Food Talk
 A wholesome treat

Served whole, a musallam would dazzle the eyes and please the palate, writes Pushpesh Pant


Gobi musallam

Ingredients

Cauliflower 1 large head or 2 medium sized
Tomatoes 250 gm
Onions 100 gm
Garlic paste 1 tbs
Ginger paste 1 tbs
Turmeric powder `BC tsp
Cumin powder 1 tsp
Clove powder `BC tsp
Cinnamon powder `BC tsp
Bay leaf one
Red chillies whole 3
Oil refined (or butter) 50 ml/gm
Salt to taste

Method

Clean the cauliflower well and cut short the stalk. Steam for 3-4 minutes than pat dry. Heat oil in a flat pan and put the cauliflowers ‘head down’ to brown slightly. Remove, put the bay leaf and fry the sliced onions till golden brown. Add the garlic and ginger pastes and spice powders. Fry for a minute. Remove this masala and carefully pack between florets of the cauliflower. Wash the tomatoes and puree these than cook in the same vessel till desired thickness is obtained. Add a pinch of salt and pepper powder to the puree. Pour over the musallam cauliflower and bake or grill the dish for 10 minutes if a crispy texture is preferred. In this case, a little grated processed cheese may be sprinkled on the top before putting it in the oven. Garnish with lightly fried whole red chillies and a few sprigs of coriander and wedges of lime.

The mere mention of a musallam conjures up visions of a succulent murgh served intact draped in an aromatic spicy coat and stuffed with delectable pulav enriched with dried fruits and nuts. Those who favour red meat over the white flesh vote for the musallam raan. 

The Lakhnavi gourmet would prefer the musallam bataer to the murgh any day.

But there are gourmands for whom size does matter and ‘the bigger, the better’ is the guiding principle in life. They drool when they hear of the musallam bakra that may or not enclose the musallam murgh. 

Rarer still are the intrepid travellers who have really encountered the even more fantastic musallam camel that contains the musallam bakra that serves as a receptacle for the musallam murgh that is stuffed with`85and so on.

To cut a long story short, musallam means whole, unbroken, in one piece — salim — and whatever you serve fish or fowl or hare or a suckling pig becomes the crowning glory of a festive spread. Remember the stuffed turkey at Christmas or Thanksgiving?

It is worth mastering a few recipes that dazzle the eyes and please the palate. There are vegetarians who feel that when musallam dishes are concerned, they are overlooked. This is far from truth. 

The lauki, karamkalla and the good old phool gobi are all capable of assuming a musallam avatar. We once had an amazing baigan musallam at Khajuraho. 

That huge round brinjal had flesh more succulent than any chooza born in farm or range fed. We can still recall the envious looks that an old aunt’s bharwan band gobi musallam evoked — a dish fit enough for a prince. 

It, accompanied by its retinue of baby potatoes fried golden, green peas and pearl onions, put to shame many a non-vegetarian roasts. 

The lauki lazabab served by good friend Sangita Bhatngar, a variation on Mohammed Farouk’s recipe replaced mawa with hung yoghurt and was equally delightful hot or cold. The dahi was flavoured most delicately with green chillies, mint and coriander.

What is even more important to remember is that the vegetarian musallam delicacies do not have to be ‘rich’ in the conventional sense — dripping with fat or choking with khoya or paneer. 

These can be pleasantly piquant, alluringly aromatic and surprisingly light at the same time.

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