 |
| Mutton Korma with Poppy Seed Paste |
I was scrolling through the calendar to check how many extended weekends the office provided us with. The wife too rummaged her holiday list and we found that we were common on a couple of extended weekends.Not bad, we say, almost like looking at the examination results board that used to appear after every semester. Holidays are the only relaxation that office leaves us with. Plans to travel will be decided later, but its January and the recent trip to Puri has managed to refresh us for a couple of months ahead.And the holiday calendar too is promising. And today, being a Sunday, we wanted to cook some soft and tender mutton curry.Initially the menu included dal,some alu bhaja too, but the wife wanted it to be simpler – Steaming Hot Rice, Vegetable Salad-the Bengali way and Mutton Korma laced with Poppy seed paste.
We had a gratifying Sunday lunch and the Posto(poppy seed) based mutton korma proved to be an excellent dish.
Serves: 4-5
Preparation Time: 45 mins
Marination Time: 8 hrs
Cooking Time:
Traditional Method(cooking in a kadai)-2 hrs
Using a pressure cooker – 1.5 hrs
Ingredients for cooking:
- Mutton: 1 kg
- Onion: 350 gms.Cut longitudinally and then fried in 3 tbsp of vegetable oil until it turns golden brown. 1 tbsp of sugar can be used for faster caramelization.After the onion is done, make it into a fine paste in the mixer grinder.
- Garlic: 12-14 cloves.Made into a fine paste.
- Ginger: A 2 inch piece.Made into a fine paste.
- Potato: 2 big ones.Sliced into a total of 4 pieces. Being a Bengali, as I have mentioned elsewheretoo, the lure of adding a potato in meat is too overwhelming.
- Posto/Poppy Seed/Khus Khus: 40 gms. Made into a fine paste.
- Cashew Nut: 25 gms.Made into a fine paste.
- Whisked Yoghurt: 100-120 gms.
- Vegetable Oil: 10 tbsp
- Melted Ghee: 3 tbsp. To be added at the end.
- Salt: To taste
- Kewra Water: 1 tsp
- Rose Water: 1 tsp
- Meetha Itra: One drop
Powdered Spices:
- Turmeric Powder: 1.5 tbsp
- Coriander Powder: 3 tbsp
- Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: 2 tbsp
Garam Masala/Whole Spices:
- Bay Leaf: 2
- Green Cardamon(Chota Elaichi): 5-6.
- Cinnamon Stick: One 2 inch piece or a couple of one inch pieces.
- Black Cardamon: 3.
- Shahi Jeera: 2 tsp
- White Pepper: 6-8
- Black Pepper: 6-8
- Jaiphal(Nutmeg) Powder:1/4 tsp
- Jaitri Powder: 1/4th tsp.
The Marination:
- Clean the mutton pieces in running water.Then let them dry in the open air till the moisture has totally evaporated.
- Mix 4 tbsp of vegetable oil,2 tbsp of turmeric powder and salt as per taste with the mutton and let the mutton rest for a good 8 hrs.
Cooking:
- Heat 10tbsp of vegetable oil in a kadai.
- Once the oil gets hot, add the garam masalas.Wait for the spices to crackle and release their aroma.
- Under medium heat, add the ginger and garlic pastes and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Add the entire mutton marinade at this point. Turn the heat to high and sprinkle all the powdered spices over the mutton.
- Stir briskly for the next 15 mins,until the colour of the powdered spices are infused in the mutton. The mutton should look reddish in colour.
- Then add the brown onion paste to the kadai.
- Turn the heat to medium.
- Stir for around 5 mins to ensure that the brown onion has gelled properly with the mutton.
- Turn the heat to low.
- Add the cashew nut paste and the poppy seed paste.
- Keep on stirring the mixture for 12-14 mins to ensure that the mutton doesnot stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Add the sliced potatoes and continue to stir for some more time(aroiund 5-6 mins).
- To cook traditionally:
- Add some warm water and cook the mutton under a lid, in the kadai for another hour to 1 hr 15 mins until it gets soft. However, it needs to be checked every 10 mins to ensure that the mixture does not dry up.
For Pressure Cooker Based Cooking:
- Transfer the mutton into a pressure cooker and let it cook for 45 mins.
- After the mutton gets soft, tender and melt in the mouth, add the following: Melted ghee,Kewra water,Rose Water, Meetha Itra.
- Stir for one final time before serving.
