Saturday 8 February 2014

Mutton Pasanda-Amma's recipe


As a result of the unprecedented advancement in the information technology the availability of recipes and culinary information through the internet has brought about a new wave of food related interest, hobbies, readership and profession that could have never been imagined before. With a simple click of a mouse you have all the information about your food subject at your fingertips. The current generation has witnessed a new trend of 'foodology' through blogs, restaurant reviews, online courses etc. In fact, you can book a table in a restaurant through the internet through a simple click. It is hard to imagine our world today without the internet.
Our mothers and grand parents, however, never had the luxury of the internet world as we enjoy today. For them it was a painstaking effort, without any short cuts, to figure out and prepare dishes that have become more or less the signature dish of our families. They also didn't have the luxury of microwaves and other appliance to make cooking a little more convenient. It is majorly because of this that our mothers and grandparents are the true masters of the traditional cuisines and our source of inspiration. One secret ingredient was that all the dishes were made with a lot of love. 
Amrita and I have been so blessed to have the years of experience of our mother(s) at our disposal. We often spend a lot of time in the kitchen together which also strengthens our bonding. 
This simple mutton pasanda recipe has been handed down by Amma in Allahabad to my wonderful wife Amrita. Amma has also handed down to Amrita a big fat register filled with family recipes that she has personally handwritten herself. Its a priceless treasure filled with compilation of decades of tried and tested recipes.  In Amma's cooking there is always a sense of simplicity to everything genius she creates. We decided to give it a try at our Kolkata Food Bloggers 1st Birthday Party celebrations which was enjoyed by everyone.
           

Ingredients : Serves 2-3
  • 1/2 kg Mutton Parcha from Raan (Ask your meat vendor to make parcha or thin strips from the meat. Ensure that there are no fat portions in the meat. Parcha is made by beating up the strip of meat)
  • 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
  • 50 gms thick curd
  • 2 tbsp grated raw papaya
  • 4 medium sized onions, sliced
  • 1 tbsp besan/gram flour
  • salt to taste
Masala:
  • 3-4 laung/cloves
  • 2 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
  • 2 dried red chillies, deseeded
  • 1" piece of dalchini/cinnamon stick
  • 4-5 golmirch/black peppercorn
Garnish:
  • mint leaves 
  • onion rings
Procedure
Dry roast all the ingredients under the masala section and grind them finely. 
Wash the mutton and marinate with curd, grated raw papaya, ginger garlic paste, salt and the ground masala. Keep it aside for 1-2 hours or as long as possible(even overnight).


Peel and cut the onion in half. Slice them in cross section as shown below. This helps the sliced onions to break up easily for frying. 

Heat oil in a karahi/deep pan and fry the sliced onions until their are golden brown. Drain on a paper napkin and keep aside.


Heat oil in the same vessel and add the marinated mutton. Cook for 5 minutes and then add the fried onions.
Cover and cook in medium heat for 15-20 minutes or till the meat is done. 
Dry roast besan in another pan and add to the mutton and mix well.


Garnish with onion rings and mint leaves.
Served best with plain rice or chapati/parantha.


Happy relishing
Vishal

11 comments:

  1. Hello Vishal, Your post reflects your love for cooking and also how much you value traditional recipes passed on from one generation to another and thus becoming "family recipes". These recipes are like treasures that need to be protected and guarded and one definite ingredient in these recipes is love and the effort that goes in preparing them for loved ones. This is unbeatable.
    Amrita is so lucky to get a bunch of your family recipes and she will surely do great justice to them.
    Your dish looks fabulous. I am sure the family must have relished it.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Namita,
      Its always so refreshing to hear from you. You truly make our day. If there is one person I would write for, you would be on top of the list because you connect and relate so much to the story and passion behind every write up.
      Its so true that we need to hold on to our family recipes and traditional cooking. The chances of loosing them in the days to come is quite a possibility and truly love is the secret ingredient in all of them.
      Amrita maybe lucky to find a bunch of our family recipes but I am more lucky to find Amrita....:) Through food we bond so much.
      Thank you so much for writing so genuinely.
      Best Wishes
      Vishal



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  2. Mutton has and will always be our number one fav. The dish is so good and heavenly.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Navaneetham,

      Sooo very true...Its always amazing. Its my favorite as well.


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  3. Love this mutton preparation,tempting me a lot.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Suja,

      Glad to know you are tempted. For me, I can resist anything 'but temptation'...:)

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  4. Lovely recipe. And this is a wonderful comforting good too. It's not easy for me to find mutton. but I definitely will give this a try when I do.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Amy....We get a lot of mutton here. Although I would have loved to do a lot with pork but somehow I am very skeptical of the meat quality here. ..:)

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  5. I am pure vegitarian but I will try it for my hubby ..........

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