Food talk
Meat with curd

Dahi gosht retains the natural flavour of meat, says Pushpesh Pant

It is amazing how much can be accomplished with how little. Dahi gosht demonstrates this brilliantly. Some years ago we were stranded in Bhowali, a small hill town more famous for its TV sanatorium than anything else, a short but stiff climb away from the market. On our way up we had bought the meat but overlooked to acquire onions, garlic and ginger — the three must in a traditional Indian non-vegetarian recipes. All of us took it for granted that these would be well stocked at home. An unpleased surprise greeted us. The stocks had been exhausted. No one was expecting us and to make matters worse, it had started raining hard. No one was in a mood to make the bothersome trip to the market.

This is when good friend Professor Sevak Ram Sahni of the History Department of Khalsa College, Delhi, came to our rescue. He asked dahi to hai? There was. Thank God for small mercies, a cup full around. In about an hour, we gorged on the delectable dahi gosht.

Sahni Sahib basked for hours in glory and nobody grudged the long lecture he delivered on the dispensability of superfluous ingredients. The Kashmiri Pandits do not waste time peeling pyaaz when they prepare mouth-watering roghan josh and other delicacies of their wazwaan. The learned Professor also told us how the dahi tenderises the meat and how in this recipe nothing is allowed to interfere with the natural flavour of meat. He also volunteered to cook for us and equally if not simpler nimbo ghost the next day. As a matter of fact, he actually did that but that is another story. Needless to add, the clove and cinnamon powders do not belong to his original recipe but what the heck, you do not have to be an ascetic all the time. Why deny yourself the alluring aromas if the goodies are available?

Chef’s corner

Method
Clean the mutton pieces, wash well and pat dry. Beat the curds well with a fork and blend the powdered spices in it. Marinade the mutton in this mixture and reserve for at least one hour. Heat the oil in a thick-bottomed pan and when it is hot, put the meat along with the marinade in it. Sprinkle salt cover and cook on medium low heat for about 45 minutes (or till done to taste) stirring at regular intervals. Garnish with fresh coriander and green chillies slit and deseeded. If you like a hotter dish you may put three to four whole red chillies, along with the meat, and the marinade. In this case, the garnish too may change and lightly fried whole red chillies may top the dahi meat. Ideally, dahi gosht should have thick sauce-like gravy draping it. Tastes equally good with phulka or steamed rice.

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