It’s that time of the year again — family time meets wedding season meets eating-so-much-you-want-to lay-comatose season. It feels like a season of excess, but one I am fully embracing since we haven’t had proper family reunions since the pre-pandemic era. I’ve been trying to think of ways in which family get-together have become different since we have all become accustomed to less socialising, but other than a renewed devotion to feasting, and an unsettling underlying uneasy fear that if a pandemic can keep families apart for 2.5. years, there’s no saying what can happen next. But other than that! things are much the same.
Anyway! Here’s a snack I hadn’t thought of for the last 20 years until a conversation with mum triggered a memory last month. Mum would make it as an after-school snack and I have to say, I hated it as a child, probably why I haven’t thought about it for the last 20 years. However, it has all the makings of an adult-aysha favourite — cheese, chilli, egg, bread, fried. And it’s true, I can’t get enough of it now. I’ve been trying to make it in Bangalore and failing miserably, so I made sure to watch mum make it when I was in Kannur, and it turn out that using a nonstick pan is non-negotiable. In other words, this is not the time to bring out your cast iron. Another thing to watch out for, is the consistency of the cheese mixture — you want a thick paste that clings to the toast. Mum calls this Welsh rarebit, but, a quick google search reveals that it is very much not Welsh rarebit. If you ask me, it more closely resembles a cheese toast that met a French toast in an Indian household. A truly global piece of toast.
Recipe: Mum’s Kannur Rarebit
Ingredients
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
1/2 cup mozzarella (not the fresh kind, please), grated
1 small egg
2 tbsp flour
3 tbsp milk
1 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder (optional)
4 slices of white bread, toasted
Salt to taste
4 tbsp oil for frying
Method
In a bowl mix together the cheeses, flour, chilli powder, baking powder, mustard powder (if using). To this add the milk and the egg. Mix well until you have a thick paste.
Heat the oil in a nonstick pan.
Meanwhile, apply the cheese mixture on both sides of each toast.
When the oil is hot, gently lower the toast and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side till it turns a reddish brown.
Remove from the pan and transfer to a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.
Cut each toast into 2, and serve hot.