Amrita's Mutton Curry

I came back to the blog, and felt almost surprised to still find it around. I have several unpublished, unfinished posts lying around here and there. They've become like those scripts waiting to leave the comp and edits that need a final cut. But I did promise myself earlier this year that perhaps it is better to make raw work than not put anything out there.

This one needed a nudge, oh well, a push from my friend. I miss hanging out with her and lingering evenings with Rum and chatter ranging from politics to onions.

So here goes, Amrita's mutton recipe

Kosha Mangsho or Mangshor Jhol?

I had been planning to rustle up a Bengali meal for quite some time. Last week I finally took up the task.

A mutton dish had to be on the table. The first step to cooking a delicious mutton dish starts at buying the meat. Ideally one must have a regular butcher, a butcher whom you trust. I told mine that I was cooking for a gathering of 10 and needed meat that would become tender without pressure cooking. “Aap biryani bana rahe hain ya korma”, he enquired. I wanted to say “kosha mangsho”, but was unsure what reaction that might produce. I heard myself uttering korma.[1]

The goat came off a hook. I was then given a portion of pichla raan, and chaap, with a few pieces of liver thrown in.[2] These were dextrously cut into medium-sized pieces, the excess fat discarded: charbi hatao, the regular rant.

While washing the meat I discovered two blobs – about 50 grams of  fat. I kept it aside, and drained the meat of its excess water. I then marinated the cuts in a mix of mustard oil, pastes of ginger, garlic, and green chilli, as well as turmeric and red chilli powders, after which I kept the whole lot for overnight refrigeration. 

But I still wasn’t sure as to what exactly I was going to cook. Although I had looked up several recipes I was toying between mangshor jhol and kosha mangsho. I was certain I did not want a runny soupy jhol, nor a very ‘dry’ kosha mangsho. The dish HAD TO have potatoes, which standard kosha mangsho recipes do not have. But as I had never cooked kosha mangsho before, I decided to play it by ear.

The next day I brought the marinade out of the refrigerator and added raw papaya paste as well as onion paste to the mix. After an hour, by when the meat had come to room temperature, I also tossed in 3 large potatoes (peeled and cut into half).

For the actual cooking process, which is quite hassle-free, I used a heavy bottomed pot. On a high flame I first fried sliced onions in mustard oil. At this stage I also chopped up and added the previously set-aside mutton fat to the pot. As the onions went translucent, I threw in cinnamon, black and green cardamoms, peppercorn and sugar, and continued stirring. The sugar soon caramelised giving the onions a brownish tinge – heavenly.

I then added the mutton marinade (excepting the potatoes) and fried it on a high flame for a further 10 minutes. After this I covered the pot and let the mutton cook on a slow-medium flame for the following 2 hours. Initially, the meat released copious amounts of water; it continued to stew wonderfully in its own juices. As the water started drying up and oil was released, I added salt. In the second hour I had to make regular checks to ensure that that the meat did not stick to the bottom of the pan. When it did, I tried not to panic, and simply scraped the bits off the pan’s surface. When the meat was cooked, though as yet not falling off the bone I added in the potatoes along with 200 ml of warm water. I then again covered the lid and let everything cook for a final half hour on a slow flame.

And voila, there it was ready: a kosha-mango-manghshor jhol hybrid! 

PS In the end you could also add some ghee and garam masala (but I forgot to do this!)

PPS: I guess this entire cooking process could just as well be fast-forwarded in a pressure cooker.

PPPS: No, the dish has no yoghurt, no tomatoes, nor cumin and coriander. You do not miss it either. I must admit however that I had it on standby. Nevertheless I firmly believe that mutton is best cooked in its own juices and not in an overwrought tadka of masalas.

PPPPS: Here are the ingredients needed with approximate measurements.

I. Marinade 1 (overnight)

Mutton – 2 kg

One bulb of garlic (not the chinese variety), paste

50 gm ginger, paste

1 tsp turmeric powder

1.5 tsp red chilli powder

6 green chillies, paste

2 tbsp mustard oil

II. Marinade 2 (an hour before cooking)

3 tbsp raw papaya, paste

1 medium onion, paste

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut in half

III. Cooking

6 tbsp mustard oil

5 large onions, sliced

2 large bay leaves

2 cinnamon sticks

10 green cardamom

2 black cardamom

10 peppercorns

1 heaped tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

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[1] I went to my regular butcher at INA market. This place is not for the faint hearted.

[2] For me no mutton dish is complete without liver. I add it even to biryani.

Strawberry Surprise

I chanced upon a box of very fresh strawberries at Nature's Basket. I don't usually shop there, only for special dinners ( or a 'home date'). I already bought whole wheat crackers, tuna with sun dried tomatoes, nettle and garlic gouda and fresh Brie for starters( small amounts for the two of us). I didn't want to make a usual cake or eat fruit for dessert. I wanted something special, easy and something that looked really good. Asking for too much?
I decided to just buy the strawberries and think later. It's a tricky fruit. Sometimes it looks better than it tastes and I don't like cooking strawberries much. I like the the skin to be taut and the slightly sour taste to linger on.
After laying the table with special red napkins, new crockery and cooking some thai mushroom Tom Yum/Yam ( it is spelt in different ways), I was exhausted but I still wanted a pretty and easy dessert. So here goes. It is delicious and and healthy (yes that is possible sometimes)

I use an OTG (oven toaster grill), but a microwave should also work, though it would not make the base as crisp as an OTG does

Ingredients

1 box of fresh strawberries ( around 15- 20 pieces)
4 large digestive biscuits
5 tea spoons sugar
2 tea spoons butter
200 gms of thick yoghurt (unsweetened)
Vanilla Essence

Method

Preheat the oven for 10 min
In a flat based oven vessel ( I used a round 8" diameter Borosil one), break the digestive biscuits ( like an apple Crumble)
Mix little bits of butter with the biscuits
Sprinkle 2 tea spoons of sugar on top
Put this in the oven for 15 min on 180 degree Celcius
Wash and slice the strawberries, keep aside
Mix the yogurt, sugar and vanilla essence and keep in the fridge

Take out the vessel from the oven and put the sliced strawberries on the base.

Put the whole thing back in the oven for 5 min. The fresh strawberry aroma should come.

Take it out and pour the Vanilla yoghurt on top and serve.

Bon Apetit!

PS: You can replace the yoghurt with cream or vanilla ice cream if you want to make it sinful. This is a healthier version.

Meshroom (Mushroom- Baba's original)

Some things are pure comfort food. Sometimes it's the food, sometimes it's the smell and sometimes it is  the memory of a lazy Sunday morning. The bottom line is that it tastes good, never feels repetitive and is as reliable as the mattress that takes the shape of your body. It just is. Without demands, without expectations.

I have been neglecting my blog for sometime, been busy with getting into some new 'creative spaces'. It's been quite a struggle. Yesterday was a tough day, and all I wanted was to bury my face in a pillow and not wake up. But night and Ambar have ways of making me forget and wake up. I remembered feeling the same way on Sunday mornings with Baba's special mushroom (or meshroom as it is known in my house, owing to the way I said it as a child).

Here goes, from Baba:

Mushrooms: for Breakfast.

As versatile as the good ole aloo. Took me some time to discover.

Here's one old and early favourite. In this recipe it is important to note that “mushroom” must be pronounced “meshroom”. The origin (etymology, no?) is up for guesses.

Tangy Mushroom:

Slice button mushrooms (the ordinary variety), chop dhania patta/coriander leaves, hari mirch/green chillies (the hotter the better,proportion to be judged by the you/eaters !). 

For a 250gm standard packet of mushrooms three/four tbsps of chopped coriander and 2/3/4 green chillies. 

You will also need two tsps of vinegar (ordinary non malt vinegar) and one tbsp of dark soy sauce. After your first try,please play around with the proportions and write back for me to learn as well.

Flat nonstick saucepan on the fire, a tbsp of til/gingelly oil,heated and spread out.                                Put in a pinch of the greens (not all that you have chopped),in 15 secs :throw in the sliced m/rooms,let them sizzle in joy. 

Stir them around with love and see them turn a happy brown,add all the green stuff. Sprinkle salt and black pepper (optional) plus the vinegar,lower the heat. 

The m/room will have released some juice,let it reduce but not go dry. 

Add the tbsp of dark soy sauce. Adjust the moisture with plain water,adjust salt,sour and jhaal as per taste. Best served with scrambled eggs or hummus/baba ghanoush.

There will be a small amount of the runny stuff,neither fully dry nor a jhole.(Jhaal = teekha,hot to the taste, and, jhole = paani paani, watery sauce) It should be pleasurably jhaal,not more.

Serve with toast. I love my toast done in the oven using the minimum heat,that way you can get 4 to 6 slices done at one go.

Mushroom 2:

Simple. Slice them, sprinkle salt,white pepper (if not available, black pepper will do), a few drops of vinegar, give it all a loving knead without breaking anything ( I cant cook until I touch and speak to the stuff – my favourite dialogue “thank you my friends”). 

Once more, nonstick saucepan, a tbsp(max) of olive or til oil,hot and spread ( can be reduced to half a tsp,just spread it by hand the way you put oil on your skin). 

Pour in the m/rooms let them start their sizzle,stir gently,when it releases the moisture drop two/three finely chopped cloves of garlic,lower the heat and cover. 

At times the moisture released is scanty. Add a bit of water/veg stock if necessary.

Serve with:

Vegetables in the season, my faves : flat beans,cauliflower florettes,spring onions,carrots,boiled peas,capsicum, shredded cabbage,chopped tomatoes,chopped onions,chopped beans, broccoli, sliced pumpkin....in short anything,singly or combined anyways. Just grill them with a bit of salt,pepper,(Kakoli used her favourite herbs),a small amount of chopped garlic to finish with once you cover it. If you are ok sprinkle a bit of grated cheese at the end. Challenge : cooked but not limp ( a drop of vinegar smeared at the very start helps).

Cooking will make you feel good (what magic,put in inedible stuff and get the gift of lip smacking nourishment). 

Sweet Nothings

I love dessert. It is really as simple as that. I read the dessert menu before I order main course, so that if there is something worthwhile then I can save some space. If it is vague and uninspiring like 'choice of ice cream- vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, with chocolate sauce' or a random cake, then I don't bother. Might as well save the calories for a better day. Chocolate ( dark chocolate with a bit of orange rind preferably) is my best beloved, but fruity flavours and healthier options have slowly grown on me over the past few years. I have started to look beyond chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce with chocolate chips. The world is indeed changing.

I'm not a big fan of ice cream ( except very specific ones) but I do like frozen yoghurt and gelato. In continuation of my previous post, here is a ridiculously easy ( and yummy) recipe for Mango yoghurt. It tastes like fresh fruit ice cream, is much healthier and is easy enough to be made by a five year old.

Just Mango ( mango pudding/ frozen yoghurt)

Ingredients:

2 large mangoes ( I use Safeda/ Baiganpalli- the large ones commonly used for mango shake, but any variety will work as long as it's not stringy)

300 gms of unsweetened yoghurt ( I like Nestle rich and creamy- the one that comes in a dark blue box)

2-3 spoons of sugar ( Sugar Free Natura seems like a good substitute since it doesn't use asparteme)

A hand blender

Method

Peel the magoes, remove the seed and chop into small pieces

Empty out the yoghurt in a bowl


Mix it with a fork or a hand blender to get a smooth consistency, add the sugar and 3/4th of the mangoes while you blend it. DO NOT use a mixer-grinder- the water comes out and it becomes a cross between buttermilk and lassi if you do.


Keep the smooth mix in the freezer ( choose how cold you want it)


Serve it in pretty glass bowls garnished with fresh chopped mango


Enjoy!


PS- My mother makes a similar pudding using fresh cream, which tastes super. So if you want a more sinful version, substitute the yoghurt with cream.


Try it out with some other fruit as well- like mulberries and strawberries.

Mango Crumble and Apple Cinnamon Cake coming up next!

Mangoes, memories and delicious summer afternoons 1

It's summer, and summer means a mango a day. At least for my husband. He feels rather insecure about summer suddenly getting over and not having eaten enough mangoes! My grandmother used to take the first mango of the season, mash it and mix it with thickened milk and broken batashas. The first mango of the season was always celebrated. Often when she didn't want to have a fussy dinner, she would cut a mango and tear bits of gas-toast bread and put it all in a big bowl of cold milk. She used to slurp and eat it (very unlike her usual neat, dignified ways) while watching the evening news. She used to say that she eats it because she was old and her teeth weren't strong enough. But I suspect it's simply because it gave her another reason to eat a mango. Messily. As it is meant to be eaten. Then of course there is raw mango chutney, pickle, dal, aam panna, mango pudding, thai salad...I'll stop before I get into a never ending exercise.

So before the season gets over, here are some recipes for delicious summer afternoons.

Mango chutney

( I call it chutney but it is technically Aam jhol- a light sweet and sour gravy, made with raw mango. The traditional way of eating is to chill it and eat it at the end of the meal, but I like it with my Bengali Masoor Dal and rice)

Ingredients

2 small raw mangoes- they should be tight skinned and raw. If it's ripening and sweet then it doesn't taste as good.

Paanch Phodon- this is a standard mix of five sabut (whole) masalas. Panch- five, phodon- tadka.equal parts black mustard seed, fenugreek seed, fennel seed, nigella, and cumin. Radhuni, hard to find outside of Bengal, is the traditional panch phoron spice used instead of or in addition to the mustard.

To my pleasant surprise, this mix is easily available in Total Mall and Meat Mart in Bangalore. In Delhi it is most widely available in CR Park.Since it's dry and raw, it stays for months- like jeera or methi.

Suggestion: Don't get overwhelmed by paanch phoron- jeera, sarson, kalaunji, saunf and methi- if all are available then great. Otherwise only kalaunji also works.

2 whole dry red chillies

Mustard Oil

2 cups of water

Salt and Sugar to taste

Haldi

Cut and peel the raw mangoes. Rub some salt and haldi on it and let it be for around 10 minutes.

Take a kadhai (or a deep wok), heat it. Add a tablespoon of mustard oil. Once the oil is hot, add half a teaspoon full of paanch phoron, and dry red chillies. Once it starts sputtering add the mangoes and lower the heat. Be careful not to burn the mangoes put in the mangoes. Add one and a half cups of water, 3-4 teaspoons of sugar and salt and let it simmer for a while.

You can decide how thick or thin you want it to be. Simmer for longer if you want it thicker. Taste it and add salt/ sugar accordingly. Cool it and put it in the fridge for an hour before you serve it/eat it.

Healthy mango pudding, Raw Mango Salad and Aam Panna recipes coming up!

Slurp!

A Touch of Spice

I've just come back from Spice Village, Thekkady. It's a lovely non-hotel like hotel located in the highlands of Kerala. The drive up feels like a much smaller version of any touristy town I've been to. The shops sell clothes and handicrafts that could be found in Goa, Colombo or Shimla.

So what makes it unique? The smell of spices. It is almost as if there are subtle aroma-therapy candles burning in every corner of this little town. Wafts of cardamom hit you as soon as you enter the town, and even more when you walk into Spice Village. I bought my share of white pepper, cinnamon, vanilla and star anise from here. The star anise is so beautiful that I feel like hanging it in a locket. I am a huge fan of Mallu food and where there is appam and stew, I don't care for anything else. The hotel offers cookery classes in the evening in a semi open space. Unfortunately, my workshop hours didn't permit me to attend it. For a hotel, the food was an interesting blend of the fancy fish, mutton, beetroot dosa, ragi idiyappam, fresh pineapple jam etc. and the very mundane khichdi and dal chawal (which was a life saver in the middle of a 12 day program).

I've come back with the smell of allspice leaves and bird calls lingering in my memory. As a Kerala special- here is a simple recipe that I came across online, tried and loved. It is subtle, full of flavour and light. Makes a perfect meal with plain rice.

Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic
3 green chillies
2 inch ginger
1 small onion- sliced fine
3 tablespoon oil ( I used soya oil. Any vegetable oil or ghee should do)
5-6 curry leaves
2 small tomatoes
1/4 tea spoon haldi
salt to taste
500 grams fish ( I used boneless Sole fish, cut into cubes)
200 grams coconut milk ( I use the Maggi coconut powder)
150 ml boiling water

- Put the green chillies, garlic and ginger in the mixer/grinder, mix till smooth
- heat oil and fry onion and curry leaves on medium heat
- Stir in the chilli, ginger garlic paste and haldi- fry for 2 min
- Add half the coconut milk and water ( there are instructions on the packet of coconut powder, mix as per your preference)
- Simmer for 2 min
- Add fish and simmer for 5-6 min
- Add the rest of the coconut milk and chopped tomato

Enjoy with steaming hot rice!

Applesauce ( with pancakes)

Radhika sent this versatile recipe to go pancakes. I love it. Apples and cinnamon are sweet and don't need much sugar. If I have nothing in the house and am craving dessert ( a little more than curd and sugar) then stewed apples or apple sauce are a great option. It makes a wonderful accompaniment with pancake, toast, waffles and plain vanilla cake. Slurp.

It's ridiculously simple to make, keeps well in the fridge and can be eaten with either pancakes and waffles or on toast, ice cream, pakoras....anything that needs a dash of tarty sweetness. Once again my recipe is a mix of recipes from the internet (www.allrecipes.com) and what I have at home... here is what I usually go with:

2 sweet apples (I prefer apple sauce that's more sweet than tart)

A little sugar

Cinnamon powder (or cinnamon sticks)

A little lemon if you want the applesauce to be tart

Boil/stew/bake the apples. If lightly stewing then add the sugar and cinnamon powder while stewing it, else you can add it later....remove skin, seeds and core, mash up using a fork or in a grinder...add the sugar, cinnamon power and lemon juice to taste.

 

Some variations: nutmeg, chilies (for spiciness)

 

If you want an easy home substitute for apple pie, then crush some marie biscuits, make a crust at the bottom of a flat vessel, cool the apple sauce and put it on top. Eat it soon, otherwise it can get soggy.

 

Make your own variation and write to me.