Keri nu Gosht – Mutton cooked with ripe Alphonso Mangoes

Keri nu Gosht – Mutton cooked with ripe Alphonso Mangoes

Among uncommon recipes, this one is king. I had been itching to lay my paws on this recipe. Finally, I got my sister-in-law to send it to me. This happens to be an old Parsee recipe. It comes down to us from the time when our grandmas ruled the kitchen. Unfortunately I don't have my grandma’s version because I wasn't fortunate enough to spend time with either of them in the kitchen. The first time I heard of this recipe I was extremely intrigued. Never before had I attempted a dish that combined sweet ripe fruit and mutton. This was a new one for me and I was skeptical in regard to whether the flavors would marry. I was wrong, marry they did! Who am I to be skeptical about a recipe handed down through the generations? I should have known better!

Ingredients:

½ kilo mutton, cleaned and cut into chunks

4-5 large onions, finely sliced

5 ripe Alphonso mangoes, peeled

4 cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon

4-6 black pepper corns

2 cloves

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ginger-garlic paste

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

 2-2½ teaspoons red chili powder

½ teaspoon Parsee Sambhar masala

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

4-5 tablespoons oil

 Method:

1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add the cumin seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves and allow to splutter.
2. Add the onions and fry till golden.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté till it gets aromatic.
4. Add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, Parsee Sambhar masala and sauté.
5. Add the mutton pieces and sauté till well roasted and mixed with the masala.
6. Add salt and sugar and sauté till well blended.
7. Add the whole, peeled mangoes and gently sauté them for a while. Ensure they don’t break.
8. Add ¾ to 1 cup of water and pressure cook the meat and mangoes. If you own a cooker that whistles, then cook for two whistle and then lower the heat and cook for 7-9 minutes more. Allow the cooker to cool down and release the pressure on its own.
9. Open the cooker when all the pressure is released. If there is too much water simmer till the gravy is semi-thick and sufficient enough to ‘sop-up- with bread. Nope, no fancy-shmancy garnish for this hardcore 'bawa' dish. Enjoy!
   
   

Chef Notes: 

1. When you cook this you have to peel and keep the mangoes whole so select the best mangoes because you can't cook with mangoes that are rotten from the within. If at all you are unsure of the quality of mangoes, the next best option is to peel the mangoes, then cut the large cheeks of the mangoes from either side to check the mango from within and then use them. Do not chop the mango any smaller than this.
2. Ripe mangoes are sweet hence the quantity of chili powder used is on the higher side to achieve a balance of flavours. Feel free to reduce it if you prefer a milder flavour.
3. For those of you who know what Parsee Sali Gosht is, the consistency of this dish should be similar to the same. 
4. 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.
   
   

The Sago Saga

The Sago Saga

Sago Saga is just my fancy way of saying Sago Kheer, but.. but.. the twist to this recipe lies in making it in four different ways. The first is the simple version as made by our Grandmas and the three other flavored versions, as tried and tested by me. Choose any one and give it a go. Light and flavorsome, it’s an ideal dessert to beat the heat.

The Simple Grandma Version:

Ingredients:

2¼ cups milk
¼ cup water
3½ tablespoons sago/sabudana

2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
a pinch or two green cardamom seed powder
4-5 cashew nuts, chopped fine
8-10 kishmish/dry brown grapes

3-4 almonds, slivered

½ teaspoon butter

Method:

1. Soak the sago in water. The water should cover the sago and there should be a bit extra. Keep the soaked sago overnight, in the fridge.
2. In the morning, drain the sago from the water and keep aside.
3. Gently heat butter, add the chopped cashew nuts and gently roast them on a low flame. As soon as they show signs of turning color, add the kishmish and sauté for few seconds. Remove the cashews and the kishmish from the butter and keep aside.
4. Boil the milk and water.
5. Add sugar, green cardamom seed powder and continue boiling on medium heat.
6. Add the drained sago to the milk.
7. Keep stirring as it bubbles away for 3-4 minutes until the sago pearls lose their opaque white color and become colorless. Remove from fire.
8. Cool. Remove in individual serving bowls. Garnish with chopped almond slivers.
9. Chill in the fridge for 3 hours and serve.
   
   

The Saffron Version:

Heat ¼ cup of water (mentioned in the ingredients), and add a few stands of kesar/saffron to the hot water. Cover and keep aside for 15 minutes. Add the saffron water with the saffron threads to the milk and proceed with the rest of the recipe as written in the method section.

The Indian Chai Version:

Instead of ¼ cup water use ½ cup water and bring it to a boil. When it comes to a boil, add a teaspoon of regular tea and boil till the tea water reduces to ¼ cup. Strain the tea and add the strained liquid to the hot milk and proceed with the rest of the recipe as written in the method section. 

The Sweet-Ripe Alphonso Mango Version:

Omit the ¼ cup water. Reduce the sugar content to 1 tablespoon and boil the milk with the sago as directed in the method section of the recipe. Remove the milk and sago from heat when the sago turns colorless. Cool and add ½ cup mango pulp (I used ripe Alphonso mangoes) and mix well. Add a few tiny pieces of mangoes (optional). Garnish with mango pieces and slivered almonds.

Chef Notes:

1. Our Grandma’s used to make the plain version whenever we battled a stomach infection. I had forgotten all about this recipe until my friend Zarina Cama Clowsley posted it at a food forum on FB a couple of weeks back. I therefore dedicate the first version to her and to all the Grandmas who make this to heal their ailing grand babies.
2. This is an excellent recipe for people who suffer from stomach infections and acidity. When using it for stomach infections, I suggest you go with ‘The Simple Grandma Version’.
3. I added nuts because I wanted to serve it as a light after meal dessert, but if you’re having it to ease a stomach infection, please omit the dry fruits.
4. I have given four variations to this recipe. There are two more that you may try.
   Variations: 1. Adding rose syrup to the milk and water. 2. Instead of chai you may try it with coffee.
5. If you want to make a richer version then take 4 cups of milk and reduce it to 2¼ cups.
6. This time I used regular tea leaves for the Indian Chai version but feel free to experiment using flavored teas. You won’t know what works, until you give it a try. ;-)
7. For the mango version I used ripe Alphonso mangoes but you may use any variety of sweet-ripe mangoes. 
8. 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.
   
   

Parsee Sagan No Ravo

Parsee Sagan No Ravo

At midnight, tonight, my baby (my blog) turned one year old. On the occasion of its first birthday, I bring to you a sweet Parsee delicacy that is always, always made on auspicious days/occasions. I request you all to join me in celebration for my baby’s birthday. To all of you who follow my blog, a big “THANK YOU”. Please do share the joys that my baby brings to your kitchen and to your table with your family and friends and share the blog with them. God Bless!

Ingredients:

¼ kilo semolina/rava/suji

150 grams clarified butter/ghee

1 tin (400 grams) Milkmaid

¼ - ½ cup sugar, or as desired according to individual taste

A few strands of saffron

1½ - 2 liters milk, as required - according to consistency desired

¼ teaspoon vanilla essence

50 grams cashew nuts, each cut/split into two

50 grams almonds, blanched and slivered

50 grams pistachios, each cut/split into two

1 – 1½ tablespoon butter

Method:

1. In a pan heat the butter, add the cashew nuts, slivered almonds and pistachios.
2. Gently, on medium heat, fry them till they turn light golden.
3. Drain the nuts from the butter and keep them aside.
4. Take ½ cup hot milk from the specified amount of milk mentioned. Add the saffron, cover the bowl and allow the color of the saffron to seep.
5. Heat clarified butter/ghee, add the semolina and roast on medium low heat till it’s well roasted (it should not change color)
6. Add the milk gradually to the roasted semolina. Ensure that there are no lumps (quite the same way as you would when making White sauce/Béchamel sauce).
7. Add the saffron milk.
8. Add more milk if required. The consistency of the semolina should be such that it is smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
9. Add the Milkmaid and stir well. Check for sweetness, add sugar as needed. (if you feel Milkmaid is enough, feel free to avoid the sugar completely).
10. Add the vanilla essence; give it a good stir and remove from heat.
11. Remove in a serving platter, garnish with fried dry fruits and serve.
    
    

Chef’s Notes: 

1. My grandma and my mum-in-law used to cool the ravo (after it was cooked) to warm temperature and add 2-3 beaten egg yolks to it. If you chose to do that, instead of adding the vanilla essence to the ravo, add it to the yolks when you lightly beat them with a fork. This ensures that the egg-y smell of the yolk doesn’t permeate the ravo. Mix the lightly beaten yolk-essence mixture to the ravo, put in back on the stove and reheat stirring all the time. I usually omit this step these days as this makes the ravo very rich and heavy and in turn it makes me very heavy. ;) :D
2. You can also use fried brown raisins for garnish along with the other fried dry fruits. I don’t because my bitter half hates raisins. Did I say bitter half?? Opppss, I meant better half. :P
3. I prefer making this with saffron infused milk but if you don’t like the flavor of saffron feel free to make this with plain milk.
4. I have mentioned the proportion of the milk as 1½ to 2 liters because the proportion will depend on your preference of consistency for the ravo. You may use just 1½ liters if you prefer it thick or you may take it all the way to 2 liters if you prefer it slightly thinner. My experience at making this dish, time and time again, has proved that for the quantity of semolina mentioned you will not need less than 1½ liters milk, nor will you need more than 2 liters. 
5. 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.