A Light Indian Menu with Mutton Curry and Rice

It's time to get serious about this blog and I intend to post 2 sets of recipes each week. I will add pictures as and when possible.
Here's this week's first set:

Menu # 2

The other day, a friend of ours was coming over for lunch and he prefers Indian food, it’s not summer right now but it is kind of warm so I wanted to make a substantial meal that did not sit too heavy in the stomach. I was not at all interested in making any of the usual curries and dal and things,  I did not feel that an elaborate dessert was called for either; but I cannot imagine a meal without a dessert!

So here is the menu I came up with:

 

2a) Easy Mutton Curry (Main Course)

Ingredients:

½ Kilo Mutton (any cut will do)

1 Large bunch of Coriander

1 Large Tomato

1 or 2 green chillies

2 inch pc cinnamon

3 green cardamoms

1 to 2 tsp cooking oil (preferably, mustard as that is what’s best for most Indian mutton curries. In its absence, any cooking oil will do)

Salt to taste

Method:

Try and ensure that all the pieces of mutton are of similar size, (this is best done when selecting it from the butcher or store), trim the fat off the pieces and keep aside. Clean and chop the Coriander leaves, tomatoes and green chillies and grind all three together in a liquidizer; add a little water if required.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and add the whole spices, add the mutton as soon as the spices’ aroma is released. Stir the mutton for a few minutes, until each piece is sealed. Add the coriander, tomato and chilli paste and enough water to cover the mutton. 

Pressure cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the mutton. It is prudent to take the mutton off the fire after about 20 minutes and then cook further if required.

Tip: When cooking mutton in a pressure cooker, I often cook on high flame for till the 1^st whistle and then. Lower the flame for three more – works for me each tie.

Variation (If you have a ‘non mutton eating’ person, like my husband to cook for): Cook for about 15 minutes or a total of three whistles; add pieces of reasonably small pieces of chicken and cook till done. If it is just one person, who is going to have the chicken, about 200 to 250 grams of chicken is enough. The picture of the cooked curry has chicken in it.
Please note that this curry will turn out to be quite like hospital food, should you make it with only chicken. The flavour of the curry comes from the blending of the coriander and tomato paste with the juices of the mutton.

Serve with steamed rice.

Suggested accompaniments:

Finger Chips

Cucumber salad

Crisp potato discs

Masala Masoor

2b) Masala Masoor (Supporting Dish)

Ingredients:

½ cup masoor dal

1 onion chopped

1 tbsp cooking oil

1 flat tsp garlic paste

1 flat tsp ginger paste

1 tsp Coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp kastoori methi

1 soup cube

1 – 2 tsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

Pinch of kashmiri chilli powder

Finely chopped coriander and mint leaves for garnish

Method:

Wash and soak the masoor daal for at least 30 minutes. 

 Place the ginger paste, garlic paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric and chilli powder in a bowl and add enough water to make a runny paste; this allows the powders to soften really well and makes it easy to add everything with ease during actual cooking.

Heat the oil in a pressure cooker and sauté chopped onions till soft, add 2 tablespoons of water and reduce the heat to prevent further cooking of the onions. Add soaked spices, kasturi methi and soup cube. Add a little more water if required and cook over low heat till the smell of raw spices disappears.

Drain the daal and add it to the spices, stir for a minute or so till all the grains are coated with the spices. Add 2 cups of water and cook till the daal is cooked to an almost mushy consistency.

Tip: I often wait for three whistles of the pressure cooker – allow the steam to reduce and then check the daal for water and softness before proceeding to cook it further (if required).

Once the daal is cooked, check for salt and add to taste; the soup cube is usually salty enough for the daal to need no further seasoning.

Heat the ghee to smoking, turn off the heat and then add the cumin seeds. As soon as the seeds have popped open (which they should) add the kashmiri chilli powder and add to the cooked daal. Garnish with a generous amount of freshly chopped coriander and mint leaves.

2c) Crisp Potato Discs (Side Dish)

Ingredients:

6 medium sized potatoes

2 tbsp rice flour

½ tsp red chilli powder

1 flat tsp coriander powder

1 rounded tsp cumin powder

1 flat spoon amchur or chat masala

Salt to taste (a little less if using chaat masala)

Oil for frying

Method:

Boil the potatoes in salt water (with skin on is always better), keep aside to cool. It’s a good idea to do this ahead as cooling takes a fair amount of time. Peel and cut width ways into 1 cm discs.

Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly and coat each disc in this powder. Heat oil and fry the potato discs to a golden brown. Serve hot.

Tip: It’s always a good idea to begin by frying a single disc and tasting it to check for any adjustments in salt or spice that may be required and then proceed with the rest.

Variation: Skip the amchur or chaat masala in the rice flour and sprinkle it on top of the fried discs before serving.

The dessert added to this menu is not at all in harmony with the rest of the meal; but then, I am Chapati and Pink Floyd and have therefore given myself the license to ‘unharmonise’ to some degree! It’s just that the following dessert is easy to make, not too rich and a wonderful and light ending to any meal: 

 2d) Minty Lemon Solid (Dessert)

Ingredients:

600 ml milk

5 – 6 sprigs of fresh mint (More, if you love a minty essence as much as I do)

2 large lemons (or 2 ½ of medium lemons)

175 gms of castor sugar

15 gms gelatine

Fresh mint leaves

Method:

Wash the sprigs of mint thoroughly and let it dry while you bring the milk to a boil, put the sprigs into the milk and cover to infuse them and let it cool completely. You can even do this part ahead and leave the ‘minty’ milk in the fridge.

Wash the lemons and grate the rind, or use a rinder if you have one, then squeeze the juice.  Add the lemon rind to the sugar and half the milk. Heat the remaining 300 ml of milk with the gelatine, stirring till the gelatine dissolves, ensure that the milk does not come to boil. Add the hot milk and gelatine mixture to the cold milk mixture and stir to dissolve the sugar.

Add the lemon juice immediately – the milk will curdle a bit and this is the desired outcome.

Pour into 4 individual bowls/glasses or a serving dish (preferably, a clear bowl) and let it set for a minimum of 5 hrs in the refrigerator. Garnish with the mint leaves before serving.

You can also set this dessert in a jelly mould and turn it onto a flat dish before serving. You ought to have two distinct layers in the dessert – one ‘clearish’ and jelly like and the other almost like a curd. I just set it in a corning or Pyrex dish.