Come the rains and families in Kerala are revamping kitchen shelves and cooling devices to make room for cooking up a storm with some of their top Monsoon comfort foods. Anticipating a relentless rainy season housewives have already stocked up on summer harvests of vegetables and fruits like mangoes, plums and berries captured in brine as well as items like dry fish etc.

So, if you are looking for a novel way to savour the joys of culinary pleasures in Monsoon time in Kerala don’t hesitate a moment in taking up an invite of a local homemaker. Naadan, or local cuisine, was never as tempting as in those torrential rainy days!

Along India’s southwestern coastal region of the Western Ghats the annual rains break in all their fury in the month of June and carry on till the end of September. The height of the Monsoon season is witnessed in the months of July and August, when there’s a relentless downpour from the rain gods, and it's hard to step out.

Get ready for a fresh take on your local banana leaf banquet as the Monsoon showers refuse to dampen the inspirational mood even for novice cooks.

Even the roadside eateries ( thattukadas), toddy outlets (kallushaaps) and chayakadas or tea shops scattered across the state swing into the mood with their offerings of Monsoon snacks such as vadas, pazham pori, baji, banana bonda et al. Chakka Ada, a steamed dumpling with a filling of jackfruit and grated coconut is a hot seller on damp and sticky morning. While banana chips in sundry varieties still fly off the shelves, meat, chicken or seafood snacks warm the cockles of your heart on a rainy day on an outing for a tumbler of toddy or tea.

Once you’ve tucked into Kerala’s signature arikadukka, a snack of mussels stuffed to bursting with fried rice dough, you’ll never look at a western-style mussels dish without remembering this explosion of flavours.And, then again, a roadside serving of Puttu and Potti curry or Bamboo cake and Buffalo Intestine Curry, is unbeatable in lifting the mood of your spirits and tummy.

Staple monsoon fare like rice porridge served with dried fish and brined mango chutney is a great immunity builder. Oushada kanji, or rice porridge, surfaces in different avatars across Kerala’s varied geographies.

Quick fried or on slow burn... locally sourced,fresh and fabulous, leafy dishes continue to shine in different manifestations driven by what ingredients and produce is available at the time.

Sardines, mackerel, or kingfish, heaps of choices for a meen or fish curry, teamed with tapioca (kappa), are perfect for beating the Monsoon blues. Deep fried in coconut oil to a crispy gold, richly marinated, fragrant servings of fish get gobbled up fast.

Biryani from Thalassery offers a feast of different aromas, flavours and textures of this iconic dish which you’ve probably tried in Delhi, Lucknow or Hyderabad created with the fragrant long-grained Basmati rice. Made from small, thin, fragrant kaima rice, small, thin, fragrant kaima rice, Thalassery Biryani, while pursuing the traditional dum-style of cooking.

Egg curry in Kerala is a far cry from the Anglo-Indian version, especially when it's laced with Keralite spices and teamed with appam, that awesome fermented rice-batter lightly fried pancake. It's the perfect comfort food for lunch or dinner when it's raining cats and dogs outside and you're marooned inside the house. You can also opt for Poricha Kozhambu, a mildly spiced veggie stew served with rice or appam, is both nutritious and comforting.

Heaps of sweet snacks and desserts will keep you feeling warm and toasty even on the wettest days. Choice offerings...Sukhiyan, a crispy sweet fritter; Kozhukatta, a sweet and steamed rice dumpling with a stuffing of a coconut-jaggery mixture; Sarkara Varatti, crispy banana fritters cloaked in a caramelized jaggery glaze.

Now’s the time to unleash the foodie in you for a unique culinary adventure in Kerala’s legendary monsoon days. There’s all this and more to discover, sample and sip along the way.