festivities
Traditional cuisine is often passed down from one generation to the next. It also serves as an expression of cultural identity. People who move to different parts of the world take their food with them in way to preserve their roots and keep a part of their home with them. Continuing to make food from their native land for family meals is a symbol of pride for their ethnicity. We live in a culturally diverse society where are our traditions are made special with different festivities. Our festivals are vibrant and what makes it more special is the food that we make for the occasion. Bari Eid is one of the most important festivals for Muslims around the world, and while we learn the lesson of sacrifice, we also enjoy the festivities with grand feasts with our loved ones. This week You! enlists some special Bari Eid recipes and their origins for you to try for upcoming dinners and parties…
YAKHNI PULAO
Pulao is an exquisite aromatic rich dish that gets its roots from ancient Persia, from where it spread wide in the Muslim world and found its way to the Mughals. Lavish and extravagant in taste, the Mughals were connoisseurs of rich, complex and sumptuous recipes. Creating such dishes meant that cooking in royal kitchens was a riot of colours, fragrances, and harried experiments.
Recipe:
• For the stock: Add a kg of meat (beef or mutton) in a pot of around 7-8 cups of water. Once the water starts boiling remove the foam that may have formed. Then, add a small onion, two cloves of garlic, an inch of ginger, a tsp of fennel seeds and whole coriander seeds, a pinch of salt, 2 bay leaves, a whole red chilli, half tsp of cloves, a tsp of black peppercorns.
• Let the meat simmer until it’s tender (about 1 - 1 ½ hours) and around 4 - 5 cups / ½ litre of stock is left. The meat will be cooked for about 10 minutes in the next step so it needs to be tender but not super tender else it will break apart.
• Drain the meat in a colander making sure to reserve the yakhni in a large bowl. Throw away the extra spices along with onion, ginger and garlic reserving the mutton pieces.
• For the rice: Clean and wash the basmati rice. Soak for around ½ hour.
• Heat oil in a large pot and add sliced onions. Fry till they are golden brown and crispy and remove with a slotted spoon. Drain the onions on a kitchen towel – as they cool they will crisp up further. Heat up the same oil and add whole spices – a tsp of cloves, a tsp cumin seeds, a tsp black peppercorns, a tsp coriander seeds, a cinnamon stick, 2 black cardamom, 5-6 green cardamoms and 2 bay leaves.
• Fry off the whole spices for a minute and then add the ginger garlic paste.
• After frying off the ginger garlic paste add the meat pieces followed by yogurt. Fry for about 5 - 10 minutes till the water dries off.
• Add the soaked and drained rice along with ½ litre of stock. The liquid needs to be in the same ratio as the quantity of rice used, so measure accordingly. In case there isn’t enough stock add water and if there is too much stock then reserve the remainder.
• Add a little kewra and close the lid on the pot and cook on low simmer. When most of the water has dried, add zarda colour sparingly and cover again.
• You can tell when the pulao is done when all the water is absorbed from the sides.
• Some of the rice grains will still be sticky but let the rice sit for around 10 minutes, and the rice will be separated.
• To serve, dish out the rice and garnish with the fried onions. Serve with raita on the side.
(Recipe by my beloved nani - Amna Khatoon)
PESHAWARI NAMKEEN GOSHT
Namkeen Gosht is a meat delight hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its adjoining regions; Afghanistan, the tribal belt and Central Asia, where dishes similar to our local Namkeen Gosht are still enjoyed today. This meat fare is a favourite amongst the mountain people, where the consumption of meat is a way of combating the rigorous terrain of the region; staying strong and warm. Its tender melt in the mouth texture, because of its slow cooking and minimum use of ingredients makes it an all-time favourite amongst meat lovers.
Ingredients:
You will need 1 kg mutton, a tbsp of black pepper powder; 2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste; a tbsp of roasted crushed white cumin; enough water to tenderise meat; an inch of ginger; salt to taste; 2 tbsp of green chillies; ½ cup of oil; 2 tbsp of coriander.
Method
• Heat oil in pan, add ginger garlic and fry for one minute. Then add meat and roast well till there is browning.
• When meat’s colour change, add water and cook on high flame.
• Once the water is boiled, reduce flame and cook it covered until meat becomes tender.
• When meat is fully tenderised and water is dried, roast meat well.
• After roasting, add salt and black pepper powder and mix well.
• Now add roasted crushed cumin, sliced ginger, green chillies and green coriander and steam-cook(dam) at low heat for 2 minutes.
• Tasty Peshawari Namkeen Gosht Recipe is ready to serve and best enjoyed with naan, bread and chappatis.
(Recipe by JIVHAKIRUCHI – Image by Sweet spicy cooking)
BIHARI BEEF GRAIL
This is a simple and easy meat dish. It is prepared with little spices it mainly origins from Patna Bihar, India. Beef grail is a unique recipe made in Bihari households. It can be made in beef and in mutton.
Ingredients:
You will need a kg of beef, divided into four parts (boneless cubes without fat + boneless cubes with fat + meat with bones + chops). A tbsp of ginger garlic paste; ½ kg yogurt, a tbsp black pepper powder; 1 tsp red chilli powder; salt to taste; cooking oil ½ cup (or as needed. Qurbani meat is already fatty so you can skip oil as well); water as required; sliced onions, lemon and green chillies for garnish
Method
• Heat oil and fry your meat until it changes colour. Once it changes colour, add ginger garlic paste and fry for 30 seconds.
• Add black pepper and red chilli powder and mix well.
• Now add yogurt and cook for another 2 minutes.
• Add enough water to cook your meat through (Please note that fresh meat cooks quicker as compared to defrosted meat hence add water accordingly). Close the lid and let the meat cook on a low flame.
• When the meat is cooked to perfection, increase the flame to high and let the remaining water dry up.
• Add salt at this stage and roast. We want a little gravy, so don’t make it too dry.
• Serve it with pickled onions, lemon and green chillies on the side. Enjoy with paratha, puri or rice!
(Image & recipe by CookingwithRida)