Bombay Monsoon Bhutta Chilli Cheese Toast

Some recipes have a whole life behind them before they become a recipe.

This one starts with my father and a 1970s K-Chef range — thick white bread, Amul cheese, finely chopped green chillies, slid under an overhead grill on Sunday mornings until the cheese blistered and caramelised and we ate it straight off the tray, piping hot, no waiting.

And it also starts with bhutta vendors near the beaches — charcoal grills, white corn ears charred directly over the flame, Amul butter rubbed on in copious amounts, lime, rock salt, red chilli. Not to forget the sand between your toes and the sea in the air.

I kept thinking — what if these two became the same thing?

Not corn thrown on top of chilli cheese toast. The bhutta as the soul of the dish. Corn charred over a live flame, mixed with butter, green chilli, coriander stems, lime zest, chaat masala. A three-cheese layer underneath and on top. Grilled until the cheese bubbles and the corn caramelises at the edges.

Carb, fat, char, spice. Some combinations are just inevitable.
Full recipe on the blog.
Make it all monsoon long.

(My father would have liked it. Though he’d probably still want ketchup on the side.)