22/07/2025
⚠️Rant Alert ⚠️
Where's my bhutta? As someone who prefers local and seasonal over exotic veggies for desi recipes it is frustrating to find baby corn and American sweet corn at the click of a finger even in neighbourhood stores or the raitara santhe (local farmer's market) during monsoons while the desi white or naati bhutta has more or less disappeared. I had already committed to making bhutte ki kees for our community potluck, so I hacked my way around with the aforementioned vilaayati varieties to come to an approximate flavour. Suffice to say not many realised that the desi bhutta was absent. While that made me happy about my cooking skills, it made me sad as well. Are we getting so swayed by big agriculture claims, profits and bougie flexes that we are not just sidelining but abandoning desi varieties? Growing up monsoons meant koyle pe sika hua bhutta with the chatkara of nimbu namak mirchi... sweet corn is a dud and too moist to make those moments come alive!
Rant aside, this Indori style bhutte ki kees may not be the OG, but it satisfied a craving for the monsoons feels. I've used baby corn and shelled sweet corn in a 1:2 ratio to get the desi bhutte ka swaad, skipped the coconut and sugar, and substituted milk for water in the recipe as american corn has plenty of creaminess and an obvious sweet note. The highlight and saving grace is the sprinkling of home made jeeravan with its subtle kick and shuddh desi aroma.
I enjoy the kees garma garam by itself but since I made it for a grazing table, the formal plating was done in readymade corn canapés.
How do you manage without the safed desi bhutta? Would love to hear your hacks in the comments.
Recipe inspired by
Youtube channel. Jeeravan recipe is also courtesy of the YT same channel.
Monsoons, bhutta, kees, desi recipe, indore, jeeravan, no onion, no garlic
