Navami is usually reserved for house parties and some good ol’ pulao-mangsho! If you have plans of a Navami feast that you plan to cook up yourself, we have your sorted. How about giving the pulao and mutton curry a regional spin this season? Try a Kashmiri Pulao recipe with Mutton Rogan Josh, a creamy Paneer Methi Chaman and a sweet dry-fruit rich dessert this Navami! After all, the day before bisharjan is all about lavish comfort food to keep away the blues.
(You can find last year’s Bengali recipes here.)
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Kashmiri Pulao
An aromatic pulao to prep the heart for almost Dashami.
Ingredients
- Basmati rice: 1 medium cup
- Ghee: 4 tbsp for rice, 2 tbsp for saute
- Saffron: 1 tbsp
- Rose water: 1 tsp
- Finely sliced onion: 1 small
- Cashew: 10-12
- Raisins: 10-12
- Chopped cashew, raisin and almonds: 4 tbsp
- Full fat milk: 4 tbsp for saffron, 4 tbsp for raisins
- Lukewarm water: 1 ½ medium cup
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Bay leaf: 1 large
- Cinnamon stick: 1 large
- Green cardamom: 3
- Black cardamom: 2
- Clove: 2
Method:
- Wash rice, strain excess water and let it air dry
- Soak raisins in milk
- Mix saffron in milk and keep it separately
- In a nonstick pan, add 2 tbsp ghee and heat well. Keep the flame low and fry the cashew and raisins until golden. Strain excess ghee and keep the dry fruits aside
- In a pressure cooker, add ghee and heat well. Now add bay leaf and the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom and cloves)
- Add chopped onion and fry until golden brown
- Add rice and mix gently
- Pour the saffron milk, and add salt and sugar. Mix with a light hand
- Add water and give a quick but careful mix. The rice grains should be whole and not broken
- Cook for 1 whistle on low flame. Open and check the rice and seasoning. If there’s excess water or rice needs to be cooked a little bit more, place the lid loosely and cook on low to medium heat. Don’t forget to stir gently at regular intervals.
- Serve hot, garnished with chopped dry fruits
Mutton Rogan Josh
What’s a Kashmiri meal without the popular rogan josh. Spicy and succulent mutton to go with the light and nutty pulao — #NavamiFeast is sorted, what say?
Ingredients:
- Mutton: 1kg + 20gm mutton fat
- Bay leaves: 2 large
- Cinnamon stick: 1 large for cooking, 1 for marination
- Cloves: 2 for cooking, 2 for marination,
- Green cardamom: 4 for cooking, 2 for marination
- Black cardamom: 2 for cooking, 1 for marination
- Whole dry red chillies: 2
- Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tbsp
- Kashmiri red chilli paste: 1 tbsp
- Asafoetida (hing): 1 tsp
- Roasted fennel (saunf or bhaja mouri) powder: 1 tsp
- Hung curd: 1 medium cup
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Mustard oil: 4 tbsp
- Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
- Black peppercorns: 1 tsp
- Ghee: 2 tbsp
- Ginger paste: 1 tbsp
- Ratanjot in hot oil for colour (This is a traditional step in making rogan josh and ratanjot is available in the market, but if you can’t find any a drop of red food colour also works)
Method:
- Wash the mutton well and strain any excess water
- Marinate the mutton with salt, black pepper powder and 1tbsp mustard oil and leave aside and you prepare the spices
- Dry roast cinnamon, cardamoms (green and black), cloves, black peppercorns and dry red chillies. Make a fine powder. Add this powder to the mutton and leave overnight in a covered utensil in the refrigerator
- Next day right before cooking, beat the hung curd into a lump free and smooth batter
- Cut the mutton fat in small pieces
- Add ghee, mutton fat and mustard oil in a kadhai and heat well. Allow the mutton fat to render well
- Add bay leaves and saute
- Now add the whole spices and saute until aromatic and they change colour
- Add fennel powder and ginger paste and saute well
- Add Kashmiri red chilli powder, a pinch of salt and Kashmiri red chilli paste. Cook the spice base until the oil separates
- Now add mutton and mix well with the spices. Add asafoetida and give a good mix
- Add ratanjot and a splash of water
- Now fry the mutton well for about 15-20 minutes on medium flame
- Once the mutton has started to change colour, add hung curd and mix well
- Cover and slow cook for around 2 hours on low flame until the mutton is fully cooked and the colour is red, rich and the gravy is slightly oily. Serve piping hot
Kashmiri Methi Chaman
Paneer with a twist to make the Navami spread even more delicious.
Ingredients:
- Paneer cubes: 300gm
- Malai paste: 2 tbsp (Fresh cream can be used as an alternative)
- Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons
- Methi leaves: 2.5 cups
- Spinach leaves (palak): 1 small cup
- Ice cubes: 4-6
- Cold water: 1 small pan
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Cinnamon: 1 small
- Cardamom: 2
- Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
- Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tsp
- Coriander powder: 1 tsp
- Roasted fennel powder: 1 tsp
- Ginger paste: 1 tsp
- Asafoetida (hing): 1 tsp
- Kasuri methi leaves: 1 tsp + a pinch for garnish
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Sunflower or vegetable oil (shada tel): 2 tbsp (You can also use colourless sesame oil or olive oil)
- Full fat cream: 2 tbsp
Method:
- Boil the methi and spinach leaves for 2 minutes and blanch in ice-cold water
- Add a pinch of salt and sugar in a bowl of water and add the paneer cubes
- Make a smooth paste of the spinach and methi leaves
- Mix all the dry spices in a bowl
- Add oil in a kadhai and heat well
- Add the whole spices and saute well
- Add the powdered spice mix you made earlier
- Mix all the ingredients in the pan well and cool until oil separates and the spices are cooked, and keep the flame low
- Add the puree and cook with a pinch of salt and sugar for 3-5 minutes on low flame
- Add malai paste and full fat cream and mix well. Balance seasonings
- Strain the paneer cubes and add to the kadhai. Fold gently and mix with the gravy
- Hand crush kasuri methi leaves and sprinkle. Turn off the heat and cover for 1 minute. Serve hot
Shufta
A Kashmiri feast has to have dry fruits, and if you love nuts in your dessert then this protein-rich, adequately sweet Kashmiri shufta is bound to appeal to you.
Ingredients
- Dry fruits like almonds, walnuts, cashew: ½ cup each
- Raisin or Sultana (kishmish): ½ cup
- Pistachio :½ cup
- Dates: 8-10
- Paneer: ½ cup diced
- Dry coconut: ½ cup cut into slivers
- Dry ginger powder: 1tsp
- Black pepper powder: 1tsp
- Cardamom powder or whole green cardamom: 1tsp or 5-6 crushed
- Cinnamon powder: 1tsp (optional)
- Saffron strands: a pinch
- Dry rose petals: 2tbsp (optional)
- Ghee: 1/2cup
- Sugar: 1-2 cup
- Water: as required
Method:
- Soak the dry fruits in lukewarm water for an hour. Drain the dry fruits and set aside. You can choose to peel the skin of the almonds
- Soak the dry dates in a separate bowl until soft. Drain the dates, deseed and cut into slivers or small pieces and set aside
- Add about 2tbsp ghee to a pan and fry the coconut slivers until golden brown, and set aside
- Add some more ghee and fry paneer cubes till golden brown and set aside
- Add remaining ghee to the pan and let it heat up, add the dry fruits and cook for a few minutes. If you are using whole cardamom, add the crushed cardamom at this stage
- Add the fried coconut and paneer pieces, stir well
- Add the powdered spices, except ginger powder, and mix before adding the sugar. Give it a stir and as the sugar melts, add the saffron strands
- Cook until the sugar dissolves completely, while adding a splash of water to help it cook. You can add more water at this stage to help the sugar cook and if you like your dish syrupy
- Add ginger powder as the sugar melts and dried rose petals when the dish is almost cooked. Serve warm
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