Khatta Meat - A speciality of Jammu

A slightly tangy mutton curry that the family loved. Base recipe is from Recipes from Mum but made a few changes in the original.

Ingredients:

1 Kg mutton

4 to 5 Onions, finely chopped
3 tbsp Garlic, finely chopped
4 tbsp Ginger, finely chopped
1/3 cup Mustard oil
1 tbsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 -3 bay leaves

1 to 2 tbsp Kashmiri chilly powder
4-6 tbsp Amchur (dry mango powder)

2 big cardamom

3 to 4 cloves

1" stick cinnamon

3 green chillies

 

Roast and powder

1 tbsp cummin seeds

2 tbsp Dhania seeds 

2 tbsp Saunf 

1 tbsp Methi seeds

Method:

• Wash the mutton pieces well. Apply half the salt and turmeric and cover and keep aside.

• Peel and chop the onion, garlic and ginger.  

• Use a thick-bottom pan for cooking (a 5 litre pressure cooker can do). The meat needs to be turned often, and cooked for at least an hour on a slow flame. 

• Heat your pan and pour in the mustard oil and heat till it smokes. 

• Add the cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and onions and sauté for about two minutes till they turn transparent.

• Now add the mutton, remaining salt and turmeric, and the bay leaves. 

• The meat now needs to be cooked for one hour. Make sure the flame is at its lowest setting, and give it a stir gently every five minutes or so to make sure it does not start burning from the sides.

• About half an hour into the cooking, the oil will start separating from the sides. At this point, add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook. Keep a closer watch, and turn the pieces more frequently so that they are braised evenly.

• Once it is well cooked, and almost dry (takes 45 to 50 minutes) add the dry powdered spices, red chilly powder and amchur. Stir constantly to coat the pieces well with the spices.

• Cook for at least 5-7 minutes after the amchur has been added.

• After an hour, check to see if the mutton is cooked through. Add about two cups of hot water (depending on the thickness of the curry you like), stir well and bring to a gentle simmer. Add green chillies and kasuri methi. Cover and allow the curry to cook for another five minutes or so.

• If the mutton is still rare, pressure cook it after adding the water for one or two whistles.

• After cooking with the water, check for spices and add more salt/ red chilli/ amchur powder, if needed.

 Serve with rotis or rice

Tomato pickle

This is my mother's famous tomato pickle or chutney as some people call it. It's a favorite of many in the family and extended family. Have this on the table, and you can get away with an unpopular vegetable.

Ingredients 

1/2 kg tomatoes
4 tsp chilli powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 " ginger
8 to 10 cloves of garlic
2 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil

Method

Wash and chop tomatoes finely. Put 2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt and chilli powder and keep stirring. Add crushed ginger and garlic after 3 mins.  Keep stirring and cooking till oil separates. Dry roast mustard and fenugreek seed. Make into a powder and add to the tomato mixture. Add remaining oil and cook for 10 to 15 mins. 

Store in the refrigerator. 

Baked mackerel or Bangde Hugge

 

Mackerel 500 gm                              

Turmeric 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Turmeric leaves 3 to 4

For the paste

Sliced Onions 2 

Garlic cloves 7to 8                              

Ginger 1/2 inch

Coriander seeds 1 tbsp                       

Cumin seeds 1 tsp

Whole Red chillies    2                        

Green chillies 1

Schechuan pepper 3 to 4

For the tempering

Coconut oil 2 tbsp

Peppercorns 8 to 10

Cinnamon 2 inch cut to smaller pieces

Cloves 8 to 10

Clean the mackerel and marinate with salt and turmeric powder. Grind all the ingredients for the paste. Make sure to add the schechuan peppers at the end while making the paste. If they are finely ground they can add a bitter taste. Coat the mackerel with the ground paste.

In a well greased baking dish, place a few turmeric leaves. Place the coated mackerels and a few more torn up leaves on top. Heat the coconut oil and add the pepper corns, cinnamon and cloves. Fry till aromatic and pour over the fish.

Preheat the oven to 180 degC and bake the fish for 20 to 30 minutes till the divine aroma of fish and turmeric leaves fills the kitchen.

Mushroom sweet potato patties

 

Half the family has decided to turn vegetarian for a few days and since I don't plan on cooking multiple dishes, the whole family is forced to turn vegetarian.

But then vegetarian doesn't necessarily mean boring. We decided to have mushroom burgers. The patties were made based on what was available. 

Makes 6 big patties

Button mushrooms 6        Crumbled paneer 3 tbsp

Boiled sweet potato 1       Red onion 1

Pepper   1 tsp                   Mixed herbs 1 tsp

Soya sauce 1 tsp              salt to taste

Oil  3 tbsp                        Bread crumbs to coat

Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add finely chopped onions and brown. Add soya sauce and finely chopped mushrooms and cook till done. There should be no water in the pan. Add mixed herbs. Mash the sweet potato and mix in the mushrooms and paneer. Add salt to taste. Shape into patties. Refrigerate for half an hour.

Coat the patties with bread crumbs or semolina(sooji rava) and shallow fry on a pan. Slide into a burger bun with sauce of your choice and enjoy. 

Scones

Scones bring back memories of all the Enid Blyton books that I used to read. This is a recipe that I used after reading a few of them online.

225 gm flour               4 tbsp cold butter
1/2 tsp salt                  2 tbsp sugar
1 egg                          1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk       1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda     a few drops of vanilla

Mix all the dry items together. You can add more sugar if you want it sweeter. Since we were to have it with jam, I just added 2 tbsp. Cut in the butter into the flour mix till you get a crumbly texture. Mix the egg and milk and add to the flour mix. Add the buttermilk and bring everything together. The dough is a soft, sticky dough. You can add a little flour to bring it all together. Roll out the dough into a rectangle and cut into pieces. Place them on a well greased baking tray. Brush the top with buttermilk. Bake at 180 deg C for about 15 to 20 mins till they turn golden brown.

Enjoy them warm with a jam of your choice or a savoury dip. 

Chicken cafreal

Chicken 500gms          Ginger 1 inch
Coriander 1 cup           Garlic 7 to 8 cloves
Cinnamon 1 inch          Peppercorns 12
Cloves 6 to 7                Green chillies 5
Poppy seeds 1 tsp        Tamarind soaked 1 tsp
Onions 1 large sliced    Vinegar 2 tsp

Grind together all the items except chicken to a fine paste. Marinate the chicken with the paste and salt for at least 6 hours. Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan and cook the chicken till done. This goes really well with pav.

Eggless chocolate cake

Cocoa 1/2 cup                   Milk 1 cup
Maida 2 1/4 cup                 Butter or oil  3/4 cup
Soda 1 1/2tsp                    Buttermilk 1/2 cup
Salt a pinch                        Sugar 1 cup  
Cashewnut or walnut (optional) 1/2 cup

Sieve maida, cocoa and baking soda together. Mix oil and sugar. Mix in the milk and buttermilk. Add the sieved ingredients, salt and mix well. Add the nuts. Preheat oven to 180 deg C. Add the cake batter to a well greased baking pan and bake for 20 to 30 mins. As baking times vary, check with a toothpick after 20 mins.