Mutton Stew

This mutton stew is sure to keep you warm in the upcoming winter. Its got a rustic character to it because of the way the ingredients are cut. I love this stew with some freshly baked bread or Kaiser roll.

The earthy flavours of this Mutton Stew make it a household favourite of ours. I add big pieces of goat meat, whole baby potatoes and shallots and chunks of carrots for it to cook slowly and some of it to disintegrate into the liquid creating a great balance of the natural sweetness from the ingredients.

You can make this stew with chicken, but goat meat beats the chicken variation any day!

Ingredients for Mutton Stew are:

500 grams baby goat meat, cut into 4 inch pieces, fat and bone in (you can add a couple of pieces of liver too)
7-8 baby potatoes
1 large carrot, cut into big chunks
6-7 shallots or baby onions, peeled
1 medium size tomato, roughly chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons atta/whole wheat flour + extra if needed
15-20 whole black peppercorns + extra black pepper powder for seasoning
2 black cardamoms
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons canola/vegetable oil
Salt

Heat the oil and the butter in a pan or pressure cooker. Add the meat pieces and sear them on both sides on high heat. Make sure you do not crowd or cover the pan, that way the meat will not sear and will start releasing moisture. The idea behind searing the meat is that it will trap all the juices and flavour right inside the meat without releasing them.

Remove the meat from the pan and keep aside. In the same oil, add the black cardamoms, bay and peppercorns. Sauté for a minute and toss in the potatoes, onion (or shallots) carrot and garlic.
Mix everything together without moving them around too much. Let them brown a bit on all sides.

Now add the atta or the whole wheat flour directly to the vegetables and lower the heat. Mix well. This will create a rue for the stew which will help to thicken it when it cooks.

Add the seared meat to the vegetables. Give it a good mix and add salt and enough water to cover all the vegetables and meat. Now add the chopped tomatoes.

Pressure cook till the meat is done. I let 3-4 whistles go off for my stew. (If the liquid of the stew is still too runny, add some more atta mixed in a little water and add to the stew.) Season with black pepper powder and serve hot with your favourite bread.

Pickled Pink

Once upon a time little pickled onions were served only in (North) Indian restaurants.
The “waiter” would thump a small bowl of vinegar onions on the table along with mango pickle and green chilies while you waited for the food to arrive. Smells wafting from the restaurant’s kitchen would drive you to an insane level of hunger and soon you would reach for a pink, pearly onion. You’d begin gently first, peeling the top leaf between your mouth. Tasting its subtle sweet flavor mixed with the sharpness of the vinegar.

You’d involuntarily close one eye, while keeping the other (eye) on the rest of the pink beauties. The vinegar-onions would send the taste buds tickling and you would experience a sharp rise in appetite.

The vinegar-pickled onions can play a starring role on your dinner buffet. Serve them with Butter Chicken or Matar Paneer and see how they orchestrate transformation on the table.

And while I was peeling these pearl onions for the pickle, the lush Cherry Belles on my kitchen counter also inspired me in a certain way.

There is something exotic about these bright-skinned radish with white insides. I washed and snipped off the stems of a handful of these and dunked them in white vinegar too, with some green chilies.

Apart from the fact that they are pretty on the eye, they also add some bright, lively bite to the buffet.

Quick-pickled vegetables provide a zesty complement to salads and entrées. But you already knew that.