Jhatka Lamb Mutton - My style

This recipe is specially for people who like to eat good food but will not move around much for preparing the food that would satisfy the soul. Here is your chance for doing so:


Ingredients:

1/2kg Baby Lamb Mutton [with bones]
4-5 large Onions thinly sliced [long]
2 tsp Zeera
4-5 Dry Red Chillies
2-3 Tej Patta Leaves
10-15 Pepper Corns
2 pieces of Cinnamon Sticks [1 inch each]
3-4 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste [better if you make it at home. Grind it coarsely. Use 7-8 cloves of garlic & 1 inch ginger]
5-6 Cloves
4-5 Whole Green Cardamom [Elaichi]
1-2 Whole Black Cardamom [Badi Elaichi]
1 1/2 tsp Mace Powder [Javitri. If you don't have powder use 2-3 whole pieces instead]
2 tsp Garam Masala Powder
1 1/2 tbsp Zeera Powder
2 tbsp Coriander Powder
2 tbsp Red Chilli Powder [you can adjust quantity as per taste]
8-10 tbsp Refined Oil [it tastes better if you use Mustard Oil but the choice is yours]
Salt to taste


Method:


Step 1: You will love this. Just mix all the above [yes all !!!] and leave it for marination. Now do what ever you want to do in the next 2-3 hours. If you can leave for marination over night nothing like it but 2-3 hrs should also suffice.


Step 2: Now take out the marinade and put the entire stuff in pressure cooker. You will love it even more. Close the pressure cooker lid and let it pressure cook to count of 2-3 whistles on low flame. Then put off the gas and let the pressure release so that the lid opens.


Step 3: Now again put on the gas and on a low flame cook the mutton in the same vessel without locking the lid. Keep checking in between and stirring so that the mutton doesn't stick on the bottom. Keep cooking till the water evaporates and oil starts separating. Now add 1 tbsp of desi ghee [optional] and keep cooking. Keep stirring and checking if the mutton is cooked.


Step 4: Just when the mutton looks cooked add 1 cup of water and again put on the lid to give pressure on low flame to count of 2 whistles. Once you hear the whistle, take it off the gas and let the pressure come out on its own.


Step 5: The mutton is ready. It tastes best with hot chapatis / hot rice and accompanied with onion salad.


Tips: Pressure cooking time needs to be adjusted as per the quality of the lamb meat. Usually frozen lambs take more time to cook as compared to fresh.
Happy Eating!!! Do let me know how you liked it.....

Can I have just truth.....

In last couple of days I saw some movies and two of them caught my imagination. Though there is nothing common in them starting from the era when they were made to star cast to the directors to the story line. I mean nothing in common. Nothing at all. Yet they told me the same thing.

The first one was "Satyakam". It is directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Well he is more commonly associated with movies about common man and his life. The villains are the situations and not some paranormal beings..anyways..the protagonist was played by Dharmendra [and his name was not "Satyakam" but "Satyapriya"]. The movie revolves around his idealism and how he wanted to stay in this society being true to himself.

My second reference is a more recent National Award winning movie "Page 3". The director is the well known Madhur Bhandarkar who again is associated with movies of common people and their life. The protagonist was played by Konkana Sen Sharma.

I guess now that I am writing I can draw a parallel between both the directors. Both tell their stories about people like you and me but the difference is in the way they tell it. While Hrishikesh Mukherjee's portrayal was more light hearted and made you feel good when you come out watching that all is not lost in life after all. Madhur Bhandarkar is more hard hitting for he forces you to see things which we generally want to get away from.

Anyways coming back to my experience of watching these movies. I had watched both the movies earlier also but never in succession. And it is perhaps this co-incidence which made me sit up to something which I had missed on earlier occasions. Both movies had protagonist who believed in truth and only truth. Who perhaps felt that there is perhaps no other way of living but the true way. Both the protagonists had their own belief system and were not ready to give in...easily to the pressures of our society. While in case of Satyapriya of "Satyakam" he died but did not break, Madhavi of "Page 3" gave in only to save her soul.

What really put my thought process in motion were two dialogues from these movies: first from "Satyakam" where Satyapriya's wife Ranjana [played by Sharmila Tagore to perfection], on one occasion, tells his more 'worldly' best friend Naren [played by Sanjeev Kumar] that "sone ke zevar banane ke liye thodi toh khot milani padti hai". Second from "Page 3" where Madavai's male journalist friend tells her that "you have to be in the system to change the system". Beautiful lines. Aren't they???

Both these stories were written in different eras by different screen play writers and told to the world by different directors. Yet when you look at the two at a deeper level, they had the same soul. The soul of truth, interpreted in diffrerent ways against different backgrounds. When you look at both these dialogues one can't help but feel that "is truth so difficult to handle in its pure form"? Can we present something as pure as truth in any other form but the truth?

All of us want to be told the truth and nothing but the truth in all that we do in life, in all our relationships, all our dealings...but when it comes to giving truth to others we shield ourselves against statements like one cannot handle truth, "how can I tell you the truth you will not be able to take it", there is more to it than the truth...

It really makes me wonder when there is something we love receiving why can't we give it to others in the same form. Some people say that one can lie to the whole world but not to oneself...while to counter this there are others who feel sometimes we are actually able to achieve a level where one perfects the art of saying distorted truth to oneself. I really don't know which is a better state to be in..whether to be true to oneslef..or to save oneself from the truth....but yes the thought process has been set into motion yet again...once again....

Cheers!!

Healthy Eggs - My style

This is for normal adults who love eating and don't shy away from having a "king like" breakfast before they take on the world through the day. The quantities of the vegetables mentioned is to be adjusted according to your preferences but please don't go over board because after all eggs also have limited capacity to bind.....and you also need to keep in mind that if you want to cook to perfection the quantities have to be little...

Preparation:

• 2 eggs
• leftover half piece boiled potato that has to be mashed to perfection
• grated carrots
• finely chopped onions
• finely chopped green chillies
• finely chopped mushrooms
• finely chopped tomatoes
• finely chopped capsicum
• 1/2 cube cheese
• finely chopped parsley
• finely chopped corriander
• white pepper powder
• 2 tsp milk

Now take a big bowl in order to avoid the mess you might create in whisking the eggs and all other ingredients....
whisk it as much as possible..for whisking use a fork or a egg beater....
this is the secret the more you whisk the fluffier the omelet is....
so once you are satisfied with the final mixture keep it aside...
now heat a non stick large pan and put some generous helping of olive oil [or any oil that you prefer] and tilt the pan to spread the oil through the surface...
the oil if more it will not cause a problem but if less then egg mixture will stick to the pan. ....
once the oil is heated add this mixture and swish it around....
but not much because if the layer is very thin you will not be able to flip it on the other side without making it into a "bhurji"....
and then lower the flame.... sprinkle some salt...and let it cook...
now check if the edge of the omelet is pulling away from the pan....and run your non stick spatula beneath to see if it is not sticking any where....
now one more tip....just tilt your pan and see if the entire thing slides....
which means that your egg is coooked from one side...
now with the help of spatula flip the omelet on the other side and let it cook....
again run the same check of running your non stick spatula beneath to see if it turned a beautiful golden brown....if yes..what are you waiting for..please take it out on a plate....your omelet is ready...
now I like to toast my bread on the same pan on a very low flame so that the bread soaks up the oil left behind by the omelet and nothing is wasted....
Important Tip: Enjoy what you are making and please don't think of all those calories...and weight and how much time it will take etc etc...the difference between cooking and great coooking is only couple of minutes and an attitude of loving your act...and if you love what you are cooking the taste has to be great....
now sit back...eat....and enjoy this heavenly creation..till we meet again!!!