Petpujo and Adda: Mutton

Mutton (Goats Meat)/Lamb and Pomegranate Tagine served with Onion and Pomegranate Relish (Moroccan)

I have been meaning to make this dish ever since I saw the recipe on TV on one of Nigella Lawson’s Christmas food shows. Finally, I made it yesterday…. For the first time. I expected this dish to be different.. do not know how…. but different.

The dish is on the verge of being little sweet. It has dates so the sweetness is explained. However, I did not use as many dates as the original recipe asked for. Yet it is little sweet. The sourness of the pomegranate sorts of make up for it but somehow I am not very keen on sweet- savory dishes. Nevertheless, R really liked it. He thought it was rather unique.

But, I must say the onion and pomegranate relish was to die for. It was exactly what I imagined it to be. Yummy! I loved the look and color of the dish.

I did not follow the recipe to the T and made my own twists. Added bit of chili, used very little dates. I am happy that I keep doing this kind of experiments. If you are the experimentative kind, then you might want to try making this one. It was nice with couscous though.

Ingredients for Lamb Tagine

650gm Mutton or Lamb’s boneless shoulder meat

2-onions thinly sliced

1/2 -teaspoon turmeric

1/2teaspoon cumin powder

1/2-teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/2-teaspoon ginger paste

1/2chili flakes (optional)

1/2-teaspoon ground all spice (optional. I did not use it but my ma would)

Pinch of black pepper (freshly done is best)

4- dates ( use 2 date I would say….)

1-cup pomegranate juice (packed 100% juice or made from fruit)

Salt to taste

1-tablespoon of oil

Ingredients for Onion and Pomegranate Relish

1-red onions, thinly sliced

1/2-cup pomegranates

1-cup pomegranate juice

½-cup lemon juice

Salt to taste

Method for the relish

1. Soak the onions in lemon and pomegranate juice for 1 hour

2. After an hour drain the onions dry

3. Add pomegranate, and salt

4. Combine and serve with mutton/Lamb Pomegranate Tagine

5. Drink the lemon, salt and pomegranate juice, it is yummy

Method for Mutton (Goats Meat)/Lamb and Pomegranate Tagine

1. Heat oil in a pan

2. Add the onion and fry until soft

3. Add all the spices with onion and fry

4. Add the mutton/lamb and cook for 10mins

5. Add salt and the pomegranate juice, dates to the mutton/lamb

6. Cook on low heat for 1 hour or just pressure cook it

7. Before serving, garnish with onion and pomegranate relish and serve with white rice or couscous

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at 23:49

Sunday Saga continues: Mutton Jhol (Goat meat Curry)

Ingredients:

300g mutton shoulder pieces

2-large onions cut into fine slices

4-cloves of garlic, paste

2-inch ginger, paste

1-teaspoon turmeric

1-teaspoon red chili powder

1-teaspoon cumin seed powder

1-teaspoon coriander seed powder

6-small potatoes, cleaned and skinned

1- Bay leaf

4/5-cardemom

2- Inch cinnamon

Salt to taste

2-tablespoon oil

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker

2. Fry the potatoes and keep aside

3. Add turmeric, chili, cumin and coriander with little water and make a paste

4. Heat more oil in the pressure cooker

5. Fry the onion until soft. Add little sugar for color

6. Add ginger and garlic

7. Fry until oil separates

8. Add the spice paste with fried onion, garlic and ginger and fry till oil separates

9. Add mutton and cook

10. Add cinnamon, bay leaf and cardamom

11. Cook the mutton and 10 mins

12. Add potatoes and pressure cook until mutton is soft ( I did not count the whistle of the pressure cooker. So please follow your own pressure cooker instruction)

13. Serve with white boiled rice

at 20:56

Shammi Kabab- Soul Food on a Winter Night

First time I ever eat this Kabab (kebab if you like. I am Bong so I will stick to Kabab) was in Pasher chachi’s house. Now who is Pasher Chachi? I know if my family members were reading this blog, they would know I have only one Pasher Chachi despite of actually moving house ‘n’ number of times. She was our neighbor (Pasher Chachi means aunt (Chachi) from the neighbor) . We, specially my brother stayed in her house more than ours. She would always make something nice to eat in the evening when we would come back from playing in the ground. Her house smelled of ‘ifter’ all the time. I have eaten Shammi Kabab in so many places but nothing matches my mental expectation, as my mind only recognizes how it used to taste when Chachi made it.

This particular Kabab is very famous in Pakistan too, tells one of my clients who share my interest in food. She is from Afghanistan and it seems they make something similar but uses chicken. I have her recipe too which I plan to try soon. However today I will make it with mutton (goat’s meat) as I have some sitting in the fridge for ages.

I am following chachi’s recipe, which is very different from many other recipe of Shammi Kabab that I found on internet. She uses boiled mince mutton. They look like fish cutlets, which are pan-fried. Basically, it meets all my criteria of good soul food: not deep fried, not high on cholesterol and easy to make.

By the way, according to me Lucknow is one of the best places in India to have kabab’s. Whenever I went to field visit, I would always drop by at Tunda’s. Lucknow is proud of its Kebabs. It seems the uniqueness of the kebab of Lucknow is the ‘masala’, which is a zealously guarded family secret and prepared by women in the family. But I would like to share my chachi’s recipe with you. So here it goes!

Ingredients:

500g Mince Mutton/Lamb/Chicken

100g Chana Dal or Chickpea (I used boiled and tinned)

1-Egg

2-medium to large onions minced

½-tablespoon ginger paste

½-tablesppon garlic paste

½-teaspoon cumin powder

½-teaspoon red chili powder (optional, use Kashmiri chili powder or as needed)

1-tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

2-slices of bread, torn to small pieces

½-teaspoon garam masala

Salt to taste

Oil as needed

Method:

1. Boil the minced mutton with salt and throw the water once boiled. That way you get rid of unhealthy fats of mutton. If you do not like the idea then just cook the mutton with little water so that you do not have to throw anything

2. Boil chickpea and drain water

3. Now mix the mince mutton and chickpeas with hand ( I like it that way) or using a bender so that they are combined together

4. Now add all the spices with the mutton- chickpea mixture and mix well

5. Add the bread and mix well so that there is no lump. This will make the mixture tight and easy to work & give shape

6. Add the coriander leave and mix

7. Add egg

8. shape into flat rounds

9. Heat a frying pan and add little bit of oil

10. Pan fry the kababs until brown on both the sides

Serve with raita, onion, mint chutney, Kasundi etc

For regular update from my blog, please visit my face book page Pet Pujo and Adda and click ‘like’. Also, follow me at my blog. I am featured at Network bloggers. you can also leave your comments here. Your comments and suggestions are most welcome. Hope see you again!

at 21:09

Rajasthani Safed Maas (Rajasthani styled mutton cooked in white gravy)

I avoid eating red meat. I reserve any red meat cooking for friends who love mutton. In that way, R gets to eat mutton occasionally, which is good, and seems like better option than total ban. This mutton preparation is from a Rajasthani kitchen of a family friend and ardent Rabindranath Thakur’s followers. She knows my weakness for this preparation of mutton and makes sure that I get to eat it whenever I visit. Now that, I have to wait for another 6 months before I get to eat this dish from her kitchen, I decided to cook it in my kitchen .In addition, I wanted to cook something nice for our dearest friend S da and this is just perfect. I only have bits and bobs idea about the original preparation of the dish. Nevertheless, that should not stop me from trying to make it, right? Therefore, here is my version of the dish- a transformation of taste in the mouth to imagination to finally cooking!

Ingredients:

1 Kg mutton or lamb (I used mutton) diced
1-cup yoghurt
2-tablespoon oil (I reduced the oil as per my taste. You can use more if you like. My friend’s house use ghee for this recipe)
6- Green cardamoms
6- Cloves
2-inch cinnamon sticks
2-medium to large onion, thin sliced
2-inch ginger (julienne)
3-pod garlic paste
1-teaspoon white/black pepper powder (I used black)
5-tablespoon poppy seeds (paste)
3-tablespoon coconut (paste or shredded)
3-tablespoon panir (grated) (my friend’s house use khoya (milk fudge). Just to make it light I used panir)
5- Blenched Almonds paste (to keep the gravy white. If you do not have blenched Almonds, use normal ones. The color of the gravy will change but the taste remains the same)
5- Blenched Almond whole
5-Cashews paste
5-Cashew whole
Pinch of saffron (optional)
1/2-cup milk and little extra to soak the saffron if using
6-8 whole red chilies deseeded (in case you do not want your gravy hot. Otherwise can leave the seeds)
Salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil the mutton/lamb with little salt until half done. I pressure-cooked it for the boiling.

2.    Discard the water and the transfer the mutton/lamb pieces on a separate bowl
3.    Marinate with yoghurt
4.    Heat the oil and add cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and onion
5.    Fry until onion is translucent
6.    Add the ginger and fry for another 5/6 mins
7.    Add the mutton. Also add pepper powder
8.    Cook on low flame for about 20 mins or until mutton/lamb is almost cooked. Add little milk incase mutton is sticking at the bottom.
9.    Add poppy seed paste, coconut and milk and cook for another 10-15 mins
10. Add the almond and cashew and cook for another 10 mins
11. Add garlic paste cook for 5 mins
12. Add milk or water if you like
13. Cook the mutton until well-done and gravy has reduce to desired consistency
14. Add the saffron soaked milk and mix well
15. Garnish with red chili and serve