Serve it garnished with onion circles and chopped coriander and eat it with lachcha paranthas …
PRAVASISAMWAD.COM
I can’t remember the name of the meat shop in Bhowanipore, Kolkata, because Daddy taught us to refer to the friendly face as ‘Chachu’ who always greeted me and my twin sister with a big grin and ‘Kaise ho Beta?’, almost every Sunday when Daddy took both of us to purchase mutton for Sunday’s lunch. Daddy always believed every outing was a learning experience.
At home (only a 5 minutes walk), masala was being prepared. Ginger, garlic and green chillies were being ground on the sheel nora, while Dada (my eldest brother) was busy chopping 1 kg of onions into small pieces. Dad would return with 1 and a half kgs of ‘raan ka meat’ as Mummy always reminded him.
Didi would be preparing the bhindis for the ‘Gosht mein bhindi’.
Daddy would put up the bell metal handi, add loads of ghee, the whole garam masala and begin the cooking. The gosht would be cooked with the onions over low flame for 2 hours adding spices, tomatoes and tbsps of water. Slow cooking, Dad would once a while stir it. The gosht almost always didn’t need the pressure cooker (in fact, Daddy didn’t know how to use a pressure cooker), but always had the mutton delicious cooked, falling off the bone. Those were the days!
Ingredients:
500 gms mutton keema, not finely minced
2 tbsps of onion paste
2 tbsps of chopped onions
3 tbsps of ghee
Half inch pice cinnamon
2 cloves
3 cardamoms
1 bay leaf
2 tsps ginger paste
2 tsps garlic paste
1 tsp green chillie paste
4 to tomatoes- chopped
Salt
1 tsp haldi – turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp roasted jeera powder
1 tsp red chillie powder
For the bhindi:
250 gms of lady finger
1 tsp amchur powder- mango powder
Half tsp red chillie powder
1 tsp roasted jeera powder – cumin
2 tbsps of ghee
For garnishing:
One onion cut into circles
Chopped coriander
Wash the bhindis and pat dry with towel to remove all moisture. Cut both ends and make a slit in each of the bhindis. Sprinkle amchur, red chillie and jeera powder. No salt is to be added . Sprinkle the masalas over the bhindis and rub gently with your fingers. Keep aside for 5 minutes .
Heat a non stick pan, add the ghee and fry the marinated bhindis over low heat. Cook till bhindis are soft but the crispy. Remove and keep aside.
To prepare the keema:
Heat a thick bottomed pan. Add half the quantity of ghee and add the whole spices and allow to splutter. Mix in the onion paste and brown over low heat. Mix in the chopped onions and the ginger, garlic paste and continue to cook for a further two minutes over low heat. Add the keema. Mix well and continue to cook and fry for a further 3-4 minutes. Mix in the spices and tomatoes and the green chillie paste and continue to cook and fry over low heat. Add the remaining ghee a little at a time. Once the keema is dry add 1 cup of water, cover with a lid and cook on low fire till keema is tender and the water is used up. Now mix in the fried bhindis and continue to cook over low heat for 2 minutes, covering with a lid.
As a final touch – you could add half tbsp of ghee and mix gently. This is optional.
Serve garnished with onion circles and chopped coriander. Serve with lachcha paranthas.
************************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com
************************************************************************