Mutton Chops in Kolhapuri Masala

This is an easy recipe but needs time and patience because it involves the magic of slow cooking.
Mutton or goat meat is my favourite meat and I usually cook it Bengali style. Considering the sheer variety of spices and masala blends I have in my pantry thanks to wonderful friends, not just local but from all around the world, I do also play with other flavours.

My friend Smita gave me a bottle of her home made Kolhapuri masala and the obvious thing to cook with was mutton. So I used my basic go to recipe/technique for cooking mutton and tweaked it to use the Kolhapuri masala. Instead of the standard curry to be eaten with rice I made chops in a rich thick gravy that will be perfect with pao.

Mutton Chops in Kolhapuri Masala

8-10 double mutton chops

2-3 onions
4 cloves garlic
3-6 green chillies depending on how much heat you like

half cup thick curd
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp Kolhapuri masala
salt

mustard oil
a few cloves
one star anise
3 inch piece of cinnamon
sugar


Marinate the chops with the curd, powdered spices, salt, ginger garlic paste, and a splash of mustard oil for a few hours or over night.

Make a paste with the onions, green chillies, and garlic.

Heat some mustard oil in a heavy based cooking pot till it's nice and hot. Drop in the whole spices and let them fry for half a minute.
Add the onion paste with half a teaspoon of sugar

, reduce the heat, and then fry the paste slowly for 8 to 10 minutes till it turns slightly brown and has lost all its moisture. Don't burn the paste!
Add the marinated chops and mix well to coat all the chops with the paste and spices. Cook this covered on slow heat for another 10 minutes stirring every couple of minutes so you don't burn anything and all the meat is broiled.
Add a cup and a half of water to the pot, stir everything well, bring to a boil, and now cook slowly on low heat till the chops are cooked to perfection. Be sure to leave the lid on while cooking. Just stir once every 5-7 minutes to ensure even cooking.
You should have a thick silky gravy that clings to those chops when it's all cooked. Garnish with washed and finely chopped fresh coriander if you like.

Serve with fresh pao from your local bakery or with any bread that you like. 

A Bong feast at Hornby's Pavillion, ITC Grand Central

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to the ITC Grand Central - they were having a Bengali food festival. Some months earlier I had been to one at the ITC Maratha and that hadn't impressed me at all. I was still curious to see how it would turn out this time so, along with a few blogger friends, I went.

Let me tell you right at the start I was very impressed. The choice of dishes, the presentation and of course the taste - all very very good indeed. We proceeded to stuff ourselves while Chef Somnath (from the ITC Sonar, Kolkata) made every effort to ensure that were enjoying the food.

The meal began with Vegetable chops. These were delicious, full of assorted vegetables and a ruby red inside because of beetroot.

We also had Cauliflower pakoras but those were not half as delicious as the veg chops.

Next came chicken cutlets. These were excellent! Not the usual frilly egg fried kobiraji cutlet which has a little bone sticking out of one end but escalopes of chicken breaded and fried to perfection.

The last starter we ate was bhetki kobiraji. These looked very promising and we all dived in but unfortunately there was not a speck of salt in the fish so it was quite a disappointment. The fish was fried perfectly and the egg coating had a soft crunch but the lack of salt just killed it.

The starters were accompanied by an array of sauces, chutneys and of course Kasundi.

Once the starters were done Chef Somnath unleashed a veritable flood of food upon us! The vegetarian fare included

Chholar Daal Narkel Diye - Chana daal cooked with coconut

Mulo Palonger Ghanto - Spinach and radish with daal vadi

Chhanar Dalna - Home made Cottage Cheese in a gravy

Aloo Posto - Potato with poppy seeds

Enchorer Dalna - Raw Jackfruit or Kathal

There was also a Phulkopir Tarkari - A Cauliflower Subzi. I forgot to take a photograph. As you can see there was s much food, you can't really blame me!

All this was relished with a simple Ghee Bhaat - Rice with ghee and cashew nuts

At that time I thought luchis or Radhabollobis would have made this menu more complete. In hind sight, considering the sheer amount of food that we were presented with, maybe it was a good thing that there was none! My favourite among these was the Mulo Palonger Ghanto and of course the Aloo Posto.

Moving on to the non vegetarian selection, it was another endless stream of delicious well cooked, perfectly flavoured  food.

There was a Doi Ilish which I also missed taking a picture of. A Tangra Machher Rasa followed

Kosha Mangsho, one of the most well known Bengali mutton preparations

Rewaji Khasir Polao - A pulao made with kid goat, this is a Bangladeshi dish not to be confused with biryani.

And a fabulous Sorse Ilish - Hilsa in Mustard sauce. Here is Chef Somnath with the platter of Sorse Ilish, ready to serve us one of the best preparations of the evening.

And here I am enjoying my Ilish!

There was a mishti doi and an array of Bengali mishti to round off the meal. I'm one of those freak Bengalis who totally ignores mishti, I don't like mishti at all. But judging by the reactions around the table, the mishtis were quite a hit!

Keep an eye out for the next Bengali festival the ITC has. If Chef Somnath is in charge make sure you come. And in case you are in Kolkata, go over to the ITC Sonar and let him treat you to a truly delicious Bengali meal.

I hope the ITC Grand Central brings Chef Somnath back to Mumbai soon!

Dum Pukth at the ITC Maratha - A review

A couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to a dinner at the Dum Pukth at the ITC Maratha. Rushina told me this was a dinner designed for the meat lover and the cuisine that would be show cased was the Avadhi cuisine of the Nawabs. Of course I accepted!

The Dum Pukth is one of the biggest feathers in the ITC cap. The restaurant had had a makeover and we were invited to participate in what was the soft launch while the absolute final touches were being done. A lot of thought had been put in to designing the space, the décor, the place settings, and the staff had been trained in Nawabi tehzeeb too.

As we were welcomed with a gracious 'adaab' we beheld a splendidly laid out table with glittering cutlery, gorgeous china, delicately embroidered linen, and sparkling crystal. It was a sumptuous setting, a hint to the sheer luxury that was to follow. And believe me, it did.

Rini and Aishwarya, our hosts for the evening, explained how much thought had gone into every detail resulting in the splendour we saw before us. I loved the wave pattern on the marble floor, supposed to recreate flowing water.

As we were seated with more 'adaab's greeting us, the sheer beauty of the crockery hit me. In these days of  melamine and Corelle convenience the sight of the fabulous china was sheer delight. Custom designed china paired with beautiful silverware and glittering crystal, for me this was half the pleasure of the evening.

A silver base plate topped with an exquisite charger plate. Eating off fine china makes a world of difference and at the Dum Pukth, they've really chosen well. I'm a fan already!

As we were seated we were handed our individual menu cards...

As I glanced through it I realised I was going to be really stuffed at the end of this meal...in fact, I wondered if I could actually eat that much! Any way, that's what I was here for and so I waited for the meal to begin.

The starters began to arrive. First up was the murgh chandi tikka. Around 7 scary looking cameras were whipped out and the frantic clicking began. Yes, us bloggers are as obsessed about taking pictures as we are about eating. Food to us as much visually beautiful as it is on the tongue. This went on as every new dish was presented and I must say, the gentlemen who served us were very, very patient.

Going back to the murgh chandi tikka, it looked appetizing topped with silver varakh and all. Along with it arrived the Mahi Dariya and soon followed one of the Dum Pukth's signature dishes, the Kakori kebab. The tikkas were decent enough but the Mahi Dariya and the Kakori Kebabs stole the show. Flat fillets of Bhekti lightly spiced, battered and deep fried to crisp perfection. I would go back just for those. The legendary Kakori Kebabs were redolent of cloves and were smooth and soft, velvet on the tongue. Even though I knew there was lots more to come, I couldn't resist having seconds of both.

As the dinner began and the guests were served, we were gently welcomed to enjoy our meal with a softly spoken 'nosh farmiye'...

We were also plied with Seekh Nilofari, kebabs made with lotus seeds and lotus stems, flavoured with fresh herbs and spices. This was accompanied by a Navratan chutney, a green chutney with anaar daana. The kebabs on their own were okay but with the chutney they escalated to another level entirely. The Dudhiya kebab, discs of paneer with a spiced mash potato filling were also quite nice. But then I'm a carnivore, and I couldn't give these their true due...

Then came the Shorba Purbahar. A beautiful soup plate was placed in front of each guest and in the centre was then sprinkled a tablespoon of tender mung sprouts. On the sprouts was then poured the shorba.

A neat gimmicky presentation and a genuinely delicious shorba.

As we enjoyed the starters we were served a beautiful Sauvignion Blanc from South Africa. It went perfectly with the food, suited my fundamentally Indian palate and taste and I had glass or two...

Next on the menu were the main courses. I was quite stuffed already. Avadhi food creeps up on you and at the Dum Pukth every dish is cooked in pure ghee, not something one is used to at all! We took a bit of a break as conversation flowed across the table. There were discussions ranging from Islamic calligraphy, the Nawabs and their food to the what camera setting worked best for the food shots for the evening!

The main course started with the Jhinge ka Salan. Huge prawns in a yoghurt based methi and turmeric sauce. The thing with prawns is that you have to get them just right. The thing with the Jhinge ka Salan was that the jhinga was overcooked. The sauce was well made but the prima donna was not at her best.

The Shahi Nehari (lamb shanks) was a delight with the flavour of saffron the easily recognisable star of the show.

The Murgh Khushk Purdah made its grand entrance and of course the cameras clamoured to get a good shot of this celebrity. The food paparazzi was in full form! Chicken Pot Pie, Nawabi style. The puff pastry was spiced and flavoured and was as delicious as the chicken that nestled under.

We were also served Maash Qaliya - split green mung cooked with spinach and spices. This was another preparation that I could go back to Dum Pukth for.

These main courses were accompanied by a variety of breads. We sampled khamiri roti, Taftan dum pukth, warqi parathas, roghani roti, and with our starters we'd had the most delightful little sheermals.

Finally it was time for the biryani. Now I am mad about biryani and can have it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is probably the first time I didn't savour it because I was just too stuffed. Such a grand dinner was simply too much! I wish I was 18 again, I could have eaten it all and then some! But, stuffed as I was, I couldn't resist so I had a teeny bit anyway. I'm glad I did.

Fragrant rice, succulent pieces of lamb, what more does one want? A dash of mace, a splash of ittar and a whiff of kewra - it was all there. This is what makes a Bengali weep with joy and though I've grown up in Mumbai with a preference for the richer, more robust Hyderabadi style of biryani, the more sophisticated Avadhi style is growing on me. Another reason to come back to the Dum Pukth.

Since I have diabetes I don't pay much attention to the desserts. There was a saffron and pistachio kulfi, a variation of the gulab jamun called the shahed e jaam, and on demand, they also served Shahi Tukda (which is double ka meetha for the Hyderabadis). 

I did sip on the Hungarian dessert wine that was served but I found it too sweet. That is probably because I eat very little 'sweet' and am not used to the taste.  

The experience at the Dum Pukth was luxurious. One was cosseted and very well taken of. The staff was most sporting especially with all the manic photographing that went on all through the dinner and probably delayed things in the kitchen endlessly. I can understand that because we work the kitchen end ourselves and interruptions in the course of service are not what one really appreciates.

Dum Pukth. If a taste of a royal cuisine is what you are looking for, this is the place to find it.

Dum Pukth. ITC Maratha. Sahar, Mumbai.

Baharat Pork with Red Wine

Sometimes reconnecting with an old friend is the best thing that could happen, gastronomically speaking. Kurush and his friend Jubal met again after many years and I have found great joy in their reunion. Jubal has a twinkle of mischief that lurks in his eyes all the time and he is one of those male freaks of nature that cleans up after he cooks! We love having him over at our place for obvious reasons ;)

Jubal shares not only our love for good food but he's also happy to share his recipes. He floored us with this amazing pork preparation that made me fall in love with Baharat masala. It is my top favourite pork preparation at the moment and when a pot luck dinner gave me the opportunity to show off my skills with pork, I chose to cook what I call Baharat Pork with Red Wine.

Here's my version -

1kg boneless lean pork with a few chunks of fat
8 largeish onions, sliced
olive oil to cook
sunflower or peanut oil
2 star anise
6" cinnamon stick
salt to taste

For the marinade:
4 teaspoons Baharat masala
juice of 4 sour limes
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp garlic paste
A generous slug of olive oil

Clean the pork pieces and make sure they are small. This dish is cooked slowly in a heavy based pan for a couple of hours. Big chunks result in unevenly cooked pieces so be safe and make smaller pieces.

In a bowl whisk together the marinade and pour over the pork pieces. Use a clean large glass bowl to marinate the meat. Cover and let it marinate for a minimum 1 hour and as long as you can if you're not rushed for time.

When you're ready to cook the pork, slice a mountain of onions. More specifically, use 8. Take a heavy based cooking vessel ( I used a classic biryani degh) and heat about half a cup of olive oil with some peanut or sunflower oil thrown in. Let it heat up nicely and then chuck in the star anise and the cinnamon. Let the onions in and shake everyone around. After the initial sizzle the onions will settle.

 Stir it all well and let the onions fry slowly for about 15 minutes. Supervise it so it doesn't burn. Add a teaspoon or two of Baharat masala at this stage and blend it into the onions nicely.

Now add the pork and stir it all well. Braise the pork nicely and once all the pieces are sealed in, lower the flame and let it cook covered for half an hour. Mostly ignore it but take care that it doesn't burn. Don't add any water. There will be plenty from the onions, the marinade and from the pork itself. Add salt and a splash of some more red wine.

Cover and let it cook for another 30 to 45mins. Be patient and leave it alone. Check after the first 30 minutes, give it a stir, taste it and see. The pork will be silky, soft and will just melt in your mouth. Cook it further only if required.

This dish is ridiculously easy to make but it takes time. More than anything else, cook it with patience.

Serve it with bread, pav, parathas, rice...whatever you like!

Baharat masala, from what I've gathered from my readings, is a north African blend of spices, much like our garam masala. It is used across the Persian Gulf region and just like with our garam masala, there are regional variations in the blend. Some blends have mint or dried lime, but most contain peppercorns, cinnamon, cloves and even cumin and corainder.

Pickled Pink! Parsi Prawn Pickle

I had been planning to make a batch of Prawn Pickle for a while..a few months, in fact. I've also been meaning to get back to writing this blog again. So here I am today, fulfilling two goals in one day!

Prawn Pickle by Katy Dalal

This pickle is tangy and sweet and has a nice bite to it too. With vinegar, red chillies and jaggery melding together their distinctive flavours and the prawns showcasing it all, this is one of my favourite pickes.

4 cups Prawns, shelled, deveined, and washed

curry leaves

8 - 10 Green Chillies

2 tsp salt

2 cups Kolah's Sugarcane vinegar

Make a paste in 1/2 cup vinegar with:

16 dried red Kashmiri chillies

2 whole pods Garlic

3 Tbsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp Methi or Fenugreek seeds

1 tsp turmeric pwd

1/5 tsp Badisaunf

1 & 1/2 cup jaggery

2 cups oil

Take a largeish saucepan and heat 2 cups vinegar. Put in the prawns with the green chillies, curry leaves and salt. Bring to a boil and cook till the prawns are nearly done. Leave aside to cool.

Heat the 2 cups of oil in a large karhai or wok or pot. Make sure you really use two cups...this is a pickle! Once the oil is nice and hot put in the ground masala paste. Stir the paste to mix well into the oil. Be careful here because the masala takes time to separate and meld with the oil. Don't stir too vigorously or you might splatter hot oil on yourself. Mix thoroughly till all the paste is combined and is frying nicely. Once the oil separates and the whole spice mix is giving out its wonderful aroma add the jaggery. You might want to adjust the amount of jaggery according to how sweet you like the pickle to be. Blend it in well.

Ladle the prawns into this mix without the vinegar. Just use a slotted spoon. Stir and mix it all in well. Pour in the vinegar a little at a time, maybe half a cup, and stir to combine. Bring to a boil adding vinegar to make a sufficient amount of 'gravy'. Cook for about five minutes checking that the prawns are cooked.

Your Prawn Pickle is ready!

Cool it really well and decant into clean glass bottles.

This recipe is from my Mom in law's first cook book Jamva Chaloji. I learned to love food and to respect fresh ingredients from her and I also learned to eat well and enjoy good food. She, and hubby introduced me to a world of great food and many different cuisines. I wish she was here cheering me on as I discover more food things every day...

Mangsho'r Jhol or Bengali Mutton Curry

Didin is what I called my maternal Grand mom. And like most of us do, I loved her immensely!! All holidays as a child were spent at the big rambling house in Calcutta being spoilt silly by her and a myriad aunts, uncles and other relatives. We (my brother and I) would descend upon them every summer and rampage around their houses for a full 2 and a half months till summer ended and the new school year beckoned…

One of the ‘tastes’ of these holidays were ‘Mangsho’r jhol’ or mutton stew eaten with plain hot rice. This was my absolute favorite and was made every three or four days, or at least once a week if I remember correctly. Chicken was not on the menu very often. Bengalis prefer mutton.

The mutton would be bought from a particular shop, and the butcher would be given a severe warning- the grandchildren are visiting, so make sure you give tender mutton that they will be able to eat easily, not an old animal which will make their jaws ache from chewing and chewing!!

I would be excited waiting in anticipation, hovering near the kitchen, watching to see how far the cooking had progressed. Very often Didin would give us a small bowl of the Jhol with a piece or two of mutton and a nice piece of potato to ‘taste’ and then verify that it was quite alright … how I miss her indulgent love..

Here’s how Mangsho’r jhol was made in Didin’s house.

1 kg tender kid
2 large onions, sliced fine
4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into large pieces.
4 carrots, peeled and cut into thick sticks or large cylinders.
100 gms, fresh curd
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
Turmeric, chilli , coriander and cumin powders
Salt
Whole garam masala- cardamom, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise,
Mustard oil

Wash the meat and drain excess water. Don’t wash too much, just a quick rinse. Take a clean vessel and put in the meat to marinate. Add the fresh curd, ginger garlic paste, powdered spices, salt and mix thoroughly. Make sure the meat is well coated in the marinade. Let it marinate in the fridge for a good 3 or four hours.

In a pressure cooker heat the mustard oil till it just smokes. Reduce the flame and fry the potatoes till golden, infact even a dark brown… remove to a plate.




Then put in the whole spices. Increase heat if required. Stir for a minute till the aromas are released and then add the sliced onions. Stir well so the onions don’t burn. Let them fry on a low flame till they turn brown. You must keep an eye on them. Sprinkle a teaspoon of sugar and mix well to let them caramelize.

Add the marinated mutton to the onions and mix well. Let it fry for about 10 minutes turning and stirring every 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining marinade if any is left in the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Once the meat has changed colour evenly, add the potatoes, carrots and a cup and a half of water. Use your judgment - there shouldn’t be too much water or the gravy will be thin and watery. Shut the pressure cooker and let it cook on a high flame. At the first ‘whistle’ simmer down the heat and let the mutton cook under pressure for 10 minutes by the clock. Once you have switched it off, let the cooker cool completely before opening.

Your mangsho’r jhol is ready to serve. It tastes great with rice and also with plain parathas.

Easy Pasta with Tuna and Vegetables

This is a dish that I made often in the hostel in Pune while we were doing MA and PhD... it is fairly simple and very flexible depending on what you have available in your pantry.

Any medium sized pasta- macaroni, fusili, etc
1 can Tuna in oil
2 or 3 eggs, boiled, peeled and chopped roughly
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
200 gms, mushrooms, washed and sliced
garlic, as required, chopped
capsicums,green or coloured, cut into small pieces
1 zucchini, chopped into small cubes
olive oil
1 or 2 flavour cubes, as required
dried oregano
cheese slices
salt
fresh cracked pepper

Cook the pasta till al dente and keep aside. Toss in a tsp of olive oil.
Flake the tuna in a saucer. Reserve the liquid.
In a pan or wok heat a tbsp of olive oil and fry the garlic and spring onions for a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms and the zucchini. Cook till the water from the mushrooms has dried up but not completely. Add the flavour cube(s) and salt and pepper as required. Add the chopped capsicums and toss on heat for a minute.

In a large bowl mix the warm cooked pasta with the mushroom mix. Toss in the chopped boiled eggs, flaked tuna and mix gently. Tear the cheese slices into largeish shreds and add to the pasta. Pour in some of the reserved tuna oil and toss with the dried oregano. Ensure that the pastas is still warm when you toss in the cheese...it melts a bit and is just great!!

You can chuck in some sliced black or green olives for an added zing.

Just leave out the tuna and the eggs to make it vegetarian....the pasta still tastes quite yummy.

This makes a nice light lunch especially in the summer.

This is more of a 'salad' type of a pasta preparation.

Short-cut Butter Chicken

This is how my hubby taught me to make Butter Chicken. Not the flaming red grasy concoction that we eat at most restaurants but a delicious flavoursome (and calorie-packed!!) version that I love making. It's also a very easy recipe indeed.

2 portions Chicken Tikkas
1 large onion, chopped fine
5 tbsp cashew nuts soaked and ground to a paste
approximately 3/4 cup tomato puree
garam masala powder
salt
butter/cream
oil

Its easiest if you get the chicken tikkas from your local tandoori joint because if you have to make the tikkas at home then the 'easiness' of this recipe ends right there.

For a generous portion of this dish, enough for about 4 people, take 2 portions of the tikkas.

In a wok/kadai fry the onions till pink. Add tomato puree and let it cook. Adjust the amount of puree depending on how sour it is. Add a generous spoonful of garam masala powder and pour in the cashew paste. Mix well and add the tikkas. Let it come to a boil. Add water if the gravy is too thick. Add salt as required. If you like a bit of a bite you can add a couple of minced green chillies along with onions at the start, or a good spoonful of chilli powder with the puree.
Once you have removed it to the serving bowl put a dollop of butter or cream and serve with parathas/naan.




You can also take a full Tandoori Chicken and shred the meat to use in this gravy instead of tikkas.
The same basic gravy can be made to make Paneer Tikka masala.