Kalakand

Kalakand 

(Indian Milk Cheese Fudge) 

It seems that right after the partition of India a 'Halwai' (Indian sweet chef)  named Baba Thakur Das who had migrated from Pakistan to Alwar, Rajasthan in India had started his day with experimentation with milk and having added lemon juice to the milk he was fascinated with the resultant cheese and legend has it that he uttered the famous Sentecne 'Arey ye to kala hai' (This is art) which led to the creation of a magnificent sweet dish, Kalakand a kind of Indian Milk Cheese Fudge. Freshly homemade cottage cheese is cooked with reduced milk till it reaches an extremely thick consistency which is milky, cheesy and completely lip smacking.

Now Baba Thakur's descendants say with great pride that recreating the original magic of the Kalakand produced at their store is impossible due to the water and the soil around Alwar which I believe to a certain extent but then again you can still make a gorgeous Kalakand which might not be as good as the ones created at Alwar but with a bit of patience you can create some lip smacking gorgeous dessert.

Before I give the recipe let me emphasize on the fact that certain desserts cannot be made easy by cutting down on time and effort else you shall simply not get the proper taste and flavour. The internet is filled with recipes which uses packaged condensed milk and a short cut method which wouldn't simply give you a superior taste. Believe me I speak from experience. A bit of hard work  is worth the effort. The entire process takes about 2 hour 15 minutes to make and another 1 hour to 2 hours for setting.

Makes 10 large sized Kalakand :-

2 litre full fat milk and yes it must be full fat
1 tbsp to 2 tbsp vinegar diluted with 2 tbsp water
5 to 6 tbsp sugar (please adjust the sweetness as per your taste)
3 green cardamom
2 tbsp blanched halved pistachios
2 tbsp ghee

Simply start of by taking 1.2  litre of the milk and add 1 tsp ghee to it. (The ghee helps in keeping the reduced milk smooth)

Start reducing it. Take the remaining milk and bring to a roaring boil in another pan and then lower heat and add the diluted vinegar and when the cheese forms in 2 minutes. You should have white masses floating in an olive green whey switch off gas once the entire milk is well curdled and then cover it and leave it for 5 minutes. Gather the cheese in a cheesecloth and drain it of its water. After 10 minutes squeeze out the excess water and crumble the cheese as finely as possible.

Meanwhile keep stirring the other pot of milk which you are reducing to avoid scorching the bottom. Once it gets reduced to half its original content add the crumbled cheese and crushed cardamom seeds along with the sugar.

The best way to add sugar as per taste is adding it little by little and checking the taste.

Now keep reducing the mixture of cheese and milk together stirring it from time to time and when it gets reduced to a mass where you see bubbles all over keep stirring the mixture continuously from this point on.

Here is an useful tip. At this point transfer it to a non-stick pan and use a masher to mash the content continuously . Non-stick pans reduces the chances of  scorching. Once the mass is dried up add the remaining  ghee saving a bit for greasing the plate on which you would set it and mix well .

Transfer to the greased plate and make a rectangular block and stud it with blanched halved pistachios and leave it to set at room temperature for 1 hour to 2 hours . Never ever set it in the refrigerator which dries out the Kalakand. Cut squares and enjoy this delightful dessert.

Tips :-

1. You must use full fat milk else the taste will be compromised upon 
2. The leftover whey used to cook curries gives it a full bodied flavour and when used to knead chapati or make bread renders it extra soft 
3. Use the pistachios on the Kalakand while its warm so that it remaisn studded once the Kalakand sets the nuts won't remain intact on it.
4. Enjoy a bit of warm Kalakand as suggested by the creator's descendants. It tastes amazing when served warm. 
5. Using the masher ensures that the cottage cheese is evenly distributed and does not form any big lumps anywhere. In case you don't have a masher use the back of a big ladle to use it for the mashing effect. 
6. For storing it , do use an air-tight container and then put it in the refrigerator. I would personally suggest eating it as fresh as possible but in case you are storing ti the air-tight container helps in retaining the moisture. 

Source of information 

Tehelka 

The Hindu 

This is part of Kolkata Food Blogger's ongoing event Deepavali Festival of Lights with Sweets and Savouries

Cholar Dal (Bengali Chana Pulse)

Cholar Dal (Bengali Chana Pulse)

There is little to be said about this Classic Bengali Pulse. Bengalis  cook this  for all special occasions be it the Pujas, weddings, rice eating ceremony, gathering of friends and family or just for a special Bengali meal. You can team it up with all purpose flour pooris which Bengalis call 'luchi' or hot steaming rice and julienne potato which is deep fried .

The bottom line is that, this is a classic dish. Now its mostly the same recipe followed everywhere with a few variations. Here is one that I know of passed down by my Mimi (aunt) whose mother had passed it down a long time ago.

Serves 4 to 5

1 cup Chana pulse 'cholar dal'
1 tbsp clarified butter 'ghee'
2 green cardamom
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 to 3 dried red chili
Half a cup diced fresh coconut
A handful of raisins
Salt as per taste
Pinch of turmeric
Sugar as per taste (Now, traditionally  this pulse is supposed to be a bit on the sweeter side so I would personally use 1 tbsp to 1.5 tbsp sugar but you can adjust as per your taste)
4 cups of water
1 large bay leaf

Soak the pulse for 1 hour and then pressure cook it on low flame till 1 whistle to 2 whistles and let the steam go out on its own. It should have cooked by that time.

Now heat the ghee and add the ginger and saute and then add the cardamom , bay leaf and red chilies and keep sauteing and then add the coconut and raisins and finally the pulse. If it seems too thick add 1 cup of water and bring to a boil and add salt, turmeric and sugar and simmer for 10 minutes. It should be of a medium thickness and the pulse must retain their shape. Its traditionally supposed to be a thick pulse but not as thick as the North Indian Mah ki Dal aka Dal makhani

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala 

I usually like trying out different versions of the same dish so that I might eventually find a recipe which suits my taste buds perfectly. Such was the case with Paneer Butter Masala also known as Paneer Makhani. Lets face it the name itself suggests it must have copious amount of butter but then the recipes I have had till date did have butter and a lot of ingredients yet there was something which was missing.

Now Butter and I go long back. My Dima 'maternal grandmother' would always compliment the Punjabis due to their use of butter in most dishes. All throughout my growing up years I was fed a meal of hot steaming rice with a good 50gm of butter and numerous boiled and mashed vegetables. Lucky for me my parents had got me admitted to swimming and till I  was involved in some pretty heavy exercise which kept my weight in check. Anyway coming back to the dish, now I know that everyone wants to be healthy and that's great. In fact on any regular day you'l find me with a bowl of steamed vegetables or a raw salad and some boiled egg or poached chicken but when it comes to certain dishes you cannot just try and make them healthy. It takes away the entire essence of the dish. Exercising and balancing your diet on every other day is how you stay healthy not by trying to make a dish named Butter Masala healthy.

Anyway back to the recipe. I had discovered the lovely robust chef Harpal Singh's videos quite by chance and after my tremendous success with his Kadhi I naturally knew whom to turn to for the Paneer Butter Masala. So here goes the recipe. I did use homemade paneer and believe me when I say that once you have made homemade paneer there is no looking back. You can use store bought paneer if you are not much inclined to making your own paneer .

Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi's Paneer Butter Masala

Serves 3

For the paneer :-

1.5 litre full cream milk
1.5 tbsp vinegar diluted with 2 tbsp water or 2 cups leftover whey

For the tomato gravy

6 medium sized tomatoes roughly chopped
6 green cardamom
3 blades of mace
100gm butter
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup fresh cream (I used Amul Cream but do use double cream if you have access to it )
Salt as per taste
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder

For the final gravy

Ginger the size of half your little finger cut into julienne
2 green chilies de-seeded and cut julienne
1/2 tbsp butter
The freshly made tomato gravy

The final paneer made at home 

Start by making the paneer. Simply bring the milk to a roaring boil and then add the diluted vinegar or whey and lower the temperature and let the milk for the cheese and when you see the green coloured whey with the cheese floating around switch off the stove and cover and keep for 5 minutes . Strain the cheese but reserve the whey and tie the cheese in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and drain it for 15 minutes to 20 minutes and then flatten it out with the cloth and put in on a plate and put another plate on top with a mortar and pestle or a heavy book on the plate and leave for 1 hour or so. Cut the slab into cubes and there you go , you have soft fresh paneer.

Store the whey in the refrigerator for future use. If you knead your dough for chapatis with whey the chapatis turn out extra soft, used in vegetable curries it enhances the flavour and if used for the next batch of paneer you will get the softest paneer ever.

Final tomato gravy 

Now start off with your tomato gravy. Melt 1 tbsp butter and add the chopped tomatoes and cook over medium to low flame till its mushy (covering and cooking gives faster results) and add the mace and cardamom and cook till it forms a paste and add the Kashmiri chili powder , add salt and cook for another minute . Let it cool down and blend it smooth .

Now mince the garlic. Melt 1 tbsp butter and saute the garlic and add the tomato paste and cook of medium flame , stirring continuously for 3 minutes and add 75gm butter and mix well and cook for 1 minute and add half a cup of cream and cook on low flame for another 2 minutes and your tomato base is ready.

Now melt 1 tbsp butter and saute ginger chopped julienne and the green chilies and add the paneer cubes and saute well. When the paneer turns golden add the tomato gravy and mix well and simmer for 3 minutes and serve with hot chapati or butter nan or Basmati rice.

Simple Chicken Curry

Simple Chicken Curry 

I firmly believe there are certain places, books, pages of books, musical pieces which remind you of a particular person and when it comes to certain dishes it not only reminds you but it makes you want to be near the person.

This recipe is one of the simplest recipes that there ever can be and it sure does make me miss someone. This is for the one who loves his ghee , understands the importance of marination, can cook effortlessly without consulting any cook books yet his greatest teaching for me would be independence which is why I have followed my Baba (father's) recipe and have merged it with my own ideas. He is the one who unconsciously inspired me to become passionate about peeling, chopping, shredding, sauteing etc

The one thing I have to say is that this dish should either be prepared in mustard oil or in ghee otherwise the flavour doesn't come out that well.

Serves 2 to 3

450 gm chicken (legs and thigh)
1 tbsp smooth garlic paste
1/2 tsp whole black pepper
Paste made from 4 dried red chili and 1 tsp roughly chopped ginger and 1 tbsp vinegar


1 medium sized onion
1 medium sized tomato
1/2 cup whisked yogurt
1/4th cup water
Salt as per taste

2 green cardamom
1 black cardamom
Cinnamon (3/4th of your little finger)
2 blades of mace
2 cloves

1.5 tsp ghee / mustard oil

1 tbsp freshly minced coriander leaves for garnishing

Make a smooth paste of the black pepper, ginger, dried red chili and vinegar and then mix it with the garlic paste and marinate your chicken for about an hour. Meanwhile give a light pounding to the dry spices (green cardamom, black cardamom, cinnamon . mace and clove)

Now heat the ghee or mustard oil and add the chicken and seal its juices by cooking it on high flame for 2 minutes and then add the onion paste and tomato paste and keep stirring it well coating the chicken and then cover and cook on medium flame for a minute and add salt and the spices which you have pounded. Mix well and add the whisked curd and then add the water and bring to a boil stirring continuously (else the yogurt will split) and simmer covered for 5 minutes till the curry seems thick and coats the chicken . Garnish with coriander leaves and enjoy this hot ,fiery and lip-smacking dish with hot steaming rice or soft hot fluffy chapatis .

Tips

1. The breast and things and legs of a chicken need a different time for cooking which is why we often end up cooking an entire chicken and some pieces of the curry come out soft and succulent while some other pieces come out a bit stringy which is why only thighs and legs have been used. You can reserve the breast for later usage. 
2. Before you add the water to the curry add it to the bowl in which you have marinated the chicken and give it a good stir then add this water from the bowl to the bowl in which you have whisked the yogurt stir and then add to the pot. This way you do not waste any flavours. 
3. Always make sure that you whisk your curd before adding it to the pot else it will curdle. 

Sajji Murgh

Sajji Murgh 

When I first tried Faiza's Chargha Murgh I was delighted and so I jotted down her recipe for Sajji Murgh and was on the lookout for a special day to make it. Ah well leaving my beloved city for a few months is reason enough. It usually needs a coal pit but Faiza teaches you to make it in the oven and you use a coal for the smoky effect . I did increase the time for marination but I otherwise stuck to her recipe.

Recipe Source : Cook with Faiza

So here goes the recipe :-

1 whole skinless chicken around 1.5 kilogram
1 tbsp salt

For the marinate :-

2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp freshly crushed black peppercorn
5 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp ginger paste
1 tbsp garlic paste

For the rub :-

1/2 tsp Dry mango powder
1/2 tsp Ginger powder
1/2 tsp Rock Salt
1 tsp Green cardamom powder
1 tbsp black peppercorn
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds

A piece of coal
1/2 tsp ghee

This is an overnight preparation. So first you need to submerge the chicken in a bowl full of water with 1 tbsp salt and leave it overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day take the chicken out and pat it dry and now make a emulsion with the ghee, lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt , ginger paste , garlic paste and freshly crushed black pepper and marinate the chicken rubbing it inside out and leave it for 1 hour to 2 hours.

Now preheat oven to 200C and roast the chicken for 50 minutes turning it midway . Make sure you cover the chicken with a foil when roasting.

In the meantime make your spice rub .Dry roast the cumin seed, coriander seed and black pepper and crush them and then mix it with the remaining spices. After 50 minutes of roasting take off the foil and rub this spice rub which you have created all over the chicken on both sides and roast for another 10 minutes with the foil on.

Now heat the coal over the gas flame and when it smokes take a bit of foil and put it beside the chicken in the roasting tray and add the ghee . This will create the smoke. Now immediately cover with foil and leave it for 10 minutes. Enjoy melt in the mouth soft Sajji Murgh.

I paired it with some Pomegranate raita.

Notes :-

1. The overnight submerging in saline water makes the chicken ultra soft 
2. Since you are roasting the chicken without the skin the foil helps retain the moisture 

Rajma

Rajma 

Truth be told I don't know when I fell in love with Rajma. It might have been that time when we passed through Delhi or in that beautiful place in Punjab whose name I cannot remember since I was 7 years old or 8 years old. At home my father would make Rajma but it was nothing like the delightful Punjabi ones. He always added paneer for one thing and would sometimes make this delicious dish with meat added to Rajma but by the time I reach my teenage years and had a taste of some good rajma in this Punjabi Dhaba I knew I loved it and it would always be my comfort food.

Over the years I have followed a couple of recipes all of which were delightful yet I kept trying different recipes which means somewhere in my heart I was not fully satisfied and then last year I came across this beautiful blog run by a Punjabi Kudi as she calls herself and tried out her recipe and I knew it was the right one for me. It was thick and hot and was deliciously tasty with the minimum use of spices. I follow this lovely lady's blog.

Before I move on I must say I always keep some homemade Punjabi garam masala at home which gives the dish that special flavour. This garam masala differs from household to household in Punjab . I basically use this recipe given by a wonderful friend of mine from the land of five rivers and it needs  Black cardamom,  Cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and bay leaves and peppercorn.

So here goes the easy recipe

Makes 3 to 4 servings

1 cup of rajma washed and soaked overnight
1 large onion
1 tsp coarsely chopped ginger
1 tsp coarsely chopped garlic
1 large tomato
2 green chilies slit lengthwise
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander leaves

Spices

1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2  tsp garam masala
Salt as per taste

3/4th tbsp ghee

1 tbsp butter (optional)

Wash and soak the rajma and then pressure cook it over low heat till its soft and well cooked.                        In the meantime coarsely chop the onion, garlic and ginger and blend it smooth in a blender. Chop the tomatoes and finely chop the coriander leaves.

Now heat the ghee and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter add the onion ginger garlic paste and keep stirring till the raw smell goes away and add the tomatoes and green chilies  and cook on high flame for 50 seconds and lower heat and keep stirring till you get a nice paste and the paste seems glossy . Now add the rajma , salt, turmeric, red chili powder and garam masala. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with plain basmati rice.  You may or may not add the butter once the rajma is cooked. I usually leave it out for a normal day serving.

Sonal's Amritsari Dal

Sonal's Amritsari Dal 

When I follow a recipe to the tee it is either because I the recipe or because I trust the writer of the recipe and have full faith in the person's recipe. Today it was both. The moment I read about this fantastic Amritsari Dal from my friend Sonal's blog, Simply vegetarian777, I knew it would be a beautiful mushy thick pulse.

There is a second reason why I knew I must follow this recipe. Sonal is one of the few people who gives importance to one's health and her recipes are always always healthy. The other reason why I love love love this recipe is because of the minimum number of ingredients required.  I did cut down the recipe by half as per my requirement . 

Serves 2 to 3 

Anyway here is the recipe for Sonal's Amritsari Dal :- 

1/2 cup whole urad dal
1/8th cup chana dal
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 mint leaves
2 whole red chilies
Salt as per taste
3/4th tsp cumin powder
Red chili powder as per taste - I needed 1/2 tsp
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 large tomato finely chopped
1/2 a small onion finely chopped
3 cups of water

Soak the pulses overnight or for a minimum of 6 hours. Now pressure cook them on low heat with 3 cups of water till the first whistle and then simmer for another 5 minutes.

Now heat the ghee and add cumin seeds . When the cumin seeds splutter then add the whole red chilies and onion and saute for sometime and add the ginger and tomato and cook on low heat till it beocmes a nice mushy paste and then add the pulse which you have cooked and bring to a boil and add salt, cumin powder and red chili powder and simmer for 15 minutes.

Enjoy a healthy meal with some wholewheat chapatis 

Sondesh

Norom paker Sondesh (Ultra soft sondesh)  

Once you have had your success with Sondesh a delicate sweet from Bengal you realize its one of the easiest desserts to make but all you need is patience, strong hands and a will to knead a good amount.

Before I give the very easy recipe what you need to know is Sondesh can be categorized broadly under 'Norom Pak' the soft melt in the mouth variant which is cooked for a few minutes to make cotton soft sweets and then there is the 'Kora Pak' the hard variant which lasts longer than the Norom Pak but quite honestly isn't of the melt in the mouth texture. Then there is 'Kacha Golla' a softer variant which is not even cooked or hardly cooked to keep it ultra soft.

Now I was born in the city of sweets at least the city of Sondesh, Kolkata , but I am very particular about the kind of sondesh I eat. If its coloured I will give it a skip, if it has too much of fragrance from artifical attar I detest it. I like mine in the purest form with natural falvourings such as rose or saffron or pistachios or almonds.

When it comes to Sondesh I cannot remember my maternal grandmother, 'Dima' who stays in a house which is more ancient than her 92 years. Not that she has ever made sweets but my Dima was always the sweet connoisseur or rather one who staunchly believed when it came to sweets it must be traditional. There is one of the oldest sweet shops in Calcutta located near her home called , 'Bhim Chandra Nag' established somewhere in 1848 and while I was growing up she would ritually send me to get sweets from the sweetshop to feed me a huge number of sweets. Later in my late teen years I would protest saying that it seemed irrational since at times I did not want to eat sweets. Only after I passed out from college and suddenly stepped into adulthood did I realize how much I cherish these silly rituals.

Today when I made these soft sondesh and fed my 92 year old grandmother at first she refused them saying she has lost her taste and doesn't enjoy sweets and then when I informed her that I have made it myself she ate an entire square and said that it was fantastic. I guess that brought me all the joy.

Then there is my Mimi (maternal uncle's wife) who is a true magician in the kitchen when it comes to Bengali dishes and when her approval came for the sweets I knew I have passed in the art of making sweets. Funnily enough I realize it now that I have begun writing that I did not follow anyone's recipe but I will share those very important tips which are essential

What you need for 16 squares of Sondesh

1.5 litre full cream milk
1 tbsp to 2 tbsp non fruit vinegar diluted with 1 tbsp water
6 tbsp castor sugar
50gm finely chopped pistachios which have been blanched from before
2 fat green cardamom
Ghee or clarified butter for greasing

The process is pretty simple. Bring the milk to a roaring boil in a large pan and slowly add the diluted vinegar and keep boiling till the cheese is formed and you see the greenish whey and the floating cheese. Turn off the gas stove and cover with a lid with no holes and let it stand for 5 minutes.

Now gather the cheese in a cheesecloth or muslin cloth and hang it to drain it of whey for 15 minutes.

In the meantime dry roast the cardamom for 2 minutes and take out the seeds and pound them to a fine powder. Blanch the pistachios and finely chop them.

After 15 minutes take the cheese in a large flat bowl. It helps to have a raised fence around the flat plate greased with ghee from before for ease of working with the cheese. Start mashing it using both your hands and then use the heel of your palm to make the smoothest dough ever. Your Sondesh's success depends completely on this process of kneading.

After 5 minutes add the sugar and cardamom powder and knead for 15 minutes. In the end it will be a soft dough. Now take the smallest possible wok in proportion to the amount of cheese dough and place the dough in it and cook this on low heat for just about 2 minutes to 3 minutes.

Let it cool down and knead with some amount of the finely chopped pistachios for 10 minutes and then make 16 balls and shape them in squares on a greased plate. Finish off by sprinkling pistachios on each square.

For making Ultra soft Sondesh these following tips are crucial :-

1. The milk must absolutely be 100% whole milk. No compromise on fat please 
2. You must not use lemon to curdle the milk since it leaves a lemony smell which interferes with the flavours you use 
3. If you want ultra soft melt in the mouth Sondesh you hand the cheese for 15 minutes else you can hang it for 30 minutes 
4. You cannot compromise on the time for kneading because that dictates how soft your Sondesh will turn out 
5. When it comes to flavouring know that Sondesh is supposed to be delicate so if you are using rose flavour where you use 1 tbsp rose water per 500ml of milk used for making cheese its best to not use cardamom because then the flavour of cardamom will overpower the flavour of rose. When using saffron no other flavouring is needed. 

Rose flavoured Norom Paker Sondesh

Lahori Chargha

Lahori Chargha 

Marinate, Steam and Fry 

The best part about being part of social networking Culinary groups is the amazing number of ideas you can get and so when someone posted about Chicken Chargha I immediately knew I must learn more about this interesting delicacy from our beautiful neighboring country.

To be fair there is precious little information on the internet about the dish except for many many recipes and  after browsing through many a recipe I decided on the recipe shared by Faiza from Pakistan Kitchen

To be fair I mostly followed her recipe to the T except for a few change of method of cooking. I left the food colouring since I do not particularly care for food colours and  I marinated it much longer than the recipe stated and I used ghee which I know is an essential part of lahori cuisine.

I particularly liked her idea of using eggs instead of yogurt which gives a better binding. I served the dish with some ghee pilaf since the chicken basically being a fried dry item goes wonderfully well with ghee laden pilaf which gives the moisture in between crispy soft chicken. The beauty of the recipe is that you have to steam and fry the whole chicken without making pieces from it.

So here goes this amazing recipe from the historical city of  Lahore :-

Serves 6 to 7

2 medium sized skinless whole chicken (Each chicken should approximately weight about 800gm to 1 kilogram)
1 heaped tsp cumin powder
1.5 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice
1.5 tbsp chili flakes
1 heaped tsp red hot chili powder
1.5 to 2 tsp salt
1 tsp garam masala

100gm ghee
2 cups of refined oil

Chaat masala to taste - You need at least half a cup
Lemon to serve
onion rings for serving

Simply mix the eggs, cumin powder, garam masala, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice , salt , chili flakes and chili powder to form a paste. Make slits all over the chicken so that the marinate penetrates it well  . Once the slits are made massage the marinate into the two chicken and leave it to marinate for 3 hours to 4 hours.

Now bring a large bowl of water to a boil and place a flat strainer on top of it and place the chicken on it and cover and steam for 30 minutes to 35 minutes.

Heat the ghee and oil together and fry the chicken for 7 minutes to 10 minutes turning it 4 times. Serve with lots of chaat masala sprinkled on it and lemon juice and some salad if eating it as a snack or you can team it up with some ghee pilaf.

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 .

Laal Maas

Laal Maas 

(A regal recipe from Rajasthan) 

 The truth is , for me virtual forums are a boon in life and here is why. You see you may have tried a recipe a hundred times but then somewhere these old favourites take a back-seat with new recipes to be explored,  healthy diets to be followed etc. Currently Kolkata Food Bloggers is hosting this amazing East or West Food is the best event, which explores regional cuisines from across western India to the far eastern states. Located in the extreme West,  Rajasthan is the state I picked for this event. There is something mysteriously attractive about this state which has always drawn me to this magnetic land of princes and princesses. Popularly known as the 'Land of kings' my earliest memory of this state with its rich cultural past is Abanindranath's 'Rajkahini' (A member of the Tagore family who wrote these mesmerizing short stories about regal Rajasthan) which captured my fancies when I was a child and continues to do so even today.

What one needs to know is Rajasthan unlike other states of India is a very dry state. After all , the Thar desert is located in Rajasthan and its culture and cuisine has developed accordingly . So most dishes use a lot of clarified butter to keep one's skin from drying out. It also uses a lot of spices and the fiery Rajasthi lal mirch.

Legend has it that the Regal families from Rajasthan would go hunting and the royal chefs would develop these amazing meat based dishes and Laal maas is one of them. Even with the unusual number of dried red chilies used , it is fiery yet not so fiery that one feels choked because all that fiery red chili remains whole and the flavours come from assorted spices. I was lucky enough to stumble upon this article when I was searching for information about regal Rajasthani cuisine. You may have a look at this article if it interests you.

What I gathered from the article was that the important part of the recipe is the browning of onions and the meat and the long hours of cooking to achieve that melt in the mouth texture of the meat.

As usual the website is filled with numerous recipes of laal maas. I have personally followed one I had gathered from 'The telegraph' Calcutta, years ago and have loved the taste. Even though it might sound rich and the process very tedious I suggest you follow it to indulge in that regal experience once in a while.

What you need is :-

1kg goat meat (the lean part)
400gm onions sliced thinly
4 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cumin seeds
16 whole Rajasthani dried red chilies
Salt as per taste
4 tsp heaped Rajasthani dried red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
4 tsp ground coriander seeds
350gm ghee to 400gm ghee
10 black cardamom
10 green cardamom
350gm thick curd whipped

Start by marinating the meat with salt and 1 tbsp ghee. Marinate for 2 hours and then heat the ghee and add the cumin , when it splutters add the garlic and when the beautiful aroma hits your nostril add the whole red chilies and the onions and then brown the onions on low heat, when browned add the meat and seal the juices on high heat for 4 minutes or so and then lower the heat and brown it completely. This process of browning takes about 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Add the coriander powder, salt , red chili powder and then keep stirring till the spices are mixed well with the meat, add the whipped curd and bring to a boil and then lower heat and cook for the next 30 minutes to 45  hour. Now there was a time when I would waste a lot of  fuel and cook it on low flame for 3 hours or so. I have learnt a trick for domestic cooks which saves fuel and yields the exact soft meat and retains all the flavour. Use a heavy bottomed pressure cooker and simply transfer everything from the big wok in the pressure cooker and then seal it and put it on low flame allowing the steam to develop very very slowly. It takes about 20 minutes to 30 minutes and then wait for 2 whistles and let the steam come out on its own. Here you must be patient. Once the pressure is lowered to the point where you can open the lid open it and transfer it back to the wok and now you need to be careful because your meat is already soft enough and for that melt in the mouth experience you need to bring it to a boil and simmer for not more than 5 minutes to 7 minutes because if simmered for a longer period the meat melts in the pan instead of your mouth and no one wants melted meat in a mass of gravy. Once you have simmered the meat put it through the fork test to understand the softness . What you do is  take a piece of meat and try and take out a bit with a fork and it comes off you know the meat is done. Now turn off the gas stove and use a lid to cover the pan and let it stand for sometime and serve with some hot Chapati.

This is part of the event,