Mutton is practically synonymous with Puja feasts, whether you rustle up your favourite recipe for Saptami dinner or drum up a mutton delicacy for Nabami lunch. It’s cooked in widely varying styles across India too, so, give the bangali mutton curry a miss this time and try out dishes from Kashmir and Lucknow. You won’t regret it.
NALLI KA KORMA
 |
(Serves 4)
A delicious dish with distinguished lineage, Nalli ka Korma comes from the nawabi kitchens of Awadh. The mutton shanks are cooked till they’re mouth-melting. Hailing from a family of royal chefs, Zubair Qureshi, assistant masterchef at Dum Pukht, ITC Sonar, shares this popular recipe.
Ingredients
10 nalli or mutton shanks • 2tbs ginger-garlic paste • 3tbs brown onion paste • 2tbs brown garlic paste • 1tsp green cardamoms • 1tsp cinnamon sticks • ½tsp cloves • 1tsp bay leaf • 2tbs Kashmiri red chilli powder • 1tsp garam masala powder • 1tsp black pepper powder • ½tsp green cardamom powder • 2tbs saffron (dissolved in water) • 1tbs kewra water • 5tbs oil • 2 cups of curd • 1tbs rose water • 8 cups of mutton stock • Salt to taste • Chopped coriander and ginger julliennes for garnish
Method
Heat oil in a lagan (copper pot). Sauté the whole spices and ginger-garlic paste in it. Add the mutton shanks and salt and sauté well. Then, beat the curd and pour it in when the mutton is half-cooked. Sauté again for some time. Add brown onion paste and brown garlic paste and continue to sauté. After a while, add red chilli powder followed by the powdered spices and stock. Cook till the fat comes to the surface and the mutton is cooked. Pick out the mutton shanks, strain the gravy and put the pieces back into the gravy. Simmer and add green cardamom powder, rose water, kewra water and saffron. Garnish and serve hot.
TABAKH MAAZ
 |
| Pix: Rashbehari Das and Rupinder Sharma |
(Serves 3)
This popular Kashmiri mutton dish makes for a great starter. The fried mutton ribs, with a unique taste got from a long cooking process, occupies a place of honour on menus for special Kashmiri ceremonies. Iqbal Ahmed, masterchef, Zune, Hilton Janakpuri, Delhi, shares the recipe.
Ingredients
1kg mutton ribs • 7l water •30gm garlic, crushed • 25gm salt • 5gm dry ginger powder • 8 cloves • 6 black cardamoms • 5gm turmeric powder • 500gm desi ghee
Method
Put the ribs in boiling water, straining the scum that rises to the surface during the process. Repeat until the water is clear. Cover and boil till the ribs are half done. Add garlic and mix well. Continue to boil for 10 minutes and add salt. Keep boiling till the membrane between the ribs can be pierced with your thumb. Remove the pan, drain the water and keep aside. Cool the ribs, immerse them in cold water and wash thoroughly. Then, cut them with a sharp knife into eight equal pieces and boil again in the water that has been kept aside. Add turmeric powder, mix well and let the ribs boil until the bones can easily be extracted from the membrane. Remove from heat and extract the ribs from the water with a slotted spoon. Discard the water. Arrange the ribs in a large frying pan but make sure they’re not on top of each other. Add the other spices and ghee. Mix well and fry until they’re reddish brown all over, turning occasionally. Drain excess ghee before serving.
