Rains and food

I am a foodie, it is an honest confession. Unfortunately, for me, I am not Kunal Vijaykar that I travel the length and breadth of India and have food all over but I am still a foodie. It also helps that I am blessed with a constitution that doesnt allow me to get seriously fat. I mean I have a paunch but thats it.
I have memories of best food ever from different phases of my life. for breakfast nothing could beat my grandmothers 'Bhaat bhaja' which is bong for Fried rice. the only difference was that this fried rice had the most minute size aloo, parwal, gobhi and shrimps and with dollops of cows milk ghee it was Yum. I am salivating right now.
The most delicious meal I ever had was in an Army mess in Pune. This was when I was going to attend the NDA passing out parade of my brother. It was simple meal of rice, chicken curry and yellow daal but after surviving on biscuits and tea for two days this was nothing less than manna from heaven. Why starving for two days is for another blog!
Mom made the best food possible but her signature dish was the dessert. And the payesh she made was something that she was justly famous for. It was just the right sweetness so that everyone could enjoy it. And the funny part was that unlike most recipes that daughters learn from their mothers this one she learnt from her mother in law. Says something about our Saas Bahu tradition.
The reason I am writing today is the sharp rains that lashed our city today. Rain for a bengali is a happy occasion. My childhood vacation memory is of 'Kal Baisakhis' thunderstorms which used to turn the day into night and wind speeds which could hurl me all across the football ground. and when these came the meal was always 'Khichudi'.
The bengali Khichudi comes in different shapes, when one is unwell then it is dal and rice boiled together till they are like the same complexion. The other is the dish cooked in all the zillions of Pujas that happen in a Bengali household. I think this khiichudi gets a special flavor due to the community nature of the cooking and it is something that is unique to the bengalis.
The last and foremost is when it rains nay pours and you cook Khichudi and have it. this is a different form of art where you need just the right proportion of Dal and rice, big chunks of vegetables like Aloo, Gobhi, peas etc. The onion should be fried to just the right color and then all of the stuff is cooked before adding the water. And this meal, though complete in itself, needs the accompaniment of ideally 'mach bhaja' i.e. fried fish or for the vegetarians baigun bhaja ' Fried Brinjals' for variety you can add omlette etc also. there should be lots of achar/chutney and the meal is complete and you have paid your obeisance to the rain gods.
Now if I could just have some Khichudi tonight.