Lamb, cut into medium-sized pieces 2 kg
Ghee 2 cups/500 gm
Onions, sliced 2 cups/500 gm
Salt to taste
Ginger (adrak), chopped 8 tsp/40 gm
Beetroot (chuqander), cut into cubes 1 cup/250 gm
Carrots (gajar), cut into cubes 100 gm
Turnips (shalgam), cut into cubes 1 cup/250 gm
Cloves (laung) ½ tsp/3 gm
Egg white 1
Sugar 3 cups/750 gm
Juice of lemon (nimbu) 3
Coriander (dhaniya) seeds, pounded 8 tsp/40 gm
Almonds (badam), fried, ground to paste 5 tsp/20 gm
Rice paste 8 tsp/40 gm
Cinnamon (dalchini), ground ½ tsp/3 gm
Green cardamoms (choti elaichi), ground ½ tsp/3 gm
Black peppercorn (sabut kali mirch), ground 2 tsp/10 gm
Spinach (palak) ½ cup/125 gm
Dill (soya saag) ½ bunch
Saffron (kesar) ½ tsp/3 gm
1. Heat the ghee in a pan; add the onions and fry until golden. Add half the lamb pieces, salt and chopped ginger; fry until the lamb changes colour. Add sufficient water to partly cook the lamb.
2. Now add the beetroot, carrots and turnips with 3 cups water to cook the meat and vegetables on low heat.
3. When the lamb and vegetables are cooked and at least 1½ cups water remain in the pan, separate the lamb and vegetables from the stock and reserve. Strain the stock and temper it with 2 cloves; keep aside.
4. Make a fine mince of the remaining lamb pieces. Make a dry do-piyazah (see pg. 218) with the mince and grind to a fine paste. Add white of egg and knead into a dough. Make marble-sized balls of this mix and deep-fry in hot oil.
5. Make a sugar syrup of one-string consistency with lemon juice (see pg. 219). Add half of the syrup to the reserved stock and bring to
a boil.
6. Add the pounded coriander seeds, almond paste and rice paste to the stock; mix well.
7. Sprinkle ground cinnamon, remaining cloves, cardamom and black pepper; mix well. Add the spinach, dill and lamb pieces; bring to a soft boil and remove from heat.
8. Transfer into a serving bowl. Add the remaining syrup to the prepared soup and serve hot garnished with saffron.
DO-PIYAZAH ZAMEENQAND
Elephant foot yam (zameenqand), washed, cleaned, cut into medium-sized pieces 1 kg
Tamarind (imli), soaked in water 5¼ tbsp/80 gm
Ghee 1 cup/250 gm
Turmeric (haldi) powder 2 tsp/10 gm
Onions, sliced 1 cup/250 gm
Indian gooseberries (amla), halved 10 gm
Coriander (dhaniya) seeds, pounded 4 tsp/20 gm
Ginger (adrak), chopped 4 tsp / 20 gm
Salt to taste
Freshly ground to a fine powder:
Cinnamon (dalchini) ½ tsp/3 gm
Cloves (laung) ½ tsp/3 gm
Green cardamom (choti elaichi) ½ tsp/3 gm
Black peppercorn (sabut kali mirch) 1 tsp/5 gm
1. Squeeze the tamarind with water to obtain the juice.
2. Heat the ghee in a pan; add the turmeric powder to colour the ghee. Add the onions and fry until golden brown.
3. Add the yam, gooseberries, tamarind water, pounded coriander seeds, ginger and salt; cook, on low heat, until the yam is tender and little water remains. Sprinkle freshly ground spices and put on dum (see pg. 218) for 5 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and keep the dish on hot ashes, covered, for 2 hours to imbibe the smoky flavour. Then uncover and serve.
--IANS vm/am
