Multi-Purpose Mutton Soup (Broth / Stock)

Winter is coming (hehehe – not everyone will get this, but that’s okay 😉) and what better than a piping hot, robust soup/broth to sip on. I saw a mug of soup on my friend Khuzaan’s Insta stories and the soup looked so yum that I could not help but reach out to ask for the recipe.

The recipe belonged to his gym trainer, Murtaza’s mum, Mrs. Irfana Nasir. She ever so kindly sent the recipe within minutes (via Khuzaan). I gave this a try the very next day. This is one of the easiest broth/stock recipes you will ever come across and yet, the broth turns out so darn flavourful. I’ve now made so many times that I’ve kind of lost count. Yes, this is that good a recipe. It is such a simple recipe that even a newbie in the kitchen can whip this up within minutes.

I will always follow a recipe to the T the first time around and subsequently put my own tiny twist on it when I remake it. I’ve adjusted the ingredients a teeny-tiny bit and the recipe I’m publishing is the one I’ve customized, but this recipe belongs to Mrs. Irfana Nasir. I lay no claim to it at all.

Mrs. Irfana Nasir, Murtaza, Khuzaan: Heartfelt thanks for sharing this recipe with me.

Ingredients:

Half kilo mutton (on bone)
10-12 black peppercorns
1-inch cinnamon
2 heaped teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
1 large onion, chopped into big pieces (easier to fish out later)
2 tomatoes, quartered (easier to fish out later)
1 green chili, keep whole, do not chop
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 litre water 

Method:

1. Add all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker.
   
   
   
   
   
2. When the pressure builds up and the cooker releases the first whistle, lower the flame. 
3. Continue cooking for 8 more whistles on LOW heat. This low heat cooking will lend robustness to the soup. (Take Mrs. Nasir’s and my word for it) 
4. When done, take the cooker off the stove and allow the pressure to release on its own. 
   
   
   
   
   
5. Once cool, fish out the mutton pieces.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Strain the soup in a colander or a stainless steel sieve if you want a clearer soup. I used a colander as I did not have Gordon Ramsey judging me. 😉
   
   
   
   
   
7. Mash the vegetables to extract all the goodness and discard the mashed veggies.
   
   
   
   
   
8. This yields approximately 1250 mils of broth. Use as desired. (We usually add a squeeze of lime, an extra dash of pepper powder and sip on it. At times, I portion it into 500 ml containers and freeze it for the dishes that require stock) 
   
   
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. You may chop the onions and tomatoes small but fishing out the mutton from the soup gets a tad messy hence I prefer to cut them into large chunks. The first time I recreated this recipe, I cut the veggies small, as mentioned by Mrs. Nasir. At all other times, I’ve cut them into large chunks.
2. Use the mutton for sandwiches. You may also shred the mutton and add it to the strained soup. 
3. Yes, Google has lots of explanations with regard to the terms soup, stock, and broth. Let’s not debate or argue over that. Let’s keep it simple; let’s cook up this deliciousness and enjoy it, yeah?? 😊 
4. Mutton on-bone is what you use for this soup. If you’re opting for boneless mutton, the soup will be yum but, it will lack that beautiful robustness, and that’s what this soup/broth is all about. 
5. The original recipe uses only 1 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste and no green chili. I like my soup with a bit of zing hence adjusted these ingredients. Feel free to go with whatever suits your palate. 
6. As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs Mrs. Irfana Nasir. The photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   

Some more photographs:

Green Chutney – The Versatile Coconut-Cilantro-Mint Combination!

Yes, occasionally, I go back to posting basic recipes for people who are newbies in the kitchen. This is one such recipe. This green chutney works beautifully for sandwiches, for Parsi delicacies like Patra ni Machhi and Patra ni Kolmi and yes, you can also use it as a marinade-gravy base for meats. I usually make a 2-bottle batch and use it as and when I need it. It keeps beautifully in the fridge for a week to ten days and because of the added acidity, the colour remains a beautiful green. Go on, give it a try. 😊

Ingredients:

1 whole (medium-sized) fresh coconut, break, remove from shell and cut into slivers

1 cup (tightly filled) coriander leaves, washed

1 cup (tightly filled) mint leaves, washed

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

15 - 18 large cloves of garlic, peeled and washed (increase the quantity if the garlic cloves are small)

12 to 14 green chilies, break into 1-inch pieces

Juice of 2 to 3 limes, to taste

Salt, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Method:

1.    Combine coconut sliver, coriander leaves, mint leaves, green chilies, garlic cloves and cumin seeds, juice of 1 or 1½ limes (only), salt and sugar in a grinder. Add quarter cup water and give it a good whiz. Grind the chutney to a smooth thick consistency.

2.    Open the grinder to check the consistency of the chutney, add more water only if needed and give it yet another whiz.

3.    Check seasoning and acidity levels and adjust lime juice, salt, and sugar as/if needed. If added, give the chutney one more whiz to ensure the added ingredients are well incorporated into the chutney.

4.    Remove the chutney into clean, sterilized, airtight bottles or any airtight fridge container.

5.    Allow the chutney to cool to room temperature; do not put it in the fridge until cool.

Chef Notes:

1.    The quantity of lime juice, salt and sugar depends entirely on your palate. I do suggest you add these three ingredients a little at a time and keeping adding more, as needed. The thing to always remember when cooking anything is, you can always add more as needed, but once added, reducing the excess is difficult and, in some instances, impossible.

2.    I used 12 to 14 medium sized dark green chilies, the ones that are quite high on the heat quotient. If you choose to use the long, light green, not-so-spicy variety, please adjust the quantity according. Here too, the same rule applies. Add fewer chilies if you are unsure, taste as you grind, add more as/if needed and give the chutney a good whiz.

3.    When raw mangoes are in season feel free to substitute them in place of lime juice.

4.    There’s one more use for this versatile baby (read: chutney). Whisk in some smoothened yogurt to a bowlful of this chutney as serve it as a dip with tandoori chicken and tikkas. Oh yeah, it works!

5.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: 

Bacon Crumble

Certain food/s make one’s heart sing. Bacon happens to be just that! Only someone who loves bacon as much as I do will understand that. For ‘oink’ lovers this is a must-have pantry/fridge staple. I usually make this is a large half-kilo quantity. My choice of bacon is usually streaky. The meat crisps up and the fat melts gorgeously providing me with oinky-fat for eggs, fried rice, etc. While I know chicken bacon is available, please don’t waste your time crisping that up. Really, if it’s chicken bacon you wanna use, just don’t bother! *cheeky grin* Bacon crumble is always, always ‘oink’!

Ingredient:

Half kilo streaky bacon (or any bacon)

Method:

1.    Heat a pan. (non-stick or otherwise)

2.    Lay out bacon strips in the pan and fry them NEARLY crisp on both sides.

3.    Remove and leave to drain onto a plate lined with kitchen paper towels. They will further crisp up as they cool.

4.    Remove the released fat from the pan into a bowl.

5.    Repeat the frying process until all bacon is used up.

6.    Once cool, cut into pieces with a knife (difficult) or snip the strips with a pair of scissors (easy-peasy). To cut large crumbles, or fine, is entirely up to you. I prefer small crumble. Go on, fry a batch… or two… or three. *wicked grin*

Chef Notes:

1.    As always, the words in caps and bold are merely for emphasis; not meant to offend.

2.    Please do not over-fry the bacon. You aren’t going to enjoy the crumble if it tastes bitter.

3.    Do not crowd the pan with bacon strips. Add them in a way where they fit comfortably and are easy to flip.

4.    Do not forget to remove the melted bacon fat into a separate bowl after each batch is fried. That liquid is ‘oink-gold’. 😊

5.    Draining the fried bacon strips on kitchen towels and allowing them to cool is a VERY IMPORTANT step as the bacon crisps up beautifully when given time to drain the excess fat and cool down.

6.    You can also use an electric chopper if you want very fine crumbles of bacon.

7.    I usually use these crumbles for omelettes, scrambled eggs, chowders, grilled cheese sandwiches, creamy mushrooms on toast and more. There are times when I stand in front of my fridge, open the fridge door, sneakily grab the box of bacon crumble and steal a spoonful. Shhuussshhh! Sometimes, I’m surprised there’s any left when I actually need it. Hehehe! 😊

8.    This keeps beautifully for 4 to 6 six weeks, in an airtight bottle or box. I usually store it in the fridge, but it keeps just as beautifully when stored outside. My reason for using the fridge is mainly that it stays out of sight. *Honest confession – Sigh!*

9.    While point No 9. is not exactly a ‘Chef Note’, I simply had to pen this. Before you cut up all the bacon, keep one slice aside for yourself. Head to the fridge, get out that jar of Bitter Orange Marmalade, smear some on the slice of bacon and…. ahem!! Do I need to say anything more?? Oh alright, eat it, dammit! So darn yum! Disclaimer: Please do this after you have finished snipping the rest of the bacon slices or you’ll have no bacon left to snip. *evil grin*

10. There is a microwave method, too, wherein you lay bacon strips between two kitchen towels. Ensure they are laid out without sticking together. Put the bacon (encased between kitchen towels) on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes. I’m told the kitchen towel absorbs the grease leaving you with crisp bacon. Clarification: This is something I read online and is not a method tried and tested by me. I always opt for the pan crumble.

11. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs: