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Tried and tested

A simple recipe that has been passed down generations

Here's another recipe from my grant aunt's kitchen. Full of traditional flavour, it has been slightly modified to suit Puducherrians' taste buds. For instance, cow's milk has been substituted with coconut milk. It's simple to make and less on spice. Garlic, ginger and chilli, common to most recipes are not used in this curry. So even children will relish this wholesome preparation. The curry is served with Basmati rice.

Mutton paal curry

Serve 6

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

Saffron
Mutton - 1 kg cut into big pieces
Onions - 3 big, ground into a fine paste
Onions - 2, cut fine
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Cardamom - 6 crushed
Bay leaf - 1
Cloves - 4
Cinnamon - 1 big piece
Coconut - 1 to extract milk
Anis seeds (powder) - One and a half tbsp, powdered
Cumin (powder) - 1 tbsp
White pepper (powder) - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Coconut milk

Grate coconut, put it in a mixer and run it with 50 ml of water. Strain the liquid for the 1st milk. Keep aside. Repeat for the second and third milk with 50 ml of water each time. For this curry, coconut milk should be very thick.

Method

In a bowl soak saffron in two teaspoon of warm milk. Soak mutton in warm water and wash it till the meat has no trace of blood. Pressure cook meat in half a cup of water, add salt, cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, clove and onion. Keep broth and meat aside and discard the rest.

In a deep frying pan, heat ghee and fry onion paste until golden, add anis seed powder, cumin seed powder and pepper powder, fry for three minutes, add meat and broth. Boil to reduce liquid - if necessary. Add sugar. Add coconut milk (first, second and third milk); bring to a boil. Reduce flame. Add saffron just before serving. Serve it with plain Basmati rice.

KETHARI SRIVANJIAM

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