Junglee Maas- Jungle Mutton Curry

Junglee Maas simply means wild meat. It's a delicious preparation that belongs to the Rajput legacy of Game Cuisine. They say that this dish was invented by the Maharaja of Sarwar. Sarwar was the former capital of Kishangarh, a princely state of Rajasthan. Apparently there are Sarwar (or Survar) Muslim Rajputs in Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan.

Story behind Junglee Maas: Back in the day, the Maharajas (kings) loved to go hunting in the wild. Other than being a royal sport and hobby, hunting provided them with practical experience for war. Included in their hunting convoy were their khansamas- the top royal chefs, who tagged along with them, carrying minimal food ingredients and water. After setting up basecamp, and a good night's rest, the kings would head out on their hunting expedition early next morning, while the chefs stayed back, getting the kitchen ready, wondering what surprise game meat would be presented to them in the evening that they'd have to transform into a delicious preparation fit for the kings. The catch of the day could be anything from blackbuck to chinkara, wild cat, etc. The kings liked their meat to retain the gamey taste. They didn't appreciate it if the meat was doused in a ton of spices. Well, with access to limited ingredients, the khansamas couldn't really do much anyways in terms of spice. Come evening, the tired and famished kings returned to basecamp. The hunted animals were taken away to the kitchen area, where the chefs and their helpers cleaned up everything, rubbed the meat with salt, and then slow cooked it in ghee until the meat turned nice and tender. The dish was finished off with crushed dry red chillies, some more ghee, and salt to taste. This method of cooking retained the gamey taste of meat, that the kings ate with great relish. And thats how junglee maas came about.

Over time there have been alterations made to the original simple 4 ingredient recipe. In addition to ghee, red chillies, and salt, you can add cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, garlic, etc. Some recipes suggest using mustard oil, rather than ghee. Any kind of meat can be used- the more exotic, the better.

Here's my version of junglee maas. I use more spices to camouflage the gamey taste of mutton. Hey, what can I say- maybe I am not as junglee as I thought I was! ;)

Yield: enough for 3 adults

Pre-cooking time: 30-45 minutes

Cooking time: 1-1.5 hours

Ingredients: 

Mutton- 1 small tray

Onion, sliced- 1 medium

Bay leaves- 3-4

Red chili powder- 2-4 tbs
*Adjust quantity according to your desired level of heat

Coriander powder- 2-4 tbs

Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

Green Cardamom- 3-4 pods

Cumin- 2 tsp

Garlic paste- 1 tsp

Lemon juice- 1-2 tbs

Oil such as mustard or olive- 1/2-1 tbs for marinating

Cooking oil or ghee- 3-4 tbs

Water- 4-5 tbs and then some for cooking

Salt to taste

Method: 

Marination: 

Marinate the meat with red chili powder, mustard or olive oil, garlic paste, green cardamom, and lemon juice. Mix it all well, show it some love, cover it, and let it be for 30-45 minutes.

While marination is happening, in a bowl, make a little paste of red chili, and coriander powder with water. Add a pinch of cinnamon to this paste.

Cooking: 

1. In a thick bottomed pot or pan of your choice, pour in some cooking oil or ghee or a combination of both. Get the heat going, temper some cumin seeds, and bay leaves. Add thinly sliced onion and fry until brown.

2. Add marinated mutton. Allow one side to brown a bit for 5-7 minutes, flip it around, and brown it again for another 5-7 minutes. 

3. Pour in the red chili coriander and cinnamon paste, and give it all a stir. 

4. Now add some more water, enough to cook the meat in. Add salt to taste. 

5. Bring it to boil, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, checking intermittently to make sure there's enough liquid to allow the meat to cook. 

6. At the end of 1 hour, check to make sure it's all cooked nice and tender and tastes good enough for your palate. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with rotis, paranthas, naan, or rice.

I served this yummy mutton curry with a side of junglee saag- simple swiss chard stir fry with salt and pepper.

Btw, Sep 28th is Ranbir Kapoor's birthday, and I wrote about his favorite foods on Quora. He loves junglee maas!! Do give it a read: Ranbir Kapoor the Foodie

Interesting: 

[1] Sarwar

[2] Rajputana Cuisine

Food Post #206: Vegetarian Lamb Curry

Here's a lovely recipe for not-your-typical-lamb curry. Bengalis call it "vegetarian lamb," and I believe Kashmiri Pandits also make this dish. It is "vegetarian" because they don't use onions and garlic. Funny! How do you make lamb curry without onions and garlic?? Well you see, you can.

Yield: 4 adults 

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes (in a pot) 

Ingredients: 

1. Lamb (cut for stew)- 2.5 lbs

2. Fennel Seeds- 4 tbs

3. Cumin- 4 tbs

4. Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

5. Cardamom- 4 pods

6. Cloves- 4-6 

7. Bay Leaves- 2

8. Asafetida (hing)- 1/2 tsp

9. Ginger- 1.5 inch

10. Green Chilies- 8-10  

11. Buttermilk- 1 bowl (or yogurt- whipped)

12. Cooking oil- 8 tsp

13. Ghee (clarified butter)- 2-3 tsp

14. Water- 1 cup (adjustable) 

15. Saffron- a good pinch or two

*Soak saffron in buttermilk (or whipped yogurt) at the beginning of the cooking process

Method: 

1. Powder ingredients 2 to 8 in a small coffee grinder, and set aside. 

2. Make a coarse paste of ginger and green chilies, and set aside.  

3. With some cooking oil plus ghee in a thick bottomed pot, get the heat going, place lamb pieces one by one, allowing one side to brown up. Then turn over to brown up the other side. This shouldn't take too long- say about 5-7 minutes on high flame. 

4. Now add the dry spice mix we made in step 1 to this, and fry for a couple minutes, followed by the ginger green chili paste. Stir everything together. At this point, enticing aromas will begin to emanate from the lamb and spices. 

  

5. Now add a cup of water, or enough to barely cover the lamb pieces. Add salt to taste. Bring to boil, cover, reduce flame, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

6. At the end of 30 minutes, uncover. At this point, I like to break the lamb into smaller bite sized pieces with the help of the ladle itself. The lamb will still be a bit tough. Cover again, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Now the lamb will be nice and tender, just the way I like. Add some more water, as the liquid would have reduced at the end of 1 hour.  

7. Now slowly add the buttermilk with saffron, while stirring the curry as you pour the buttermilk. Bring to boil, reduce flame, cover, simmer for about 8-10  minutes.  

Buttermilk with Saffron 

Delicious Lamb Curry

8. For a final touch, add some freshly ground pepper, and a couple chilies slit lengthwise. Serve with steamed rice. A side of quickly sautéed greens such as swiss chard and spinach goes very well with this lovely lamb curry and rice. 

Lamb curry over a bed of rice, with some swiss chard on the side

See? You can in fact make curry, that too lamb curry (!!) without using onions and garlic, and red chili powder, and tomatoes. It's turns out as delicious as ever. 

Lamb Curry

My brother makes the best lamb curry, hands down! He always cooks it to perfection. He makes his own special marinade, with freshly ground spices, marinates the lamb overnight, and then cooks it next day, allowing it to simmer for what seems like an entire day! The result is this ultra-tender and outstandingly delicious lamb curry. Now regular people like me don't have the entire day to cook. Let me change that- people like me don't have the patience to cook for such long hours. I can spend about 3 hours tops, I'd say. The funny thing is that even though I am a fast cook, my food tastes pretty darn good! So there, go figure, brother! ;) 

Here's my comparatively quick and easy recipe for lamb curry. 

Total Cooking Time: Approximately 2 hours

Serves: 4 adults (if it is a case of gluttony, then maybe 2 adults!)

Ingredients: 

1. Lamb- bone in, or boneless lamb chops- ~2.5 lbs

2. 3 medium onions- sliced

3. Garlic, minced- the more, the better! 7-10 cloves

4. Ginger- 2 inch, grated

5. Tomatoes, chopped- 2-3 

6. Thai green chilies, sliced- 10 (adjust according to your level of heat)

7. Cooking oil- 2-3 tbs

8. Salt per taste

9. Water to be used in cooking

Spices: 

Just empty out your entire spice cabinet! ;) 

1. Asafoetida (hing)

2. Cumin seeds- 2 tsp

3. Fennel seeds- 2 tsp

4. Fenugreek seeds- 1/2-1 tsp

5. Cloves- 4-5

6. Green Cardamom- 3-4

7. Cinnamon powder- 1/2 tsp

8. Nutmeg powder- 1/2 tsp

9. Turmeric- 1/2-1 tsp

10. Garam Masala- 1-2 tsp

11. Red chili powder (optional)- per taste (If I use green chilies, I skip this)

Lamb chops

Asafoetida

Method:

1. Pour in 2-3 tbs of cooking oil in a pot, and get the heat going. Cast iron will work beautifully. 

2. Add a pinch of asafoetida powder (hing), followed by spluttering cumin, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, cloves, and cardamom, and then slowly drop the lamb chops one by one into this boiling oil. Do not stir for about 5 minutes. You want to get a good sear going. Meanwhile also add a pinch of turmeric powder, cinnamon powder, and nutmeg powder. 

3. Then flip the lamb chops, to sear the other side, for another 5 minutes. You know it is good when the meat is nice and browned. 

4. At this point, throw in the sliced onions, minced garlic, grated ginger, and the slit green chilies. And stir fry everything, including the meat, for about 10 minutes, until the onions basically melt. At this point, add the tomatoes. Add salt per taste and garam masala. Stir it all up. And then add water enough to cover the lamb pieces. Bring to boil, cover with lid, and simmer away.

Searing the lamb

Throw in the onions, garlic, ginger and chilies

Onions melted

Add tomatoes, salt, garam masala

Cooking has begun, now that water has been added

5. After 30 minutes, remove lid, and give it a stir. Also taste the gravy and adjust salt, etc, if need be. If you think that you need some more water, then go ahead and add another 1/2 cup of water. In the end, it'll all reduce anyways. Then cover again, and simmer away for another hour.  

Simmering to perfection

Finally, at the end of just under 2 hours, you'll have created the perfect lamb curry. The lamb will be oh-so-tender, and will literally melt in your mouth!

Falling-off-the-bone tender, delicious Lamb Curry! 

Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve with roti/chapati or saffron rice. One bite, and there's bound to be a symphony in your mouth!