Pakki Keri ma Gos - Mutton with Ripe Mangoes

Everybody knows I don't like fruits and I don't eat them at all if I can help it. So if you're wondering what I'm doing blogging a recipe that has ripe mangoes in it, bear with me! A few years ago I asked the husband to dig up some Parsi dishes that were not so commonly known any more, possibly with some unusual ingredients, that we could add to our menu at Katy's Kitchen. I was a bit weary of the sali botis and patra ni machhis and wanted to offer a wider selection on our menu and have a deeper glimpse into Parsi cuisine. That's when he, with a twinkle in his eye, told me about Pakki Keri ma Gos - goat meat cooked with ripe mangoes. Very predictably I looked at him in complete disbelief and accused him of making up something that was sure not to appeal to me just to get out of the hassle of expanding our menu. How wrong I was!

We've been serving Pakki Keri ma Gos to many of our devoted clients every summer over the last few years and yes, I take full credit for putting it out there again.

The mutton for this dish is cooked with relatively fewer spices making it perfect for a summer meal. This also allows the flavour of the mango to shine through giving the dish a light sweet-sour touch. Use a well ripened but still slightly firm mango reserving a few chunks to be added towards the end.

500 gms Mutton 

1 Large ripe mango, cubed 

2 Large onions, finely chopped 

Ginger garlic paste 

Turmeric 

Chilli powder 

Shahi jeera 

Javitri powder 1/4 tsp 

Saffron 

1 cup Milk 

Garam masala powder 

2 -3 Kashmiri chillies 

Oil

Salt

Wash the mutton lightly, drain off water and then marinate with salt and ginger garlic paste for 20 minutes or so.

Soak the saffron in the milk.

In a thick bottomed vessel heat oil and fry the onions till pink.

Add the Kashmiri chillies and shah jeera and let it sizzle. Add the turmeric, chilli powder, and javitri powder. Add a couple of teaspoons of water and cook it all for a minute.

Now put the marinated mutton into the pot, stir well to coat with the spices and braise for 5 to 10 minutes. Add half the cubed mango and the stone (gutli) of the mango along with saffron milk into the mutton and mix. Pour enough water to just cover the meat, cover the pot and cook on a low flame till the mutton is nearly done.

Add the remaining chunks of mango, mix and cook till the meat is completely done. Dry off the gravy if it is watery. The gravy should be thick, and slightly sticky and the meat should be soft and falling off the bone.

Serve with hot rotis or parathas.

I paired the Pakki Keri ma Gos with a quinoa and vegetable pullao. I cooked this combination for a competition I participated in where the challenge was to cook a dish using mangoes and quinoa. 

Slow Cooked Mutton Chops with Caramelised Onions

Mutton chops are of two kinds - the potato covered croquette like ones like these, and the delicious cut of meat that I cooked for dinner.

These babies were lying in my freezer forever. I had marinated them and bunged them in hoping to cook them soon but somehow the opportunity just never came. Today we had nothing on the agenda and dinner was going to be at home. I had these out and thawing and they were ready to be cooked in a few hours. The initial plan had been a sort of gravy and I had planned to fool around with poppy seed paste and other bits and pieces but somehow I wasn't in the mood for something fussy. So the chops ended up being slowly pan fried with a generous handful of sliced onions.

Grilled Chops with Caramelised Onions

Marinate a few chops with curd, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, cumin powder, a good dash of coriander powder, and your favourite garam masala blend. Let it marinate for a good six hours or overnight in your fridge.

Slice a couple of onions finely. In a flat non stick pan heat a couple of tablespoons of any neutral oil. Once the oil is hot add the onions and fry gently till they begin to turn pink. Add the chops and fry on high heat for a couple of minutes turning the chops to sear all sides.

Lower the heat and cover the pan with a lid that fits. Let the chops cook undisturbed for 15 minutes. Turn them over and cover and cook again for another 10 to 15 minutes. Add any marinade that's left in the bowl. Don't add any water.  Let the chops cook on low heat as slowly as possible. Mine took around an hour to cook. Just check occasionally to ensure that nothing's getting burned.

The chops will have no gravy, just the darkly caramelised onions that have absorbed the marinade and the flavours of the meat.

Serve these as a starter on their own. Be sure to add some of the onions to each serving. Eat with your fingers and I promise you, you will lick them clean. A simple no fuss dish, slowly cooked. Poetry on a plate.

Marathon Bloggers Project 52

Masala Kheema

Both K and I love mutton kheema (minced goat meat) and our favourite way is to cook with potatoes, carrots and peas. This is one dish that regularly features on the Katy's Kitchen tiffin menu and is not very different from what I ate as child at my mother's very Bengali table.

A simple every day sort of dish, you can enjoy it with hot rotis, parathas or even with rice if it's made with a little gravy.

Masala Kheema 

500gms kheema marinated in -

vinegar
salt
turmeric
chilli powder
jeera/cumin powder
ginger garlic paste

1 large carrot, peeled and diced into small cubes
1 large potato, peeled and diced into small cubes
1/2 cup green peas
2 onions chopped fine
1 large tomato chopped
1 tbsp garam masala powder or a meat masala powder
oil
3 - 4 green cardamoms
3 cloves
2 medium bay leaves
1 stick of cassia bark, couple of inches
1/4 tsp shah jeera
2 tbsp tomato ketchup

Marinate the kheema for at least two hours.

Heat oil in your kadai or wok and throw in the whole spices and once they have sizzled add the diced carrots and potatoes. Fry till the potatoes begin to turn colour. Add the onions and a couple of green chillies and fry till the onions start to brown. Throw in the chopped tomato, stir well and then add the marinated kheema. You will have to stir the whole thing for four to five minutes to mix everything well and to break up any clumps of kheema.

Now add the dry spices and a splash of water so the dry powders don't burn. Blend in the spices including the garam masala powder. Add the green peas along with a quarter of a cup of water and then cover the vessel. I use frozen peas. In case you're using fresh peas add them in earlier along with the onions and tomatoes.

Reduce the heat and let it simmer. It will be cooked through in another five minutes or so. Taste and adjust salt if required. Add the tomato ketchup and stir to blend in nicely.

Serve hot with rotis, parathas, pav or even rice.

29 December 2013
Marathon Bloggers

Kheema par Eeda - Eggs on mince. A well loved Parsi breakfast

Breakfast is the husband's domain and though we usually have simple stuff like bread and spread, or muesli/cornflakes, or simple fried eggs, once in a way there's something special.

Yesterday I'd made chicken mince and there was quite a lot of it and so I asked the hubby to make Kheema par Eeda for breakfast the next morning. Ideally I prefer mutton or goat mince but chicken is what we had so we made do with it.

An easy recipe that leads to a sumptuous dish, you might end up making extra kheema more often just so you can indulge in a lavish breakfast more often!

Kheema par Eeda

4 eggs
Goat mince, cooked Indian style with onions, spices and loads of fresh coriander and mint
salt
a dash of oil

Take a flat nonstick pan and set it to heat. Spread the cooked mince evenly across the base of the pan, about half and inch thick.

Take an egg and press it gently into the kheema to make a depression. Make four such depressions. If you're using more eggs, make more! These depressions keep the eggs from running into each other while they're cooking.

Now crack an egg into each depression. Sprinkle a little salt.

Let the eggs cook on a slow flame. You don't want the kheema to burn while the eggs cook! Cover the pan with a loose lid or plate.

Cook the eggs to your desired level of 'done-ness'. The hubby likes them runny and I like mine cooked to death :)

Serve up with toast, butter, jam, mayo and a glass of fruit juice on the side.