Hara Gosht: No onion, garlic or ginger

Mum and Dad are away for the weekend. So my brother and I have this part of the house to ourselves. A potentially dangerous situation, I respect my parents' risk-taking potential.They don't take such a risk often, only sometimes. And those rare occasions mostly make theme regret. But that's another story. This time around, it's been 36 hours since they left and yet everything is just fine I mean nothing's broken, the kitchen looks clean, reasonably clean, no ones had to try to breakdown doors or no passerby has stopped in their tracks bewildered by anguished shrieks coming through the second floor window. We've been good children. We haven't quarreled, he hasn't hung by my hair nor have I sat on him threatening to throttle him under my weight. No name calling eitheis. This is when Mum smiles a proud smile. To top it all I made this delectable mutton dish last evening on my brother's request and he complimented me on it. Unbelievable...true but. However I was so happy with the outcome of last evening's kitchen feat, I could wait to share it with you guys.

The dish is alled Hara Gosht. Yes because it is green in colour. It has no onions, garlic or ginger. A few spices. Loads of green. And some khoya to give it a beautiful creaminess. I loved it. And I am sure so would you. In fact, if you haven;t planned your Sunday dinner yet may be you should try this tonight.

Ingredients

Mutton: 750 g
Mustard oil
Asafoetida (Hing): 2 tsp
Coriander powder: 1 tbsp (heaped)
Fennel seeds (coarsely ground) - 11/2 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tbsp
Minced raw papaya: 2 tbsp
Coriander leaves : 250 g
Mint leaves: 100 g
Green chilies: 5-6 (or according to taste)
Khoya (grated): 2 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method

Marinate the meat with minced papaya and vinegar for two hours.

In a mixer, make a paste (with little or no water) of the coriander and mint leaves and green chilies.

Heat oil in a pan and once it begins to smoke, reduce heat and a few seconds later add the fennel seeds and the asafoetida.

Once fragrant, toss in the meat, turn up heat and fry the meat until it turns brown. Also add the coriander powder at this stage.

Add the coriander-mint-chili paste and keep frying on high heat. Add salt too. Scrape out any bits sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Finally add 200 ml hot water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and let it cook covered until meat softens. You can also pressure cook the meat for about 25 minutes and then simmer till they are tender.

Finally add khoya, mix well and let it simmer for another 5 minutes or so.

Sesame-Crusted Golmirch Chicken: Luck by chance!

December before last I took off on a 10 day trip to Delhi. This was suppose to be a reunion of sorts with two of my best friends from university — Chetna Desai and Jhumki Dutta (now Jhumki Dutta Kashyap). They have been my family during my stay in England, the source of warmth that helped me deal with the cold and grey English weather and the repercussions of staying thousands of miles away from home. Oh the times we have shared — walking in the woods, exploring the Downs, coffee at Starbucks, window-shopping at Churchill square, beer on the Brighton beach, tea at 3 in the morning, arguments, tears, hugs, memories, losses, happiness...I love these women to bits. And the idea was to spend some great time with the two of them. I had another secret plan though — I wanted to explore Delhi's food scene, which I had heard had undergone a sea change in less than a decade. I mean I was more than familiar with the the kebabs and paranthas and chaats and chola bhaturas but I wanted to check out the newest places in New Delhi.

Now who knows one better than their friends. The first thing Chetna (she is a development professional) said on seeing me walk out of the airport was "You have to check out this Bihari restaurant I ate at last week, it is brilliant!" I knew right away that this was going to be a good trip.

With Chetna

With Jhumki

We went to the Pot Belly Rooftop Cafe on the third day of my stay — Chetna, Jhumki and I. Now Chetna is a vegetarian and I had assumed we were going to a vegetarian joint. But I was happy at the thought of wolfing down a preposterous amount of Teheri and feasting on litti chokha. The almost perpendicular climp up to the fourth floor rooftop was rather taxing on my legs and morale but I managed and boy was  I glad I did. I did little jig on seeing meat and fish on the menu and settled for a Golmirch chicken among other stuff. Now what I was expecting was a dark, peppery gravy or something dry on the lines of a stir fry what I didn't expect was succulent, melt-in-your-mouth pieces of chicken in a buttery creamy sauce flavoured with fresh ground black pepper. I was in love with the dish.

The spread at Pot Belly. (Left, front) Golmirch chicken served with Parantha, chokha, sabudana vada and salad. I wish I had a better picture. But at that time, I had been like "Picture? What picture? Dig in!"

Ever since my return I have contemplated recreating the dish but never got around to doing it. In fact a few weeks ago I was craving Pot Belly's Golmirch chicken and thought that I had probably forgotten the taste by now. I decided a trip to Delhi was necessary and how.

However, last evening I trumped up a chicken preparation merely with a few things lying in the fridge that needed to be used and the dish took my breath away....I was transported back to that wintry night in Delhi when I polished off an entire bowl of the creamy golmirch chicken....this was almost identical, except it had my own little twist, a golden sesame crust. This, this is SERENDIPITY.

 
Ingredients 

Chicken (Boneless)- 1 kg
Hung Curd - 100 gms
Fresh cream - 100 ml
Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
Almond - 25-30
Cashew nuts - 15-20
Coarsely ground black pepper (fresh) - 2 tbsp
White oil - 4-5 tbsp
Salt to taste
Pinch of sugar 

Method:


In a mixer make a course paste of the almonds and cashewnuts together.

Marinate the chicken with all the ingredients (including the nut paste), except the sesame seeds and keep for an hour.

Preheat oven at 160 degree centigrade. Pour the marinated chicken into a baking tray and spread it out to form a single layer.

Now spinkle the sesame seeds generously on the chicken.

This is how it should look when it goes into the oven

Bake at 160 degree for 60-70 minutes. For the last five minutes change oven settings to heat from the top to get a golden crust, faster.

Serve with Parantha or Naan Bread.