just below 0 °C but this is not common. I think January is probably the coolest month.

These cooler temperatures mean an abundance of vegetables are available. Some vegetables especially associated with winter are as mentioned before, cauliflower, carrots, mooli, beetroot, potato, all kinds of greens, cabbages, etc. Allahabad is famous for its guavas in winter. I may be imagining it but I swear the young green chickpeas in their pods are a wintery food, in Jan and Feb?

Another factor is that people feel like eating more. In the heat people lose their appetite a bit and prefer a lighter diet, but winter is cooler. It doesn't get really really cold in Allahabad but it feels cold and houses don't have central heating so people snuggle up in lots of layers, with blankets and use room heaters and fires Food can be rich with ghee and malai, people indulge in sweets and let their appetite run wild! Many people eat heavier and richer foods. Foods like gram flour that are a little tricky to digest are used in many dishes, and people often eat more fatty foods and sweets. Not everyone of course, but there is a feeling of indulgence and enjoyment.

There are also specific foods believed to be warming and good for the body in winter. Bajra and jowar are both varieties of millet that are popular during winter. Makki, corn, is also used. People make rotis from the flour or cook the grains themselves. Sesame seeds are also popular, and so is gur (jaggery). These are both warming and good for the body. A nice combination of the two is til ladoo, which are balls of sesame seeds and jaggery. They are a delicious and simple sweet perfect for the season.

Somehow I associate litti chokha with winter. Litti are balls of dough stuffed with a spiced mixture of roasted channa dal flour and baked in a cow dung fire. Chokha is a sort of spiced "mash" of potatoes and/or aubergines and/or tomatoes that have all been roased in the ashes of a fire. It's a famous combination from Bihar but seems to be found all over the North these days. In Allahabad it is available all year round from stalls near the bus stand and also near high court. But I think it feels especially wintery to me because it's a great dish to make in the evening when you feel like lighting a nice fire and making an evening of it!

Last winter I was lucky enough to spend some time in Amritsar, in the Punjab, and that is an excellent place to be in winter! A very famous winter dish is sarsaon da saag served with makki di roti. This is a "mash" of mustard greens (spiced up nicely) served with roti made from corn. Served with a lovely dollop of home made butter! I also like a bit of jaggery on the side. Lots of butter comes out to play during winter, it's chilly so you need the extra energy right?! I have found memories of getting wrapped up and venturing outside in the evening to get jalebis and a big glass of hot milk...the jalebis were rich with the sent of ghee and perfect for a chilly winter night!

It's too early to be thinking too much about these foods yet, but I am looking forward to enjoying them.

Oh, and I'll ask my Mum what things she is looking forward to enjoying in England over winter too.

While Australia has experienced pretty rapid cultural change over the last 30 years, there is still a definite British influence.for example raised lamb shanks are a very popular winter dish, as are all kinds of savory pies. However, when I was still new to the country it was the near-obsession with pumpkin soup that really stood out to me, particularly as I grew up in a household that only ate pumpkin in pie form. It turns out Australians LOVE pumpkin, and have done so for a long time, with travelers remarking on Aussie pumpkin love in the 1800s. More recently the dishes that I have noticed people obsessing over in winter are laksa, pho and beef rendang. Any one of them is perfect grey-day fare, especially with all the spices and seasonings. Pho always makes me feel better than the other two, probably because it's not as rich. My favorite place to eat it is in a steamy little shop front in Flemington while the winter night pours rain outside.

OK, but we're actually heading into "summer" in most of Ecuador. Our "winter" or rainy season corresponds to the North's summer, more or less.

The biggest and best things of "winter" cuisine here are extremely hearty soups like Fanesca (7 grains, 2 squashes, cream, and bacalao; served during Holy Week), Sancocho (yuca, papachina, plantain, potato, and cabbage, with beef or lamb knuckles), and Locro de Queso (creamy potato and cheese soup with avocado and popcorn). Entire roast suckling pigs start to appear in the winter as well.

Locro de Queso (creamy potato and cheese soup with avocado and popcorn).

This is not something you can just say without providing a recipe

Seriously, I know my Mum would love this, please share!

Btw, sancocho sounds very similar to a Trinidadian dish called sancoche. Not surprising I guess, the two countries are not that far from each other and I suspect similar things are made all over that area.

Locro de Queso is probably one of the easiest soups ever to make, Jenni. You'll love this. This version of the recipe is scaled for 3 people; the general ratio is 3 potatoes per person eating, given potatoes about the size of your fist. I've never bothered with weighing or any of that nonsense - my original recipe for this called for "butter about the size of a walnut" for sauteeing.

10 Locro potatoes (a gold type that dissolves when boiled); skinned and cut into chunks

1.5 C chicken stock

a pinch of achiote

about a clove or two of garlic or one big shallot, crushed

about 1/4 of a baseball-sized red onion, minced

a bit of the fat of your choice

a pound of Queso Fresco (in India, use Paneer. It's very close.)

An avocado for every 2 people eating.

popcorn

cilantro

In a skillet, sautee the achiote, onion and garlic in the fat until the onion goes glassy. (You can make this step simpler by using achiote oil). Add this in to the chicken stock, and toss in the potatoes. Simmer until the potatoes have exploded. Remove from the heat and crumble in about half of the cheese, then transfer the soup to the blender and pulse until nice and creamy. Return to the pot, crumble in the rest of the cheese, then transfer to bowls. Float half an avocado in the soup and garnish with cilantro.

The popcorn is a side-dish that is thrown into the soup bite by bite to provide a bit of texture.

If you can't find the Locro type potato (I haven't seen them outside of South America), you can substitute any non-waxy type; then the simmer direction becomes "simmer until the potatoes are tender" and then blender as usual.

I am making this ASAP, plus sending on the recipe to my Mum!

I'm going to sub in veggie stock. Sorry. I'm also going to have to leave out achiote. Will this make a huge huge difference and are there any subs you can think of?

Thinking about making this tomorrow...sounds great!

ETA: OK, you clarified the recipe so I delted some of my questions!

It's there more for colour than flavour, actually - I normally tweak by removing it (dad's allergic) and using a bit of cracked black pepper in its place. I generally use any stock I have in the fridge - so chicken, beef, or veggie work equally well.

And if you add chunks of yellow-orange fleshed squash to this at the "throw in the potatoes" stage, it becomes Locro de Zapallo, which is also very tasty. Omitting the cheese and subbing in Habas (Fava or other broadbeans) gets you Locro de Habas, and the simple addition of chard to Locro de Habas makes Locro de Acelga, which is fantastic.

The other wintertime fave here is called Repe Blanco, which is a plantain and white bean soup. If you want that recipe, let me know.

More recently the dishes that I have noticed people obsessing over in winter are laksa, pho and beef rendang. Any one of them is perfect grey-day fare, especially with all the spices and seasonings.

Yes!!!

MJX, winter in Denmark sounds even more dreary than Seattle, and being farther North, I'm sure it is. We have a large Asian population here, and pho has become hugely popular. I'm looking forward to a lot of pho this winter. Laksa is heartier and richer with coconut milk, so good. I find myself craving Korean kimchi tofu soup lately as well - really almost anything spicy and savory. And don't forget udon & ramen soups and congee (rice porridge). Another good dish for winter (just because of it being citrus season) is Vietnamese pomelo salad with pieces of pomelo (you could use grapefruit if you cant find pomelo or ugli fruit), fresh mint, crispy shallots, and shrimp. Maybe a nice bright side to a steaming cauldron of noodle soup? http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/02/pomelo-salad-go.html

. . . .

These cooler temperatures mean an abundance of vegetables are available. Some vegetables especially associated with winter are as mentioned before, cauliflower, carrots, mooli, beetroot, potato, all kinds of greens, cabbages, etc. Allahabad is famous for its guavas in winter. I may be imagining it but I swear the young green chickpeas in their pods are a wintery food, in Jan and Feb?

. . . .

There are also specific foods believed to be warming and good for the body in winter. Bajra and jowar are both varieties of millet that are popular during winter. Makki, corn, is also used. People make rotis from the flour or cook the grains themselves. Sesame seeds are also popular, and so is gur (jaggery). These are both warming and good for the body. A nice combination of the two is til ladoo, which are balls of sesame seeds and jaggery. They are a delicious and simple sweet perfect for the season.

Somehow I associate litti chokha with winter. Litti are balls of dough stuffed with a spiced mixture of roasted channa dal flour and baked in a cow dung fire. Chokha is a sort of spiced "mash" of potatoes and/or aubergines and/or tomatoes that have all been roased in the ashes of a fire. It's a famous combination from Bihar but seems to be found all over the North these days. In Allahabad it is available all year round from stalls near the bus stand and also near high court. But I think it feels especially wintery to me because it's a great dish to make in the evening when you feel like lighting a nice fire and making an evening of it!

. . . .

By some odd fluke, I'm sort of loaded up with palm sugar... isn't at least some of the Indian jaggery palm-sourced? Are ladoo fairly straightforward to make?

Several of these dishes sound like they rely on being cooked over an open flame, any idea of how something like litti chokha would come out in a conventional oven?

Is the millet ever ground up as flour? I'd be thrilled to hear that millet flour get a lot of use, because I don't handle wheat very well (although I love bread, so I sometimes just take a batch of NSAIDs, and deal with the consequences), so a new alternative is always interesting to work with.

OK, but we're actually heading into "summer" in most of Ecuador. Our "winter" or rainy season corresponds to the North's summer, more or less.

I know... that really made me wonder about the best title to give this!

The biggest and best things of "winter" cuisine here are extremely hearty soups like Fanesca (7 grains, 2 squashes, cream, and bacalao; served during Holy Week), Sancocho (yuca, papachina, plantain, potato, and cabbage, with beef or lamb knuckles), and Locro de Queso (creamy potato and cheese soup with avocado and popcorn). Entire roast suckling pigs start to appear in the winter as well.

I'd love to hear more about the Fanesca, which sounds delicious. I'm also curious as to the the method used for roasting suckling pig (is the local method indigenous, or introduced?), although my odds of getting my hands on one are pretty slim.

More recently the dishes that I have noticed people obsessing over in winter are laksa, pho and beef rendang. Any one of them is perfect grey-day fare, especially with all the spices and seasonings.

Yes!!!

MJX, winter in Denmark sounds even more dreary than Seattle, and being farther North, I'm sure it is. We have a large Asian population here, and pho has become hugely popular. I'm looking forward to a lot of pho this winter. Laksa is heartier and richer with coconut milk, so good. I find myself craving Korean kimchi tofu soup lately as well - really almost anything spicy and savory. And don't forget udon & ramen soups and congee (rice porridge). Another good dish for winter (just because of it being citrus season) is Vietnamese pomelo salad with pieces of pomelo (you could use grapefruit if you cant find pomelo or ugli fruit), fresh mint, crispy shallots, and shrimp. Maybe a nice bright side to a steaming cauldron of noodle soup? http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/02/pomelo-salad-go.html

At this moment, that pretty much all sounds good... I definitely need to make a trek out to the Asian foods shop that was really close to our old flat!

There are many varieties of jaggery and gur, and some are made from palm sap. Some varieties of palm jaggery are very highly prized and highly delicious too. However, I will note that whenever I have bought Thai palm sugar I have not been impressed by the taste. It seems a lot sweeter and has a less complex flavour. I suppose YMMMV.

Ladoo are round ball shaped sweets. Til ladoo is very easy. Toasted sesame seeds are combined with jaggery syrup and rolled into balls. Done! Made into a flat block the sweet is called chikki. I also like versions made with peanuts.

Litti chokha can be made in an oven, I have done that. It's not the same by any means but if it's all you got then you can make something quite good. Most important bit of litti is to get the filling right. Sattu is not the same as gram flour, it is made from roasted grams. Actually traditionally there are also some other roasted grains in it. Outside of India (pre-ground sattu is more available there) you should buy the unground roasted gram (unsalted) and grind it yourself.

Millet is probably most commonly consumed in India in its flour form as roti. However, let me just add that the three most popular millets are not the same as the commonly available yellow coloured millet that you get in health food shops in the UK. Bajra, jowar and ragi are the millets used in India. You can buy the flour in Indian shops but it is often old and not good. These flours need to be used very quickly after being ground otherwise they do not taste as good and are also difficult to work with. My local place in the UK sold all three grains in their whole form so I was able to grind my own flour. Very tasty.

Btw Panaderia Canadiense, I made your fabulous soup. A few differences I must admit to:

*I may have scaled poorly. I used more stock than you called for which I suspect means I maybe used too much potato. Which maybe means I used too little cheese. Possibly. I'm actually a little confused about the small amount of stock for the amount of potato. I think this is my own misunderstanding of things.

*I added a chilli. Sorry!

*No avocado for garnish, and instead of popcorn I used a little puffed rice as the "side dish". Puffed rice in India is a little different from the cereal and is used widely in various savouries, snacks and sweets so it's easy to buy.

Overall I thought it was delicious and will be trying a version with some greens added to it soon.

Fanesca is the traditional Easter soup here - it actually dates back to the harvest festival that was held by the Kichua before the Spanish came, and which was later absorbed into Easter by the Catholic Church. It's an entire day's work to prepare a pot, but I have yet to encounter a recipe that makes less than about 10 gallons of it and it does freeze rather well.

Here's the recipe I use when I make Fanesca; I got it from my Abuela Fidelina, who is from Cuenca and who is an excellent cook.

Makes 50 plates, and takes about 4 hours on the day you're going to serve it (and about 2 hours the night before).

INGREDIENTS

500 g (1 lb) long grain white rice

10-12 L (2.5-3 gal) Whole Milk (3% minimum), no other

1 L (1/4 gal) Full-Fat Cream (35% minimum), no other

4 C Peanuts, shelled and husked

6 C Leeks, the white portion only, chopped finely

6 oz (12 TBSP) Butter, unsalted

3 TBSP Butter whipped with achiote (annatto)*

2 C Garlic, blendered with enough milk to make it a liquid

2 kg (4.4 lbs) Bacalao. White Bacalao is best.

Salt, black pepper, to taste

2 TSP Ground Cumin

4-6 TSP Oregano

2 TSP Ground Cinnamon

3 TSP Brown Sugar

6 C Squash meat, steamed until it is tender, and mashed (in Ecuador, a large squash similar to Acorn is used.)

4 C Pumpkin meat, steamed until it is tender, and mashed (in Ecuador, a large squash called Kobucha is used. It's called pumpkin, but it's not, really.)

6 C Lupines (Lupini beans), peeled

10 C White corn kernels, boiled until tender

6 C Green peas, steamed until bright green

6 C White cabbage, julienned and steamed

8 C Young fava beans, peeled and cooked

6 C Young strawberry or red beans, peeled and cooked

1 shot Sherry Brandy

METHOD - THE NIGHT BEFORE

1. Boil the peanuts in enough milk to cover them, until they become tender. Blender these with the liquid they were cooked in, and set this aside.

2. Soak the Bacalao in enough water to cover it.

3. Cook and peel all of the grains and legumes. Reserve the water in which the corn was boiled.

4. Steam the cabbage, squash, and pumpkin.

5. Cook the rice in milk.

METHOD - THE DAY OF

1. Boil the Bacalao in 1 L of milk. Drain and reserve the liquid.

2. Fry the leek and garlic in the butter and achiote butter until they glassify.

3. Add 1 C of the water in which the corn cooked, and boil until the garlic loses its metallic flavour.

4. Add the peanut liquid, and cook for 3-4 minutes.

5. Add the rice and 2L of milk, and a bit of all of the spices.

6. Drain and cut the Bacalao into tiny pieces. Add the milk in which it was boiled to the pot.

7. Add the squash, pumpkin, and cabbage.

8. When it comes to a boil again, add the grains and legumes one by one in the following order: lupines, corn, beans, peas, favas.

9. Add the cream, the rest of the milk, and the rest of the seasonings.

10. Keep stirring as it boils. Don't scrape the bottom or sides of the pot - that is where the stuff that tastes bad is collecting. Don't put a lid on it either - just stand there and stir.

After about 3 and a half hours, the Fanesca is ready to eat. Serve it immediately.

----

The method of roasting a suckling pig is to take the pig, gut it, brine it for 24-48 hours, and then build a nice fire in your Horno Lena (wood-fired clay oven). Once that's hot enough to bake bizcochos, you smother the pig in lard or butter, stuff the cavities with lemon verbena, and slide it into the horno. It's ready when the skin is a deep tanned colour and crackly. The ladies who do this are experts in it; the pig comes out tender, succulent, and dripping with fat. The fat gets collected and used for cooking the Llapingachos, small achiote and potato pancakes that are the traditional accompaniment to Horneado. This is the traditional local method for roasting anything - before the Spanish and domestic pigs, it was used to prepare alpaca and javelina.

Btw Panaderia Canadiense, I made your fabulous soup. A few differences I must admit to:

*I may have scaled poorly. I used more stock than you called for which I suspect means I maybe used too much potato. Which maybe means I used too little cheese. Possibly. I'm actually a little confused about the small amount of stock for the amount of potato. I think this is my own misunderstanding of things.

*I added a chilli. Sorry!

*No avocado for garnish, and instead of popcorn I used a little puffed rice as the "side dish". Puffed rice in India is a little different from the cereal and is used widely in various savouries, snacks and sweets so it's easy to buy.

Overall I thought it was delicious and will be trying a version with some greens added to it soon.

I may also have scaled incorrectly. The recipe I have originally calls for 1/2 C of stock per person eating and 3 potatoes per person, and there is a huge difference between Locro potatoes and non-Locros (which hold their form and therefore don't become part of the broth the same way). I'd try it with a bit more stock. And both I and Abuela would say that there's really no such thing as too much cheese in Locro de Queso...

No worries about the chili - Locro is normally served with Aji on the side to pep it up to the palate of the individual eating it.