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Platter from Kashmir

Ever tried Kashmiri dishes at home? Here are some recipes that are simple to make and scrumptious too

SUMPTUOUS SPREAD It's Kashmir on your table

Kashmiri cuisine is yet another gift to people from the land of shikaras. The rich fare is ideal to beat the winter chill and simple to make. Try out a few recipes.

Tabak Maaz (Fried Lamb Ribs)

Ingredients

Lamb ribs - 1 kg
Milk - half cup
Aniseed (powdered) - 1 tsp
Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric - 1 tsp
Asafoetida powder a pinch
Cinnamon (powdered) - 1 tsp
Cloves - 2
Ghee - 250 gm
Salt to taste

Method Take the entire rib section and cut into rectangular pieces across the ribs. Care should be taken that the muscle covering the ribs is not removed.

Each piece should be about five inches in length and two inches in width, containing about three to four pieces of rib bone in the meat.

Take half a litre of water and half a cup of milk in a vessel. Add aniseed, ginger, turmeric, asafoetida and cinnamon powders along with cloves and salt to taste.

Stir well and place the rib pieces and boil on a medium flame till the meat becomes tender, and almost all the water gets absorbed.

Remove the meat pieces and set aside. Heat ghee and deep fry the meat pieces one by one until it turns crispy on both sides.

At the time of serving, place the pan in an oven for about five minutes at a medium temperature and serve the dish hot.

Haak (Kashmiri Spinach)

Ingredients

Spinach - 500 gm
Mustard oil - 2 tbsp
Garam masala - quarter tsp
Yellow mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Spring onions (sliced) - 2

Method: Remove tough stalks from the spinach. Heat mustard oil in a pan. Season mustard seeds, add garam masala, spring onion and stir in the spinach until wilted. Cook spinach over medium heat for ten minutes till most of the water has evaporated. Do not cover the pan while cooking. Serve hot.

Nadeir Yakhin — Kamal ke jadh ki yakhni

Ingredients: Lotus root - 1

kg
Mustard oil - 1 cup
Curd -1 kg
Milk -1 cup
Cloves - 3
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Aniseed powder - 2 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp
Black cardamom - half tsp
Cinnamon powder - half tsp
Caraway seeds - half tsp
Garam masala - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Sugar - half tsp
Green cardamom - 3

Method: Scrape the lotus roots with a knife and cut off root heads, and any bad ends of the stalks. Cut horizontally, into about 2" pieces. Wash thoroughly to clean the outside, and remove mud from the holes of the pieces. Boil the cut lotus stem pieces in enough water for an hour. Strain it and preserve the cooking liquid. Add curd, milk, aniseed, dry ginger powders, sugar and salt, and blend the ingredients well to the trained cooking liquid.

Heat the oil on a medium flame, till foam disappears. Add cloves, cumin seeds and asafoetida. Stir and immediately add the above prepared cooking liquid. Continue stirring, so that the curd does not split, till the sauce comes to a boil. Add boiled lotus root pieces, and allow them to cook on a low heat, for another twenty minutes, stirring now and then. When the gravy thickens, add caraway seeds, cardamom, cinnamon and black pepper powders, along with the garam masala. Mix the spices by stirring well. A few crushed green cardamoms may be added. Nadier Yakhin is ready for serving.

Kashmiri Dum Aloo

Ingredients:

Small potatoes (boiled) - 10
Oil - 4 tbsp
Kashmiri red chilli powder - 1
tbsp
Aniseed powder - 2 tbsp
Dry ginger powder - 1 tbsp
Garam masala - half tsp
Yoghurt - 2 tbsp
Water - 1 cup
Salt to taste
Cloves - 5
Green cardamoms - 5
Black cardamoms - 2

Method Deep fry potatoes in hot oil until evenly brown. In a pan, heat four tablespoons of oil and add cloves and cardamoms. Add salt, aniseed powder, dry ginger powder and chilli powder and fry quickly and carefully in hot oil.

Immediately add yoghurt (so that the dry spice does not get burnt), stirring constantly. Add water and let it come to boil. Now add potatoes and let them simmer on slow heat till most of the water evaporates and the oil separates.

Sprinkle garam masala. Serve with steamed rice.

O. P. KHANTWAL

(The writer is Executive Chef at ITC Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers)

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