Ghati Mutton

Nupur, who writes one of my favourite blogs One Hot Stove, is hosting RCI Maharashtrian cuisine. RCI stands for Regional Cuisine of India by the way, and is an initiative by Lakshmi,  author of Veggie Cuisine.  So, after a long break doing many other things, I am back to blogging and what better to return with than with a dish from where I live, me own dear hometown Pune. Home town is probably a misnomer. Okay homecity. From GPO to BPO it is pretty spread out.

Every day I find another monstrous glass fronted building has sprung up purporting to be a "state of the architecture" structure. Sadly it is built on the grave of a crumbling piece of heritage.When we have rid ourselves of all that makes Pune Pune and have made it a Hip and Happening  place maybe we can rest upon the rubble and pat ourselves on the back and say...it looks like..like..? Umm, what other city on earth looks so distressed I wonder. In the throes of road building and flyover constructions the city is hung with a pall of dust which insinuates itself into every space.Even sitting huddled in the interiors of  the Pataleshwar caves on Jungli Maharaj road will not rid one of it.Then the only resort is to trek up, up and away into the Western Ghats.

Ah well-Back to the recipe...a nice old ghati one from one old ghati.

Ingredients

• 1 kg shoulder mutton (chop into 1 1/2 inch cubes)
• 10 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tsps salt
• 1/2 copra/ dried coconut grated fine
• 10 red chillies
• 2 inch pieces of fresh haldi/ turmeric sliced fine
• 1 tbs dhania / coriander powder
• 1 tbs khus / poppy seeds
• 12 cloves
• 1 2" piece cinnamon
• 8 whole peppercorns.
• 1 tbs ghee
• 2  large onions ( chopped fine)
• 2 cups water

Roast all the masalas on a tava or non stick frying pan till light brown. Do not burn. Grind all the roasted ingredients in a  blender along with the ginger, garlic and salt to make a fine paste. Rub the paste on the pieces of mutton and marinate for an hour or more. Heat the ghee In a kadhai and fry the onions slowly till soft and brown. Add the marinated meat along with all the spice paste and brown well. Add 1 cup of water and bring to the boil. Lower heat cover tightly and simmer for 1 1/2 hours till meat is really soft. You can top up the water as required.

I added cubed potatoes in the last twenty minutes of cooking which is an option when you want to make a one dish dinner.

Eaten with chapathies or rice this is one Maharashtrian dish everyone just polishes off.
 

Comments

[Anita]

Good to see you back after the break. I make a ghati stuffed eggplant using a ghati masala that is packed by a special grocer in Mumbai somehwere - I would think it is very similar to the masala mix you have. But it stays fresh for a long time. Now I have a substitute if my Mumbai connection fails. :-)

And don't even get me started on glass-faced faceless architecture! It is not just Pune - the whole country wants to be have the same anonymity of nowhere. And there are people who think this is moving forward! And this is beautiful! Not to mention the (in)appropriateness of walls of glass in a hot country like ours...

[Pacchai Milagai (aka Green Chilli)]

Hi! i am a fellow Puneite living in the US for 8 years now..I read your blog and love your recipes... everytime I come back to Pune.. I feel like I dont recognize my city...havent been in 3 yrs but I hope joshi wadewaale, indore farsan, vaishali and all the other charms of amchi Pune still exist!

[Manisha]

Oh this brings back memories! Tell me, is the khus khus critical? Or can I skip it? I'll probably end up making this with lamb.

[shathi]

nallathan irukkuthu mutton recipe,but enakkuthan cholesterol.so i can't eat this.what can i do?????????

[Nupur]

Now this is a typical dish if ever I saw one! Thanks for participating!

[George]

Never tried a ghati meat dish before, so will attempt this on a weekend :-). Thanks. About Pune, oh the less said the better. Every year I go back, I see less of the greenery that defined Pune. The government should've never let these building's come up in residential area's like Kalyani Nagar. Whats the damn IT park for, if not this. Apologize for the rant, could not help myself.

[deccanheffalump]

Anita, good to be back.Thanks Pacchai Milagai, Manisha the khus is essential .It is really easy to get anywhere.Shathi, I am coming out with great recipes for cholesterol problems keep reading... Nupur always a pleasure to take part and George- rant away.Maybe the PMC will finally hear the citizens voice.