One of the most fascinating aspects of Kashmir is its food and especially the similarity in taste with Bengali cuisine at times. The beautiful subtle flavors of Kashmir perfectly gel with a Bengali palate. At least I have felt so after visiting Kashmir 3 times in a row.

Even 5-6 years ago when I used to travel I never felt the urge to explore regional cuisine in depth. I was a food back then as well, but still food was part and parcel of the journey, I never realized how much more I can learn about a specific place through its cuisine. During the covid times I think I revisited my passion for understanding food and its impact on our culture. Being locked at home I started taking food photography seriously, every element that goes into telling an intrinsic story about the food on the plate. And around the same time I also got really hooked onto a few travel blogger channels on Youtube who would also showcase the food of the region during their travel. One such blogger is Harish Bali. My mom was the first one to introduce me to his videos. His videos were very interesting and at the same time the kind of effort he put to know about some of the very authentic dishes of the place was truly intriguing. That was the first time I realized what I have been missing on my travels. Just to research about the sightseeing places and just having food on the go is not enough to immerse in the culture of that place. I need to experience their food and ingredients that gives the cuisine of the place unique characteristics. His Meghalaya series was like an epitome of experiencing local food. And that was one of the reasons after the covid regulations eased up my first visit was to Meghalaya and I kind of tried everything Mr Bali had spoken about in his blog series. That experience kind of opened up a new perspective in front of me. I started looking at travels in a new way.

My next destination was Kashmir. And along with the places I am going to see, I consulted many travel forums on what food I should be trying out where. The first trip blew my mind in terms of the very simplistic and rustic food we experienced in the most remote parts of Kashmir. It was very much like our own food, incorporating a lot of fresh vegetables, very mild on the spices, aroma and flavors still uplifting the core essence of Kashmiri cuisine. That trip made us fall in love with haak saag more than anything else. The second trip was a more educated one. I was already aware what to expect and this time I wanted to experiment more. We tried Kashmiri Trout in one of the best cafes in Pahalgam and absolutely fell in love. Tried tabak maaz, nun chai, sheermal, mutton rogan josh, homely spread at our Driver's home, apple juice ( Read all about these experience in Part 1 & Part 2 ) and a bunch of other local favorites. We learnt techniques how they prepare their meat for various dishes. Removing impurities from the meat by blanching for a few minutes is one of the very essential steps in any meat or non veg recipes. We also learnt how adding a little baking soda would help in retaining the color of the vibrant haak saag. We also learnt that Black cardamom and fennel powder were the two core ingredients added to almost every single dish here which gave the preparations its characteristic sweet delicate aroma. While it may sound weird that the so called garam masalas are used in even preparing the saag, but if you have tried the saag preparations of this region you will definitely start loving them for that unique flavor. 

The 3rd trip to Kashmir was more like retracing a few known cuisines and falling for them all over again. You might be surprised to know I didn't really enjoy the whole wazwan as it was too heavy for us to enjoy a full course. But having said that we loved a few particular dishes from the wazwan which I also tried recreating once back home. I will soon talk about the Dum aloo recipe which I have made over and over again! 

Among the mutton preparations Rogan Josh definitely tops the chart. I had also uploaded the Kashmiri Pandit version of the recipe on my blog long ago which is equally delicious. The next one would be Mirchwangun Korma which I liked. Somehow the white gravy based mutton dishes of this region couldn't win me over yet. Now that again maybe because I have tried it only in the hotels so far. Maybe if I can get an opportunity to taste it in any homestay or any local's home my perception would change. I would definitely look for travelling many more times to Kashmir just to explore unseen places and experience more of their not so popular food items.

Today I will be making a very straightforward basic Kashmiri Mutton curry. It has all the flavor profile from the region and also comes with a red hot gravy. one of the best things about certain Kashmiri gravies is that they are easy on the stomach even if they look really spicy. It is because the spices are very minimal and the color comes from the vibrant Kashmiri Red chili. So even on a hot summer day you can relish this recipe without worrying about a heartburn!

Preparation Time : 20 minutes 

Ingredients :

• Mutton (Shoulder cut) - 500 gm
• Onion - 300 gm ( thinly sliced)
• Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp
• Fennel Powder / Sauf Powder - 1.5 tsp
• Dry Ginger Powder / Saut Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Kashmiri Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp + 1/2 tsp
• Ginger Garlic Paste- 1 tsp 
• Cinnamon - 1 inch + 1 inch
• Cloves - 2 + 3 
• Green Cardamom / Choti Ealichi - 2 + 2
• Black Cardamom / Badi Ealichi - 1 + 1
• Salt - as per taste 
• Sugar - as per taste
• Water - as needed ( e.g 500 ml)
• Mustard Oil - as needed

Procedure :

1. Clean & Wash the Mutton. Take a cooker & about 500 ml water. Let it come to a rolling boil. Now add the mutton pieces and let it again come to a boil. Skim the impurities accumulating over the water as much as you can. 

2. Now add 2 tsp ginger garlic paste, 1 tsp salt, 1 inch cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, and a pinch of turmeric. Now cook this for 3-4 whistles till its 50% done.  Separate the stock and mutton and keep both of them aside. 

3. Now take a deep bottom kadai and heat mustard oil. When the oil is hot temper it with jeera, 1 black cardamom, 2 green cardamom, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 2 cloves. When the whole spices are fragrant add the sliced onion. Add a pinch of salt and fry the onions till the onions become bit caramelized. 

4. While the onions are frying make two different pastes - a) mix 1 tsp red chili powder with water and create a paste b) mix 1.5 tsp of fennel powder & 1/2 tsp of dry ginger powder with a little water and make a paste.

5. Now add the red chili paste to the caramelized onions and add a little bit of the mutton stock. Give it a stir and let it cook till you see oil separating 

6. Now add the cooked mutton pieces and fold in so that the masala coats all the pieces.

7. Now add the fennel and dry ginger paste. At this stage you can also add 1/4 tsp of ginger garlic paste but this is totally optional. For authentic Kashmiri flavors skip ginger garlic paste at this stage. Add 1 tsp of turmeric and a little stock if you feel the masala has become too dry and sticking to the kadai. Fry till raw smell is gone.

8. Now add the reserved stock as much as you want the gravy. Adjust seasoning. Give it a good mix and transfer to pressure cooker again. Now cook the mutton till its 100% done and all the masalas are properly cooked. 

Tip : if you have time then finish the cook on the mutton in the Kadai itself that way the gravy will turn more tasty.

Serve it with steamed rice any kind of Indian flatbread and Enjoy!

My Favorite Food Experiences from Kashmir Trip:

• First  Kashmir Trip - Favorite Foods Experiences
• Second Kashmir Trip - Favorite Food Experiences 

Other Kashmiri Recipes:

• Pandit Style Kashmiri Rogan Josh
• Shah Jeera Chicken Pulao 
• Kashmiri Pulao with Apples & Dry Fruit
  

When I finish a long week of work, self doubt, frustration of dealing with people and finally when the weekend comes, I feel cooking something new in the kitchen gives me that much needed happiness and kick, something I truly love and put my heart into. Standing by the hot stove, hearing the spices sizzle, getting that perfect tadka aroma, searing the beautiful portion of meat, watching it transform into that beautiful delicious gravy which tantalizes your tastebuds, I think that's my happy spot. Basking in the joy of creating something wonderful is a weekend well done. 

Today I am trying my hand at making the super famous Champaran Mutton Or Ahuna mutton. A few days back one of my friends shared a reel about a joint in Pune serving Champaran mutton. From the time this dish became viral I had been meaning to try it out somewhere but didn't find any good restaurants around my place. When I saw that reel, I was pretty tempted to try that out but it was quite some distance from my house. And as I said at the beginning, after a grueling week of dealing with humans I was not in a mood for a long ride navigating through the terrible weekend traffic. 

But once the craving sets in, you need to do something about it, so I thought why not give it a shot at home? In addition, I also have a Bihari neighbor who has treated me time and again with her dishes both veg and non veg so I could say I had a fair enough idea about typical Bihari flavors. Thus I accepted the challenge. After all it looks like a pretty easy recipe and the key to perfection is slow cooking in an earthen pot, sounds simple and that's what I needed at the moment. The small problem was that I didn't have an ideal pot or Ahuna for cooking the meat. The earthen pot I had was flat and without a lid. But necessity is a mother of invention so I brought out my deepest kadai and decided to go for it. I did have a big doubt whether the mutton will cook without any water or not, but surprisingly the mutton was falling off the bones by the end of the hour. 

One more update, a few weeks later after I cooked this dish at home finally I had also got the chance to taste the food of the restaurant from that viral reel. Now I can say all the food that the Instagram Influencers try to influence us with are not that great. I found their Handi cooked Champaran chicken quite underwhelming. Which makes me double proud that I could nail the flavours right at my home which tasted much better than the restaurant version.

Ingredients :

For Home Made Garam Masala

• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin - 1 tbsp
• Clove - 1/2 tsp
• Green Cardamom - 10
• Black Cardamom - 2
• Black Pepper - 1 tsp
• Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
• Stone Flower / Dagad Phool - a small handful
• Red Chilli whole - 3
• Mace - 1
• Nutmeg - 1/4 (grated)
• Salt- a pinch

For Mutton Gravy

• Mutton (Shoulder Portion ) - 500 Gm
• Onion - 250 gm ( sliced)
• Coriander Powder -  2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder (Kashmiri) - 1/2 tsp
• Spicy Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala (Homemade) - 1 tsp
• Whole Red Chilis - 2
• Bay Leaf - 1 or 2
• Black Pepper - 6 or 7
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
• Green Cardamom - 3
• Black Cardamom -  1
• Fresh ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsp
• Green Chilli - 2
• Fresh Coriander Leaves - small handful (finely chopped)
• Whole Garlic - 2
• Mustard Oil - 1/2 cup 
• Salt - To Taste

Procedure :

1. Heat a tawa and once its medium hot, roast all the spices till fragrant stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes. Take them off into a plate and let them completely cool down. Once cooled, in a mixer grinder add all the roasted spices, add grated nutmeg and salt and blend them into a fine powder. Now take a strainer and strain the ground masala to remove any big chunks. We will need a small amount of this homemade garam masala. You can store the rest in an air tight jar.

2. Wash & drain the water from the mutton. Keep aside.

Tip : Prefer shoulder cut from the mutton as they cook faster and are more tender.

3. Heat Mustard oil in a kadai. Once its steaming hot, switch off the flame and let the oil cool down completely. 

4. Take a large mixing bowl and add the sliced onion, Kashmiri chili powder, spicy chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, homemade garam masala, broken dry red chilis, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, black pepper (whole), bay leaves, ginger garlic paste, slit green chilies, 2/3rd or 60% of the smoked and cooled mustard oil, salt, chopped coriander leaves and mix everything very well with your hands. Mash the onions nicely so that some of its juices come out and the onions look slightly wilted.

5. Now add the washed mutton to the bowl and rub in all the mixture nicely. Massage the mutton with your fingers so that the spice rub is well incorporated. Do this for at least 2-3 minutes. Cover and let it marinate for about an hour.

Ahuna / Earthern Pot Method :

6. You need to first prep the earthen pot as per instructions or soak the pot overnight in water before cooking.

Now add the remaining of the mustard oil in the pot and spread it inside the walls of the pot. 

7. Nicely spread the marinated mutton inside the pot and place two whole Garlic bulbs inside. Now close the lid and secure the edges of the lid with dough. Make a small whole in the dough for the steam to escape. Now place the pot on a gas stove on a very low flame or preferably a sigdi (hibachi) with charcoal. Cook it on the lowest flame for an hour. Every 15 minutes pick up the pot and give it a slight shake so as to evenly cook the mutton. 

Tip: Cut the bottom of the garlic bulb so that the juices are absorbed into the whole garlic.

Kadai Method :

6. Take a deep and heavy bottom Kadai or a deep pressure cooker. Heat it on low flame. Once warm add the remaining of the mustard oil and then add the marinated mutton. Add a little water to the bowl where you marinated the mutton and scrape off any leftover masala into the water. Add this water into the kadai. Now place two garlic bulbs in the mutton and cover it with a heavy lid. Start cooking on the lowest heat. 

Tip: Cut the bottom of the garlic bulb so that the juices are absorbed into the whole garlic.

7. Every 15 minutes open the lid and give the mutton a good stir, checking for any masala or mutton getting stuck to the bottom. Repeat this for a good hour or till the mutton is falling off the bones. 

Remember patience is the key to making a perfect Champaran mutton. So you have to diligently keep a watch on the mutton and keep stirring the mutton every 10-15 minutes for a uniform cook on the meat. After an hour you will see oil has separated and  floated on top. With a fork check the doneness of the mutton. If there is still some rubberiness you can keep repeating the process till the meat is done. Give everything a good stir and your are ready to serve.

Serve this with white rice or Indrayani Rice ( sticky fragrant rice found in Maharashtra). Squeeze out the buttery soft garlic cloves from the bulb and enjoy it with every bite you take. It will be as divine as it sounds!

P.S. For everyone wondering how I served the mutton while I didn't have a suitable earthen pot, the pot in which the mutton is served is very shallow so I couldn't use it for cooking but for serving purpose it ticked the right boxes! 

From past two days there is not even a single rain cloud to be seen in the sky. Instead it is replaced by fluffy white clouds, autumn like azure skies with air like cider. It seems too early for autumn to arrive but still the atmosphere feels like its Dura Pooja already. 

The weather outside really influences my mood. With such a bright an chirpy day, I went into a home cleaning mode even in the mid of a work week. I reorganized a few to do things, got a few pending items out of the way, had an extended workout session and I am feeling cheery even without a specific reason. And now it is a challenge to focus on the office work, because this weather makes me feel like its the holidays and I need to spend the entire day reading some good book lying on my bed. Well only two more day to weekend and this time I promised myself I am going to just lie there doing absolutely nothing the whole weekend ( I know it sounds practically impossible but I will still try to convince myself). 

In the meantime, I am again feeling the Blahs for Instagram. This time I could at least keep the tempo for 3 continuous weeks. I hurdled to post at least 3 posts each week with countless engagements on peoples post but now I feel like not even logging in to see what's happening in the Instagram world. Seriously it becomes so tiring at times, I don't know how people keep up with the momentum of posting every single day! So after a 5 day break I am again trying to get back on the grind. 

The recipe I am posting today was first made on a very experimental basis just like many of my dishes. But it turned out really well. So I tried it a few more times with minor variations and every time it was just amazing. 

Xacuti (pronounced “Sha-kuti”) is a classic curry which originated in Goa, India, with complex spicing, including roasted white poppy seeds, sliced or grated coconut and large dried red chilies. It is usually prepared with chicken or lamb. It is also known as chacuti in Portuguese. It is always a good idea to prepare the spice mix fresh at home. But the good news is that there are a few brands which makes this spice mix as good as home made. One such brand is El the cook. They bring you this essential paste in a traditional stone ground powder, and best thing is its absolutely preservative free. 

This is an easy peasy delicious recipe because the readymade masala takes most of the hardwork out of this. Making the meatball is a little work of patience but that's all in it. Check out the recipe below.