The Food We Eat

Mangalore Mutton Curry

 

 

It is very likely that many of you have never had the fortune of tasting food from Mangalore, India. Not the most widely known cuisine, even within India, but what a shame. It is addictive! How do I describe it? Lets just say that If you like peppery curries and tamarind, you are sure going to love this style of curry. It is a welcome change from the more well-known curries. Serve with steamed plain rice or with chapati. I would love to know what you think of it.

 

Mutton is traditional to India, as beef is rarely consumed. If you decide to use beef, I would strongly recommend using 'chuck' meat. As with beef stew, this cut of meat lends well to curries. If you can't find mutton, lamb is a fantastic substitute.

 

Also, yes, I do use a pressure cooker here. Those of you who are pressure-cooker phobic, it is time to come out of your shell and get over it. Hey, it is really 'cool' to own one now. I swear, if you are into Indian cooking, or just good healthy whole grain cooking, you have to go out and get one of these. What if you don't like it? Oh well. I am sure you've made other kitchen purchases below that you have regretted. There is a very very small chance you'll regret it. I promise. But if you still don't want to get one, you can use a heavy dutch oven. Just be prepared to cook this for a few ours to achieve the right doneness and consistency.  

 

Mangalore Mutton Curry

Serves 6

 

Ingredients:

 2 lbs boneless Mutton, cut into small pieces

1/2 lb potatoes, cut into fourths

3 large onions, chopped into rough chunks

6 cloves of garlic

1 inch piece of fresh ginger

2 large tomatoes, pureed

1 teaspoon turmeric (haldi) powder

1 tablespoon tamarind paste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

1 cup water

Fresh cilantro, for garnish

 

For coconut masala paste:

1 tablespoon poppy (khus khus) seeds

1 stick cinnamon

4 cloves

15 black peppercorns

1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

4 dry red chilis

1 teaspoon oil

1//2 cup grated coconut (fresh preferred, dry will do)

 

Directions:

In the bowl of a food processor, grind the onions, garlic, and ginger together into a coarse paste. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, or a heavy dutch oven. Add the onion paste and fry over medium heat until golden brown. This shouls take 15 - 20 minutes.

While onion paste is cooking, get the coconut masala paste ready. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a small frying pan and roast all the dry spices. Grind to a paste along with the coconut. Set aside for later.

Once the onion paste is golden brown, add the pureed tomatoes. Cook, stirring frequently till tomatoes are cooked and change to a dark red color. Now add the turmeric powder and some salt. Add the mutton and saute the mutton in the masala till the mutton gives out some juices, about 10 minutes. Now add the potatoes, ground coconut masala paste, tamarind paste, sugar, and 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil, close the pressure cooker lid and cook at high pressure for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 15 more minutes. Once pressure has released, open cooker.

 

Note: If you are cooking without a pressure cooker, you will need to cook the meat for a few hours. You can do this covered, on low heat on the stove top, or better, cook in a 325 F oven. You will need more water to avoid the curry from burning, so plan on at least one more cup of water.

 

Once the curry is cooked (meat should be fork tender), check salt and seasonings. Garnish with cilantro leaves. Serve hot. Note: leftovers are excellent!

Greek-Style Lamb Patties with Tzatziki Sauce - Mock Gyros

For those of you who are lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest, there is a wonderful source of great quality grass-fed organic meats, Thundering Hooves farm in Walla Walla, WA. You can order from them directly, but I have access to their meats via my organic grocery delivery service, SPUD. Fantastic meats!

We try not to eat too much red meat at our house, as J isn't getting any younger and I am trying to lose 20 lbs (yeah right!) But I've been craving some meat, and lamb is really one of my favorite red meats. So, last week I ordered some ground lamb from the farm.

Next question: What would I make with this lamb? Gyros! The seed for something Greek got firmly planted in my brain when I caught the smell of gyros from a little Greek deli while driving back home from a meeting.. Gyros it would be. My all-time favorite food-science geek, Alton Brown actually has a recipe to mimic the pressed rotisserie gyro meat that you find in Gyro places. I sure will give this a try one of these days, but it was Friday evening, and I didn't feel like taking anything too challenging on.

I remembered seeing a Gyro recipe in Cooks Illustrated, that used Lamb patties, so I went to work on it. I decided to add some Tabbouli as a side, but in retrospect that was way too much food. Oh well! Life could be a lot worse. Now we have some Tabbouli in the fridge, and in my opinion it tastes much better the next day anyway. The bulgur grains have a chance to absorb the yummy lemon-olive oil flavors....yumm.

Lamb Patties

(Adapted from Cooks Illustrated, July 2007)

1 lb ground lamb

4 pocketless pitas

3/4 pita torn into 1inch pieces

1/2 onion, chopped coarse (~ 3/4 cup)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp fresh greek oregano leaves, minced

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp canola oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. To heat the pita, wrap tightly in foil and place in oven for 10 - 15 minutes.

2. Process onion, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper, lemon juice and pita pieces in food processor into a paste, about 30 sec. Transfer onion mixture to a large glass bowl. Add lamb and mix gently till lamb and onion paste is well incorporated. Divide mixture into 12 equal pieces and roll gently into balls. Flatten balls gently into patties, about 1/2 inch thick.

3. Heat 1 tsp canola oil in a 12-inch skillet, preferably non-stick. Add  half the patties and cook over med-high 3-4 minutes, or until a nice brown crust forms. Flip patties, reduce heat to medium, and cook about 5 minutes on other side, until well browned and cooked through. Transfer patties to paper-towel lined plate. Wipe the skillet clean, add 1 tsp oil and cook the rest of the patties. Drain on paper towels. Keep patties warm in a 250F oven.

Note: I would use a splatter screen so you don't get lamb grease all over your stove. Sorry for the hazy picture -- I didn't want to get too close and have oil splatter on my camera lens.

Tzatziki sauce

1 cup greek yogurt (I use Fage brand)

1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

2 tbsp chopped fresh mint leaves

1/4 tsp dill (I used dried as that is what I had on hand)

1 small garlic clove, minced fine

1/4 tsp salt

Juice from 2 lemons

1 tsp lemon zest

Method:

1. Combine cucumber and salt, and let drain in a colander set over a bowl for 15-30 minutes.

2. Add drained cucumber, garlic and lemon juice to food processor and pulse a few times till cucumber till you get a chunky paste. Don't over-process.

3. Mix cucumber mixture with yogurt. Add mint, dill, and lemon zest. Season will more salt and pepper if needed. Keep chilled.

Accompaniments:

1 large tomato, chopped

2 cups romaine hearts, shredded or julienned

1/2 cup feta cheese

Tabbouli/ Tabbouleh

1 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 large bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped

4 scallions, chopped fine

Juice from 4 large lemons

2 tbsp lemon zest

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1 tbsp kosher salt

Method:

1. Add bulgur to boiling water in a large glass bowl. Stir well, cover tightly with plastic wrap and set aside 20 - 30 minutes till bulgur grains are al-dente and plumped up.

2. Drain bulgur in a mesh sieve so all extra water drains.

3. Mix bulgur with parsley, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, scallions, lemon zest.

4. Check seasonings. Set aside at room temperature till ready to eat.

Note: You can add 1/4 to 1/2 cup diced red onion if you like. I didn't as the kids don't eat raw onion, and also, I didn't want more dragon breath on movie night :-)

To assemble gyros:

Lay out warm pita on a square of aluminum foil. Spread 1/4 cup tzatziki sauce in the middle lengthwise. Arrange 3 patties on the sauce. Top with tomato, lettuce, cheese and a few more tablespoons of sauce. Fold pita. Wrap foil over like a blanket and serve.