An Invitation to Indian Cooking - Madhur Jaffrey [22]
Leg of lamb can be used for a great many of the following recipes that require cubed meat, but it tends to get rather dry when cooked in a stewlike manner. It should be saved for grills and barbecues (see the chapter on summer cooking). However, if you wish to use it, cook it for the same length of time as meat from the shoulder—about an hour and fifteen minutes.
Neck and shank are excellent for stews but require longer cooking time—about two hours or more. Serve them to people who like bones. You will need to buy about 4 pounds to serve 4–6 since so much of it will be bone. You will also need to increase the salt a bit as some of it will be absorbed by the marrow.
Stewing beef may be substituted for cubed lamb. Here again, increase the cooking time, in this case to about 2½ hours, and adjust the recipes accordingly.
Khare masale ka gosht (meat with whole spices)
SERVES 4–6
Here is my first meat recipe for this book. It is very easy to make and has a delicately flavored taste. By placing it first, I hope to lure you all toward the more complicated and the more heavily spiced meat recipes. This dish is normally made with goat meat, using either the leg or the neck and shoulders, cubed into 1-inch pieces. If the neck and shoulders are used, the bones are always left in. Since we eat with our hands, none of the meat is wasted, the fingers making their way around the oddly shaped bones more easily than a knife and fork. You can, however, use either beef or lamb. If you use beef, get round or chuck, cubed. If you use lamb, and don’t want bones, get the butcher to give you 2 pounds of meat from the shoulder. Trim the larger chunks of fat from the meat, and cut it into 1-inch cubes.
8 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 stick cinnamon, 2 inches long
20 whole black peppercorns
15 whole cloves
10 whole cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 whole dried hot pepper (or more, according to taste)
2 pounds boneless meat from shoulder of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes, with fat and tissues removed
1–1½ teaspoons salt (according to taste)
1 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
GARNISH
1 tablespoon trimmed, chopped Chinese parsley (coriander greens or cilantro)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground cardamom seeds
Pat the meat dry on paper towels.
Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. When it is very hot, put the spices in quickly in this order: first the cinnamon, then black peppercorns, cloves, cardamom pods, and bay leaves, and finally the hot peppers.
When the hot peppers begin to change color and darken, add the pieces of meat and the salt. Stir for 5 minutes or until the pot begins to make boiling noises. Cover, lower heat, and cook for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes—or until the meat is tender.
Remove the cover and continue cooking on medium heat for a final 3 to 5 minutes, gently stirring the meat pieces. Take care not to break them. The meat is done now. It should look a nice brown, be tender, and have no sauce other than what is clinging to it and the fat it cooked in.
To serve: In India the contents of the pot are put into a serving bowl, I teaspoon of garam masala is sprinkled on the top, and the dish is served with hot chapatis or Rice with Spinach. I tend to think most Americans would be rather put off if they saw so much fat lining the serving dish, so I suggest that you lift the meat and spices out with a slotted spoon (the spices, though not to be eaten, make an attractive garnish). Place them on a serving platter and serve them sprinkled with chopped Chinese parsley and freshly ground cardamom. You could serve almost any vegetable or dal as an accompaniment