Sometime back a new eatery opened near our place and we loved the Punjabi styled food which they used to serve.And one fine day, some six months later, when we walked in to order some starters for the friends who came for drinks, I was taken aback when I found that there stood a Spa instead of the restaurant.
Of all the dishes that we had tasted the Egg and Chicken Pakodas,Chicken Butter Masala and the Mutton Rogan Josh – all cooked in their own fashion stood out.The Pakodas were a perfect accompaniment with the drinks and dipping Tandoori Roti into the Chicken Butter Masala or the Mutton Rogan Josh used to be heavenly for dinner.The restaurant has long gone, but the inspirational dishes still remain. And my kitchen, which usually comes alive every weekend is meant to recreate dishes which we sometimes miss. The result this weekend was Chakna Shakna’s(the restaurant) Punjabi Mutton Masala.
Serves: 4-5.
Preparation Time: 35-45 mins.
(In my recipes, the preparation time includes – cleaning the ingredients,cutting them and preparing any additional precursors towards making the main dish.)
Cooking Time:
- 1.5 hrs when cooked in a pressure cooker.
- 2 hrs if cooked in a kadai.
Ingredients:
- Mutton: 1 kg
- Onion: 250 gms.Sliced longitudinally.
- Ginger: A 2 inch piece.Crushed.
- Garlic: 12-14 cloves.Crushed.
- Tomato: 350 gms. Each tomato should be sliced into 4 pieces.
- Green Chilli:5-6.Slit.
- Coriander Leaves:6-8 tbsp.Leaves only.The stem and branches are to be exluded.
- Cream: 50 gms.Whisked.
- Mustard Oil: 8-10 tbsp
- Melted Desi Ghee: 4 tbsp. To be added at the end.
- Salt: To taste.
Powdered Spices:
- Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp
- Coriander Powder: 3 tsp
- Cumin Powder:1.5 tsp
- Dry Red Chilli Powder: 2 tsp
Whole Spices:
- Cumin Seeds: 1.5 tbsp
- Dry Red Chili: 3-4
- Bay Leaf: 3
Punjabi Garam Masala Ingredients:
- Green Cardamon: 4-5.
- Cinnamon Stick: One 2 inch piece.
- Cloves: 6-8.
- Black Cardamon: 3-4.
- Black Pepper: 8-10.
- White Pepper: 8-10.
- Shahi Jeera: 1 tsp
Preparation:
Punjabi Garam Masala:
- Heat a kadai and dry roast all the Punjabi Garam Masala Ingredients
- 3 mins into the roasting, shut down the gas and remove the roasted spices.
- Powder the spices till they are fine.
Tomato Paste:
- Heat 2 tbsp of mustard oil in a kadai.
- Once the oil gets hot, add the sliced tomatoes and sprinkle some salt to taste.
- Stir the tomato slices till the rawness disappears.
- Transfer the contents into a mixture grinder and make a fine paste.
Cooking:
- Heat 8-10 tbsp of mustard oil in a kadai.
- Once the oil gets hot, add the Whole spices and the slit green chillies.
- Let the spices sputter for sometime and release their aroma.Then add the crushed ginger and garlic.
- After a minute, add the sliced onions.Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp of sugar(optional) to enable faster caramelization.
- Stir under medium heat for 8-10 mins.
- Then add the mutton pieces.
- Spread all the powdered spices over the mutton pieces.Sprinkle a little amount of salt too.
- Increase the flame to high and stir the mixture well.Ensure that the mutton does not stick to the bottom of the
- kadai.
- After stirring for 20-25 mins, add the tomato paste.
- Continue stirring for a further 15 mins.Add some amount of warm water in case required.
- Then turn the heat to low and add the whisked cream.Ensure that the cream mixes well with the mixture – after which add the coriander leaves.
- Transfer the contents to a pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of warm water to ensure that the mixture does not burn itself.
- Check the level of salt and add more if required.
- Let the mutton cook in its own juices in the pressure cooker for 40 mins.
- At the end of pressure cooking, remove the lid of the pressure cooker and add melted desi ghee and 1.5 tbsp of Punjabi garam masala.
- Stir the mixture under low flame for another 5-7 mins.
Serve with Tandoori Roti.
