Mutton curry served with steaming rice and accompanied by tangy salad conjures of images of lazy Sunday lunches spent as a child. Mutton shops having skinned bakras (goats) hanging (not the fancy stores like today) would have a line of waiting Sunday revellers ordering just the pieces they wanted - raan, putt, macchli, kalegi, keema, gurdae- kapurey, or my favorite - champ (chops)! Mutton thus bought is washed and then cooked over a slow flame, the aromas wafting across the kitchen and emanating into the other rooms.
Its a great, zestful and satisfying curry best served with garam garam rotis (tawa or tandoori) or jeera pulao or even steamed rice. Onion and cucumber rings tempered with lemon, salt and red chillies is a favorite accompaniment in most Punjabi homes. My recipe is a hand me down from my mother and her's. Its a simple recipe and there are also several simple and delicious variations to it. I'll talk about the different varieties of the same basic recipe too. You can make mutton saag wala, methi gosht, rogan josh, rahra mutton just by substituting or adding some ingredients. The basic and sure-shot hit curry needs :
Fresh mutton (preferably from the leg and including chops) 750 grams
Whole masala - cinnamon (2-3), bay leaf (1 ), black and green cardamoms (2-3 ), cloves(2) and jeera (cumin) (tea spoon full)
Vegetable oil - 2 table spoons
Sliced onions - 2 medium
Tomatoes chopped - 3
Ginger paste - 1 tea spoon
Garlic paste - 1 tea spoon
Curd - 1/2 cup
Pinch of turmeric and 2 tea spoons of coriander powder
Red chilly powder and salt - as per taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Take a heavy bottomed pan and pour oil. Add whole masala and fry for a minute. add onions and fry them till golden brown. Put in the mutton fry till it changes colour and becomes light brown. Add the ginger and garlic pastes and continue the cooking for about 10 minutes more, adding little water whenever the mutton sticks to the bottom of the pan. The mutton will be totally integrated with the onions and the pastes by now. Add the tomatoes and keep on cooking. Remember all this has to be done on medium to slow flame. Add red chilly powder, turmeric and coriander powder. This is a great time to add salt too as the mutton is almost half cooked by now and has released its own juices. Keep the cooking process (Bhuno) on till the tomatoes are totally mushy and mixed with the rest of the ingredients. You should be getting a flavourful aroma by now! Beat the curd and mix well with the mutton. Add a cup of water and cook for 20 minutes more or till mutton is tender but firm. You could use the pressure cooker and give 1 whistle followed by 8-10 minutes on reduced flame.
Garnish with coriander and serve hot.
Saas- bahu syndrome
The one relation which in my opiion requires the maximum amount of compromising and heartburn in my opinion and probably more applicable in the Indian context is that between a wife and aher mother-in-law! I think this relationship assumes greater significance (based on how much of a mama's boy you've ended up with) in an arranged married set up,
What is it about this necessary relationship which makes it a difficult one to endure?
What is it about this necessary relationship which makes it a difficult one to endure?
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