Question : Can I please have the recipe for “Methi Lagaan”?

Answer : Lagaan cooking is very popular in the traditional Awadhi cuisine and has filtered down through generation to evolve with much more grandeur and refinement. Most of the five star hotels or upmarket India restaurants will have the dishes cooked in lagan, the recipe which comes close to the request is methi boti ka lagaan because methi fenugreek leaves) does not have the aura to carry the dish all on its own.

Ingredients:

1 kg    Shoulder of lamb
1 cup    desi ghee (clarified butter)
1 cup    yogurt
1 cup    fried brown onion
4 each    green chilli
1 small bunch methi (fresh fenugreek leaves)
6 garlic cloves, chopped
½ tsp    red chilli powder
1/3 tsp    turmeric powder
½ tsp    cumin powder
½ tsp    coriander powder

Marination
½ cup   coriander leaves
¼ cup   mint leaves
1 ½ tbsp ginger garlic paste
1tbsp     raw papaya paste
2tsp      coriander powder
1tsp      red chilli powder
1tsp      cumin powder
¼ tsp    all spice powder
4 green cardamoms
2 black cardamom
4 cloves
1 medium stick cinnamon
Salt to taste

For the preparation:
Clean lamb by removing unnecessary specks of fat and slime, de-bone and cut into 1 ½ inch cubes. You can also ask your butcher to do the same for you. Alternatively you can also use the lamb with bone making sure that pieces are medium size. Crush the fried onions into coarse powder using a pestle.

Wash green chilli, slit, remove seed and cut into strips.

Marination: Clean mint and coriander, wash and finely chop. Blend using minimum water to obtain smooth paste. Put the paste in a bowl, add the remaining marinade ingredients and mix well. Blanch the fenugreek leaves, drain and immediately put into ice water. Drain again and squeeze the leaves to remove excess water. Chop them very finely or alternately blend them using a blender.

For the cooking:
Rub the cubes of meat well with the marinade and keep aside for 2hrs.
Spread ghee (keep aside 1 tbsp) in a lagaan, place the marinated meat along with the marinade to the centre of the container, pour on the whisked yogurt and onion powder, add green chilli and cook on dum (cover the lagaan with the lid and seal it with the flour dough to prevent the steam from escaping) over low heat for 45 minutes or until the meat is cooked.

In a separate pan, heat 1 tbsp of ghee, add garlic and sauté for 30seconds. Add methi leaves, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, cumin powder and coriander powder and stir to mix well. Season lightly with salt.

Add this methi to lamb and cook for another 5 minutes to allow the flavour to mingle and develop. Ideally it should be eaten the second day as the flavour keeps on developing during the resting period and this holds true for almost all the meat curries.

Serve with the choice of Indian bread or rice.

Note: If you are a vegetarian, you can use ingredients like fresh button mushroom, corn kernels with great effect.

P.S. Lagaan is a Round, deep dish made from copper, or aluminium  mainly used for making biryanis or  mughlai/awadhi curries. Its typically used in “dum” cooking.

Tags: handi, tikka masala, palak, sambhar, chettinad, tandoori, indian curry, tandoor, curries, dosa

While the request of recipe of Lazzat-e-Taam (or Lazzat-e-taum) from the readers of Sonzyskitchen.com put me in the lanes and bylanes of Lucknow, it reminds me of that journey which is worth its weight in gold.

It is actually a blend of several spices which is otherwise known as the “Awadhi garam masala” but more complex than the normal garam masala readily available in most part of the world. It is very difficult to obtain this spice-blend outside Lucknow and some of the culinary terms I came across while decoding the recipe of this blend were not known to me before. It consists of almost 25 exotic spices and common spices. While none of the spice maker in Lucknow would divulge the details of the contents and quantities of the ingredients, one book called “Dastarkhwan-e-Awadh” which mentions this spice remains out of print for most part of the year. Here we discuss some of the exotic spices which form part of this intriguing spice mix.

Some ingredients for the Lazzat-e-Taam (Avadhi garam masala) are Mitha ittr (sweet perfume), makhana (dried lotus root, we have already discussed the recipe of makhane ki kheer in the previous blogs) sonzyskitchen), and jarakush not so readily available

Jarakush or Zarakush is dried lemon grass. Quoting the gentleman who helped in the compilation of the book “Regarding Baobeer we are clueless now becuse the elderly khansama who told us about it is no more alive and the shop in Aminabad where it was supposed to be available was gutted in a fire few years back”.
Even after getting the recipe out of the book, it will require herculean effort to assemble all the ingredients contained therein. Some of the other ingredients would be as per one of my friends from Lucknowi culinary fraternity

Coriander seeds           200 grams
Sandalwood powder     25 gr
Vetiver root dried        35 gr
Bay leaf                        35 gr
Rose petals                  20 gr
Black cardamom          25 gr
Cassia buds                 30 gr
Cinnamon                    15 gr
Stone flower                30 gr
Fennel seeds                20 gr
Beetle Tree Root          35 gr
Mace                           25 gr
Camphor                     25 gr
Dry ginger                  15gm

After seeing the complication of the recipe, I also pursued the path of procuring the spice mix for our kitchen from Lucknow as some of the terms were too complicated to be decoded.

Best of Luck, Kuntal

Tags: lentil, bhatura, sambhar, dhokla, indian food, kulfi, handi, dosa, chicken, paneer

Mughlai food is known for its richness. It is famous for the exotic use of spices, dried fruit and nuts. The Mughals did everything in style and splendor. Since they ate very rich food they reduced the number of intake during the day. Mughlai dishes as they are called have lots of milk and cream with spices to make rich and spicy meal that is the reason why Mughlai recipes are rich in fat, carbohydrates and proteins.
With the advent of the Muslims, India witnessed a definite and indelible mark in its cuisine. The Muslims ruler did everything with panache and extravagance which also got translated into the culinary nuances. The idea of community dining with lavish and extravagant banquets was introduced to India and formed a part of the courtier’s life. Dishes were served in jade, silver and Chinese porcelain.  The splendor of the Mughal/Muslim cuisine is reflected in the Muglai Cuisine of India which is the richest and the most lavish in the country. The mutton kebabs were accented with spices, the rice preparation of India were cooked with meat and turned into wonderful biryanis, and mutton roasts were now flavored with Indian herbs, spices and seasonings.  Also, Indian dishes were garnished with not so common almonds, pistachios, cashews and raisins.

India was also introduced to leavened breads by the Muslims.  At this time the tandoor, the clay oven was created by the royal chefs.  The Indian rotis and the leavened breads were merged into Tandoori breads like roti and naan. Meats were now marinated in yogurt and spices and also cooked in tandoors.  Both pork and beef were avoided to respect the traditions of both cultures.  The idea of concluding a meal with sweet-meats was introduced as the Persian rulers loved sweets. As one of the foremost authority on Mughal cuisine has recently remarked “The Mughlai cuisine has casted the most permanent influence on the similar other regional cuisine like that of Awadh and Hyderabad”.

Until the second decade of 19th century, the city of Awadh was under the Mughal rule put under the charge of a Nawab. Awadhi cuisine is from the city of Lucknow which is the state capital of Uttar Pradesh and the cooking pattern has drawn a considerable amount of influence from Mughal cooking style and bears resemblance to those of Hyderabad and Kashmir. The cuisine consists of both vegetarian and meat dishes which employs the dum style of cooking or cooking over slow fire which has become synonymous with Lucknow.

As opposed to conventional thought, Awadhi food does not make use of hundred-odd spices to produce each dish but a blend of handful but not so common spices. The truth lies in the manner in which the food is cooked on a slow fire. This process allows the juices to be absorbed well into the solid parts. All nutrients are retained in the food through this process.  In addition to the major process of cooking food in Awadhi style, there are also other important processes such as marinating meats in order to produce a delightful taste. This is especially the case with barbecued food that might be cooked in a clay oven of over an open fire.

Fish, red meats, vegetables and cottage cheese may be marinated in curd and spices. This helps to soften the taste and texture of them as well as remove any undesired odors from the fleshy materials. They were often cooked on tawa, the flat iron griddle, as opposed to Mughlai influence and bear a testimony to the local influence and convenience. Some of the tawa preparations are, in fact, equally, if not more, famous like tandoori kebabs and tikkas.

- Kuntal

Tags: handi, indian curry, gosht, dhokla, kebab, tandoori, chicken, karahi, lentil, desi