Laal maas is a traditional mutton curry dish from Rajasthan which is made using a lot of garlic, chilli and yogurt over a traditional wood fire. Back in the day, the dish was made using wild game meat such as boar or deer and lots of chillis were added to veil its gamy odour.
However, I am going to share a very special recipe with you that I learnt one fine Saturday evening in March from my dad's best friend, also an uncle who I am very fond of, who is a storyteller by passion and filmmaker by profession; ROBIN ROY. We were sitting around the fire in his mother; Nita Roy's house in Dehradun on old Rajpur road and he brings out a patila of meat, loads of chopped garlic and a huge pile of dried red chillies and says, "We're making laal maas for dinner"! So off we start with the recipe:
Since you're going to be cooking this on a fire, make sure there is a fire pit on which you can put a strong base that has legs strong enough to hold a big boiler and has gaps in the middle so that the heat from the fire can cook the meat.
SERVING SIZE: 20 people (3kg)
COOKING TIME: 2 hours
INGREDIENTS:
~ 3 kg mutton on the bone
~ 10 whole garlic cloves roughly chopped
~ 2 handful of whole dried chillies
~ 4 tbsp of chilli powder (use 2.5 if your chilli tolerance is less)
~ Lots of ghee! (clarified butted)
METHOD
~ In a big patila (boiler) add 5 heap full tbsps of ghee and throw in the chopped garlic. Add the meat along with it's natural water that it gives out. Throw in the dried chillies and the chilli powder and cover with a lid. Make sure that the flame is not high and that the coal or coila is just about simmering on maybe an estimate of gas mark 2. Pour yourself a glass of wine or whiskey and sit back and enjoy.
~ Regularly check that the meat and make sure that it is boiling. Keep adjusting the fire to make sure that the boiler is evenly getting exposed to heat.
~ After about 1 hour throw in 1/2 bowl of roughly chopped garlic, let it brown a bit and then get ready to perform one of the most exiting part of this entire process.
DHUNGAR:
Dhungar is an ancient technique of smoking and infusing the flavour of burnt charcoal in food items. It was first used when the Mughals came to India as they brought this fascinating technique with them. Well, enough about history, I'll explain to you how freakin' awesome and fascinating this technique actually is.
~ In a steel bowl, put a burning piece of coal, drop half a tbsp of clarified butter on top and once you see the smoke coming out, put the bowl into the boiler where the meat is cooking and cover again with the lid. Take it out after about 5-6 minutes.
~ The amazing thing about this technique is that you can perform it about 3-5 times and it can vary. In the second round, put 10-15 pieces of clove, repeat with the coal and the ghee and wait.
~ The third time you perform this act of smoking, put dried onion leaves in the tin bowl followed by the coal and the ghee and into the boiler.
LAST RUN
~ For the final run, have a taste of the gravy and if it is too spicy (like it was for us) add 1 packet of yogurt or dahi and stir well. Remember that curd can split so put it in towards the end as it doesn't need too much time on the heat.
~ Add about 1 1/2 cups of water so that the meat doesn't stick to the bottom and keep stirring. Check the meat if it is tender and once you know it is cooked right, keep if on sim and enjoy this fine meat with roti, kulcha, parantha or any other kind of bread. Trust me, you won't need anything more.
DISCLAIMER: Make sure you use tongs for the lifting and of the lid and the coal as they will be super hot!
However, I am going to share a very special recipe with you that I learnt one fine Saturday evening in March from my dad's best friend, also an uncle who I am very fond of, who is a storyteller by passion and filmmaker by profession; ROBIN ROY. We were sitting around the fire in his mother; Nita Roy's house in Dehradun on old Rajpur road and he brings out a patila of meat, loads of chopped garlic and a huge pile of dried red chillies and says, "We're making laal maas for dinner"! So off we start with the recipe:
Since you're going to be cooking this on a fire, make sure there is a fire pit on which you can put a strong base that has legs strong enough to hold a big boiler and has gaps in the middle so that the heat from the fire can cook the meat.
SERVING SIZE: 20 people (3kg)
COOKING TIME: 2 hours
INGREDIENTS:
~ 3 kg mutton on the bone
~ 10 whole garlic cloves roughly chopped
~ 2 handful of whole dried chillies
~ 4 tbsp of chilli powder (use 2.5 if your chilli tolerance is less)
~ Lots of ghee! (clarified butted)
METHOD
~ In a big patila (boiler) add 5 heap full tbsps of ghee and throw in the chopped garlic. Add the meat along with it's natural water that it gives out. Throw in the dried chillies and the chilli powder and cover with a lid. Make sure that the flame is not high and that the coal or coila is just about simmering on maybe an estimate of gas mark 2. Pour yourself a glass of wine or whiskey and sit back and enjoy.
~ Regularly check that the meat and make sure that it is boiling. Keep adjusting the fire to make sure that the boiler is evenly getting exposed to heat.
~ After about 1 hour throw in 1/2 bowl of roughly chopped garlic, let it brown a bit and then get ready to perform one of the most exiting part of this entire process.
DHUNGAR:
Dhungar is an ancient technique of smoking and infusing the flavour of burnt charcoal in food items. It was first used when the Mughals came to India as they brought this fascinating technique with them. Well, enough about history, I'll explain to you how freakin' awesome and fascinating this technique actually is.
~ In a steel bowl, put a burning piece of coal, drop half a tbsp of clarified butter on top and once you see the smoke coming out, put the bowl into the boiler where the meat is cooking and cover again with the lid. Take it out after about 5-6 minutes.
~ The amazing thing about this technique is that you can perform it about 3-5 times and it can vary. In the second round, put 10-15 pieces of clove, repeat with the coal and the ghee and wait.
~ The third time you perform this act of smoking, put dried onion leaves in the tin bowl followed by the coal and the ghee and into the boiler.
LAST RUN
~ For the final run, have a taste of the gravy and if it is too spicy (like it was for us) add 1 packet of yogurt or dahi and stir well. Remember that curd can split so put it in towards the end as it doesn't need too much time on the heat.
~ Add about 1 1/2 cups of water so that the meat doesn't stick to the bottom and keep stirring. Check the meat if it is tender and once you know it is cooked right, keep if on sim and enjoy this fine meat with roti, kulcha, parantha or any other kind of bread. Trust me, you won't need anything more.
DISCLAIMER: Make sure you use tongs for the lifting and of the lid and the coal as they will be super hot!