Neni Qualiya

 Neni Qualiya 

(Gohst ka Qualiya) 

This recipe takes me back a good 9 years when a 16 year old who disliked mutton decided to take it upon herself to prepare a dish but she did not want it to be made the normal way with garlic, onions and tomato paste as is usually made in most homes from the region she comes from. So she checks the internet for recipes and this Kashmiri recipe catches her attention because it neither uses garlic nor onions ,nor tomatoes and yet it has ingredients which sound mysterious to this girl who has never heard of those ingredients being used in any other recipe. She follows the recipe and uses her own little trick to make sure the meat is succulent and melt in the mouth so that her critical father is left with no scope for criticism and even without words of appreciation as the base for understanding the success of the dish the helpings makes her sure ti would be a hit dish with anyone who loves goat meat. Over the years she has prepared it for many people all of whom simply helped themselves to multiple helpings which was enough for this girl to keep serving this dish while she grew up from a girl and stepped into womanhood.

What more the name itself seems so close to home. In Bengal we have something called kalia , a rich gravy and here the name Qualiya seemed mighty similar. We use saunf and mustard oil and so does this recipe.

I have divided the ingredients as per the steps one follows to prepare the dish So lets prepare some Qualiya shall we :-

Step 1

800gm mutton
2 tsp dried ginger
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 tsp turmeric
1.5 tbsp saunf
1 tsp kashmiri mircha (red chili powder from Kashmir)
2 big black cardamom
Pinch of asafoetida
800ml water

Step 2

200ml of whole milk
200gm of thick curd
1 tsp ground saunf
dried ginger powder 1 tsp

Tempering

4 tbsp mustard oil
1 tsp cumin
2 cloves
Pinch of asafoetida

Final stage

3/4th tsp garam masala
8 green cardamom
1/2 tsp shah jeera


Simply take the ingredients of step 1 in a container with a capacity of 3 litres to 4 litres. I used a heavy bottomed pressure cooker and bring everything to a boil and then simmer covered without the pressure for 45 minutes.

Now simply strain the meat and discard the whole spices reserving the stock. Whisk the curd and milk together and then slowly whisk it with the stock and then bring to a boil in the pressure cooker while continuously stirring and simmer and add the pieces of meat.

Now heat oil in a separate wok and add the ingredients for tempering and let them splutter but make sure to not char them and add it to the pressure cooker which is cooking the meat and then close the lid and cook on low heat till it whistles. After 1 whistle let the steam come out on its own. Now open the lid and check the consistency. You should have melt in the mouth soft meat by now. Bring everything to a boil and add the ingredients from the final stage and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve piping hot with plain rice also called 'bata'. If serving later you should bring to a boil just before serving and then add the ingredients from the final stage because the dish is to be served piping hot .