Dhaba Mutton Curry

Traversing north India through roadways I had the privilege of experiencing the taste of this delectable dish quite a number of times. Stopping by a roadside dhaba (small food joints along highways) and enjoying the lip smacking rustic flavours of the countryside is something sublime, divine. That is why I always prefer dhabas to plush restaurants/resorts while driving on highways.

 Intrinsically the dhaba flavour is associated with desi ghee/clarified butter, spices, tadka dal/lentils, mutton/chicken, hot chapatis which wafts around and tickles your taste buds making each moment of wait for the food seem like a year. The taste of a dhaba dal tadka and mutton/chicken curry is to die for because of the unparallel freshness. I searched the net for the authentic recipe of Dhaba Mutton Curry which will bring out the flavour of  rural Punjab and found Moumita Roy’s (a friend and fellow foodie, blogger)  recipe. Adjusted the recipe accordingly with some modifications to suit my requirement…here’s the recipe….

Dhaba Mutton Curry

 

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Recipe:
 

Ingredients:

• 800 gms mutton cut in medium sized pieces
• 6-7 onions chopped
• 1 ½ inch ginger
• 1 whole garlic
• 2-3 green chillies
• ½ cup tomato puree/paste
• 2 bay leaves
• 5-6 green cardamoms
• 2 sticks of cinnamon 1 inch each
• 5-6 cloves
• 1 tsp Deghi red chilli powder
• 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• ½ cup ghee/clarified butter
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Some chopped green chillies and fresh coriander leaves for garnishing

Dhaba Mutton Curry

Procedure:
 

Take ginger, garlic and green chillies, make smooth paste in a blender. Heat ghee in a thick bottomed skillet and fry the mutton pieces till they get a brownish hue. Take them out and keep aside. Toss the whole garam masalas and bay leaves in the same ghee or add more if you need. Wait for the crackle and add onions. Fry the onions golden and add the ginger-garlic-green chilli paste. Saute and add the powdered masalas. Fry well. Add salt and the mutton pieces, mix with the masalas. Add 2 big cups of warm water and cover the skillet with a lid. Let the mutton cook on low flame till tender. This may take 1 hour to 1 ½ hours depending on the quality of mutton. Now add the tomato puree and sugar and cook for further 5-6 minutes. Serve hot garnished with chopped green chillies and coriander leaves.

Note: Add tomato puree after the mutton gets fully cooked or it will turn stiff and chewy.

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha (Dry Colocasia With Potatoes)

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha (Dry Colocasia with potatoes) is a pure vegetarian dish without onions and garlic. Cooked with minimum possible ingredients this is one of the tastiest veg dishes, can be made in barely 20-25 minutes and should be relished with hot fulkas (Indian bread) and the non calorie watchers may indulge in a dollop of butter on the fulkas to make it even more delectable…here’s the recipe…

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Recipe:

Ingredients:

 

• 250 gms arbi/colocasia
• 250gms baby/medium sized potatoes
• 1 inch ginger pasted
• 5 green chillies slit from the middle
• Chopped coriander leaves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 dry whole red chillies
• 1 pinch hing/asafoetida
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 3 tsp (heaped) cumin powder
• Salt n sugar to taste
• Mustard oil as per requirement

Dum Aloo Arbi Sukha

Procedure:
  

Boil arbi and potatoes in a cooker upto 5 whistles. When the steam is released place them under running water to cool and then peel off the skin. If the potatoes and colocasia are of medium size, cut them horcizontally into halves. Now heat oil in a skillet and splutter cumin, whole red chillies, bay leaf, green chillies and hing. Add ginger paste, sauté for a minute and add turmeric, cumin powder, salt and a pinch of sugar. Stir the masalas and add the potatoes and colocasia. Mix well with the masalas, turn off the flame, cover and give some standing time before serving. Top it with some freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Masala Bhetki/Sea bass/Barramundi

Masala Bhetki

This is another brilliant fish recipe that I found in a cookbook. Immediately picked it up and gave it a try. Bhetki/ Sea bass/ Barramundi is a fish more frequently used for fries, not a favorite with curries as it is too soft and often ends up in a mess if not handled delicately. But there was something in the recipe that was hard to resist trying for a born fish lover like me. And that’s what it exactly turned out to be… an out and out superb dish with a fabulous texture, aroma and an astounding taste….this is a must try folks…here’s the recipe…

Masala Bhetki

Masala Bhetki

Masala Bhetki

Masala Bhetki

Masala Bhetki

Masala Bhetki

Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 gms Bhetki/Seabass/Barramundi
• 2 onions pasted
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 11/2 tsp garlic paste
• 2 tsp green chilli paste
• 1 big red tomato
• 2 tblspoons posto/khuskhus/poppy seeds
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp paanch phoron/five spices (black mustard seeds, cumin seeds/wild celery seeds, fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, fennel seeds)
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 2 tblspns kasuri methi
• Salt n sugar to taste
• White oil as per requirement

Masala Bhetki

Procedure:
 

Marinate the washed fish pieces with lemon juice, turmeric, onion, ginger garlic and green chilli paste for 15 minutes. Soak poppy seeds in a little water for half an hour and add chopped tomatoes to it and make a fine a paste in a blender. Heat oil in a skillet and take out the fish pieces from the marination and fry well very carefully on both sides, do not haste or you’ll break the pieces. Take out and keep aside. Now in the same oil splutter paanch phoron and add the rest of the marinade. Saute well. Add the tomato and poppy seeds paste. Add the powdered masalas, salt and sugar (optional). Fry well till the oil separates.  Add half cup of warm water, bring to a boil, add the kasuri methi and the fish pieces. Let them simmer in the gravy for about 2-3 minutes covered. Turn off the flame, give some standing time for the flavours to blend nicely with the fish and serve with plain steamed rice. It will be a meal to remember…. J

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton of Golbari)

Wish you all Shuvo Bijoya and Eid Mubarak!! :)

Today I’m posting a very special, popular and traditional Bengali recipe Golbarir Kosha Mangsho. Bongs have weakness over mutton apart from fish and when it’s Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton) the name that’s spelled in the same breath is Golbari.

If you chance to visit the rich cultural and gastronomic heritage of Kolkata and want a comprehensive tour of its gourmet world, Golbarir Kosha Mangsho (Spicy Bhuna Mutton Of Golbari) and Parantha must feature in the list. Situated at the five point crossing of Shyambazar behind the Netaji Statue in North Kolkata, Golbari (‘Gol’ means round and ‘Bari’ means house) is a small restaurant which boasts of the best mutton in town.

People used to flock to this place from different parts of the city and queue for long hours just to get a taste of this delicacy. But I have heard sometimes back that the place had shut down and taken over by another owner (New Punjabi Hotel) who has failed to live up to the age old reputation of the place. They do have kosha Mangsho in their menu list but the old taste, class and flavour are all gone, the succulent juicy divine mutton chunks, the soft  well cooked meat falling most delicately off the bone, got replaced by chewy rubbery tasteless mutton.

 I was despondent about the news, the childhood memories, glimpses of my favourite, much loved restaurant quivered in my mind. This post is dedicated to all those who inspite of the grime and grease, plastic chairs and table more like a wall mounted desk, space crunch and walls blackened with soot, loved the place for the incredible taste it created and were deeply saddened by the termination of its operation. This is my humble effort to recreate the taste of Golbari in my kitchen, to stir up a nostalgia and was successful to a great extent in doing so according to my husband.

Now, providing you with the recipe of the famous dish….

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarair Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Recipe: 

Ingredients:

·        1 kg mutton (goat meat), be sure to have quite a few nalli pieces ( pcs with bone marrow)

·        7-8 onions

·        12-14 cloves of garlic

·        2 inch ginger

·        6-7 green chillies

·        6-7 green cardamoms

·        4 sticks of cinnamon (1 inch each)

·        6-7 cloves

·        2 bay leaves

·        1 tsp turmeric

·        3 tsp coriander powder

·        2 tsp of cumin powder

·        300 gms of yogurt beaten to a creamy consistency

·        Salt n sugar to taste

·        Mustard oil as per requirement

Golbarir Kosha Mangsho

Procedure: 

For Marination:

First make a smooth paste of two onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies. Marinate the mutton with yogurt, the paste, salt and 2 tblspns of mustard oil for at least 7-8 hours in the refrigerator.

For Cooking:

Thinly slice the remaining onions. Heat oil in a thick bottomed skillet and splutter the whole garam masalas and bay leaves. Add a little sugar and caramalise it. Add the sliced onions and fry them golden. Add the powdered masalas, stir and add the marinated mutton. Fry on high heat until the mutton is sealed and changes color to brownish. No red chilli powder and tomatoes please, because we want the colour to be dark/ blackish brown. Now cover with a lid. Let the mutton get cooked slowly on low flame. Do not try to pressure cook. The mutton will get cooked with its own juice and fat. It will take about 45 minutes – 1 hour for the mutton to get tender. Check at a gap of 10 minutes and stir.  Sprinkle a little water in between if the mutton gets too dry. Serve with hot paranthas/luchis/pooris and onion rings.