thecookscottage

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.
 

Mutton Kolhapuri

Mutton Kolhapuri

There is nothing subtle about this dish. Its red, hot and pungent.The taste hits you right away because of the generosity with which garam masalas are added. The chillies are hair raising. Especially if the lavangi, that firecracker of a mirchi ,is part of the ingredients. Its sparks define Kolhapuri food. Almost painful to the palate, once eaten most people are not 'twice shy.' In fact many remain fans forever, addicted , craving that colourful gravy, situated as they are, far away from the rugged terrain that surrounds the place of it's origins.

Kolhapur District

Ingredients:

Roast on a tava or frying pan:

• 6 tbsp. of copra grated till golden brown. Remove from pan.
• 1 tbsp. khus/ poppy seeds. Remove from pan.

Now roast the following together, stirring continuously to prevent burning, till they give off a nice aroma:

• 3 tsp. peppercorn
• 1 tsp. jaipathri / mace
• 3 tsp cloves
• 2 2" pieces cinnamon
• 6 badi elaichi / black cardamom
• 6 green cardamom
• 1/4 jaiphal / nutmeg
• 20 Kashnmiri chillies / or three lavangi chillies and 10 kashmiri chillies
• 4 tsp. khus / poppy seeds
• 2 tbsp. dhania /coriander seeds
• 2 tsps jeera / cumin seeds
• 3 tsp. saunf /fennel seeds
• 2 tsp. shahzeera /caraway /
• 3 tsp. dagad phool / lichen /
• 2 pcs. badal phool / star anise
• 2 tsps sesame seeds

Let the spices cool then grind in a coffee grinder till a fine paste is formed.I add the coconut, poppy seeds and sesame seeds last of all, as they release the oil required to make the powdered ingredients into a paste..

• 1 and 1/2 kg. mutton shoulder with cartilage removed.Cut into cubes.
• 6 - 12 tbsp. oil.(I use the lesser amount but its a question of taste and necessity)
• 6 large onions minced
• 2 onions and 15 cloves garlic pureed into a paste.
• 2 level tsps haldi/ turmeric
• 3 tbsp. ginger garlic paste.
• 1 litre/ 2 pints boiling water
• 2 tbsp. lime juice
• 3 tsps salt or to taste
• 1 tbsp. fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a large kadhai. Add bay leaves and stir for a second before adding the minced onions. Fry the onions till brown .

Now add the garlic/ onion paste and the turmeric, stirring well so it does not burn. Add the ginger garlic paste,give it a stir and then add the mutton pieces all together. Let the meat change colour and brown a bit before adding the boiling water.Cover and cook for 40 minutes on a medium flame.

Now add the masala paste the lime juice and salt. Stir to cook the paste well., add more water if required. Cover tightly and cook till done for approximately 45 minutes on a low flame.

This meat should not be dry and should have plenty of gravy. Garnish with some coriander and serve hot.Goes great with jowar roti or plain rice.

Mutton Biryani

'So we plunged the hand to the mid-wrist deep
In a cinnamon stew of the fat-tailed sheep,
And he who never hath tasted the food,
By Allah! he knoweth not bad from good. '-Rudyard Kipling The Ballad of the King’s Jest

A biryani is the closest thing to a one dish dinner in Indian cuisine. With a salad of chopped fresh tomatoes, cucumber, onions and green chillies, moistened by some yogurt, it makes a hearty meal. And heartwarming too, in this time of Ramzan, when people often share a huge plate of biryani on breaking their daily fast.

Mutton Biryani

Yesterday, on a public thoroughfare, I saw the boss of an enterprise, calling his employees and collegues to eat from a communal plate in a large circle.He  fed them himself ,quite unselfconciously, if they were in the midst of work. Other colleagues continue to feed the men working, while exhorting them to leave it for a while and join in the meal.The gesture was one of such warmth, and inclusion, as an observer I found  it was completely moving.

A good mutton biryani needs a number of spices. Outside the Shivaji Market here, there is a vendor of small packs of mixed whole spices just for biryani. So people who cannot afford to buy so many expensive spices in larger amounts, can buy just enough to make that special dinner.

Ingredients:

1.You do need 10 friends or family to help you eat this.

2..In a blender make a paste of the following

• 50 gms fresh ginger
• 1 large pod of garlic, peeled.
• 6 green chillies chopped
• (250 gms of sliced raw papaya)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tsp chilli powder

Marinate 1 and 1/2 kg of mutton ( cut into fairly large pieces),along with the bones, in the paste for an hour or more while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

3.Wash and soak 3/4 kg of rice for 30 minutes. Drain well.  Measure and add water equivalent to one and a half times the amount of rice. Bring to the boil and cover tightly.Cook for exactly 15 minutes. Remove from fire.

4. 50 gms almonds blanch, peel and slice in slivers or make a paste

• 250 gms ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 kg onions sliced fine .
• 1 1/2 kg potatoes, washed, peeled and quartered.
• 5 pieces of whole cinnamon about 2" in length
• 1 tsp cardomom
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp peppercorns
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp shah jeera/ black cumin
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 1/2 tsp saffron, roasted and soaked in the juice of 1 lime.
• 1 tbsp of chopped fresh mint leaves.
• 1/2 kg tomatoes
• 400 gms dahi/yogurt
• 250 gms raisins or chopped dried apricots

5. Fry the onions in ghee till brown and crisp. Remove and crush three quarters of the onions, reserving the rest for garnish.

6. In the same ghee fry quartered potatoes till half done.Remove.

7. Now fry all the whole spices for a few seconds. Do not let them burn. Add the yogurt , the powdered spices and chopped mint (reserving a bit for the top) and mix well. Take off the heat.

8. Add the saffron lime juice, reserving a bit for the top layer of rice.Now add the mutton to the crushed onions, the spices , the yogurt ,saffron ,almond paste  and chopped apricots (or raisins). Mix well.

9. In a well greased pot put a layer of the all marinated mutton. Add a layer of peeled and chopped tomatoes,and then a layer of potatoes.

10.Now cover these layers with the parboiled rice.Level the rice and then sprinkle the reserved saffron and lime juice,a tbsp of chopped mint, 2 chopped green chillies and the rest of the fried onions on top. Pour over the left over ghee. ( Some people add a mixture of yellow food colouring mixed in 2 tablespoons of water to get the characteristic yellow colour).

11.Cover tightly with a heavy lid or put a weight on top of a flat lid so that no steam escapes.Make a paste of 250 gms of wheat flour and water and seal the lid to the pot with this paste.

12. Cook on low heat for 2 hours or for 1/2 an hour in  an oven at 400 degrees. Reduce heat to 275 degrees and cook for another hour.

Remove the wheat paste seal just before serving and dig deep into the dish while spreading out the rice and mutton.

It sounds complicated but it really is not. If you do not have some of the fussier ingredients go ahead anyway. In a biryani you never notice whats missing. You always feel blessed by what you have.

Lamb with a Plummy accent /Mutton Aru Bokhara

Having lived in Srinagar for several years , crossing the bund in a shikara ( a type of gondola) to school every day, eating cherries sitting in a cherry tree in the garden, making giant snowmen from ankle high snow in the winter, I have several fond memories of the place, people and cuisine.

Decades later we had the chance to relive many happy moments when we returned to stay in Brene Village ,which is across the Dal Lake, in a quiet corner of the road that leads into Srinagar.

Here Moiuddin , a cheerful man with a wonderful smile , who was the cook for our stay, would produce some great meals, all accompanied by a yogurt, made from goats milk, set in an earthenware pot. One of his best productions, besides the 'mouldy apple' dish he made, was this...mutton curry with dried plums.

Mutton is the leanest meat to eat here. Not an ounce of fat can be seen. In any case most Indian recipes for meat or chicken call for the fat, skin and and muscle to be trimmed. Chicken for Indian recipes is best when it weighs about 650 gm to 900 gms a bird.
Few people eat meat floating in the saturated fat that you see in Indian restaurant curry, in India or abroad.

The major flavour of plummy Lamb is one of cinnamon, as it calls for a fair amount, but it tastes very different with the combination of garlic and tamarind. Many of the constituents of this recipe are soaked in water, so that the the tastes are subtle and the gravy is left without traces of the original ingredient.

• 1 full hind leg of mutton approximately 1 and1/2 kg.( 3 lbs) cut into fairly large pieces. i.e. 1 1/2 " cubes.
• 1/2 cup dried plums.
• 2 tsps salt.

Spices:

• 12 elaichi / cardomoms
• 6 lavang / cloves
• 8" of dalchini /cinnamon in 1"-2" bits
• 1 tsp haldi /turmeric

Soak:

• 1/3 cup tamarind in 2 cups of hot water. Boil for ten minutes till all tamarind is soft. Let stand.Then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• 1/3 cup garlic minced in a blender with 1/2 cup water till frothy. Let stand.Then strain through a fine mesh sieve.
• 2 large teaspoons of kashmiri chilli powder in 1/4 cup water.( Kashmiri chilli is a bit like paprika, it gives the dish a good colour without being too hot.)

Boil 2 kettles of water, pour into a big pan and dunk all the mutton into it. Bring to the boil again over stove , and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour off the hot water and any scum that may have  collected on top and wash the mutton again in cold water.

In a heavy bottomed pan put 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil. Add the elaichi, lavang and dalchini, /cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, / as well as the chilli water, garlic water and salt. Cook for 12 minutes on high heat stirring all the time till water dries up.

Add 750 ml water to the meat and let it come to the boil. Lower heat and cook covered on medium for 1 hour. About a cupful of gravy should be be left in the curry.

Now add the tamarind water, the haldi /turmeric and cook for another 20 minutes. Add the plums and cook for 7 mintes till the plums are soft and just a bit of curry remains.

By the way the monsoon is in full force now and it has been raining non stop for over 15 hours. Being so grey and dreary, this curry was perfect to warm us up a bit. I would imagine it is perfect for winter days (of which we have few here) instead of the same old stew.

Cooking this dish, with its lingering scent of cinnamon, reminded me of brilliant days spent in Kashmir, . Looking out the window I could almost see the majestic and swaying chinars.

My vittles i.e. Kaleji fry

What has upheld you on your way ?
What has supported you when faint ?
On what have you for strength relied ?
"My vittles, " said the dear old saint.
- G.S. Bryan

.....a statement which would be heartily seconded by R who, being on the receiving end of many haute cuisine experiments, tends to relish the simple and hearty meal such as Kaleji fry with chaawal and achaar i.e. Liver 'N' Onions with pickle and rice.

So here it is, my version, with accompanying 'How To' photographs for the beginner cook.(Many thanks for being the hands behind the scene Devika.)

Kaleji Fry, or Liver'n' Onions.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg sheep's liver sliced into pieces 1/2 inch thick.
6 onions chopped fine lengthwise
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
2-4 green chillies,optional, depending on how hot you like your food. chopped fine
1-2" piece of fresh ginger, grated
6-8 cloves of garlic
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
( 2-4 green chillies) optional,
Juice of 2 lemon.2 tablespoons water.

Method:

Chop the onions into fine slices.

Heat the oil till just below smoking point ....

..and fry the onions .
You can also dry fry i.e. sweat the onions in a thick cast iron pan.

Fry on a medium fire.
Stage I. They begin to split from the half circle into long pieces.

 

Fry onions  till they begin to brown a bit.
Stage 2.

Fry for 15 -20 minutes till brown. Stage 3.

As the onions are browning get the rest of your ingredients for the marinade together; grate the ginger, chop the coriander, grind the cumin seeds and pepper with a mortar, squeeze the lemons.

Add coriander

Add chopped garlic, ginger, cumin and pepper powder,chillies,

.. and lime juice along with 2 tablespoons water.

Puree to a fine, smooth paste in the blender.

Chop the liver into 2" pieces about 1/2 " slices  thick.

Add the liver pieces to the paste .

Mix well and marinate for 1/2 hour to two hours.
( Just as much time as you have. The longer the better of course.)

 

The onions should now be nice and brown.

Add the marinated liver to the onions and fry for
five minutes till the colour changes.Now add all the remaining marinade juices,
cover and fry for 8 minutes till almost dry.

You can also add 1/2 cup of water to make a wet gravy which is nice if you eat this with rice.

Finally garnish with coriander and... tada...serve!

This also tastes great with chapatis or bread.