Last Saturday made for a
beautiful end to our
weekend even
without any
extravagant plans. You know the kind of
weekends that seem go
perfectly well even when you haven't taken time or made an effort to
plan an evening or
book a table at a
fancy restaurant?
So
husband, Little M and
I, left home without deciding where to head to. After a lot of
lane-swapping and
mind-changing we zeroed in to visiting
The Dubai Mall. It is a
favourite place to
hangout for us as a
family even if we have
no plans to eat
outside food or to
shop.
Sometimes the
mesmerizing views of the
Burj Khalifa located just outside the mall and the water
fountain swaying adjacent to it to
serenading music is all we need to cheer up.
Little M adores loves visiting the
fish aquarium.
That day as we were
driving down towards the Dubai Mall we came across this
bright red double-decker trolley with
gold stripes and wondered if we could have a
ride. So after we finished watching another of the
spectacular fountain show, husband insisted to walk up to the
red trolley station which was at a walking distance from the fountain. A guard greeted us at the station and told us that the next trolley is in 15 minutes and it takes you around
Downtown area dotted with
eateries and
lounges on one side and the
stunning Burj Khalifa on the other. Little M was too excited to go the trolley and husband asked the guard where we could get the tickets from and we learnt from him that the service was
free of charge. :-) We waited for the next trolley to arrive patiently and when it did we were elated to be on this
elegant Arabesque-designed bright red trolley and we chose to be
seated on the
upper deck of the trolley.
 |
| Burj Khalifa in its many shades! |
The
weather was
perfect and the trolley which runs at a very
slow speed lets you take in
countless number of
beautiful views all around, one at a time. That day the Burj Khalifa was
lit up in a special
LED lights facade that was changing to different colours, looking so
eye catching.
During that short ride, I wondered how beautiful could life be and thanked the Almighty for the little surprises he packs in so dearly for us to unfold each day. :-)
We walked back to the mall after our beautiful first time experience on the Dubai Trolley and decided to go towards parking as we didn't want to eat from outside as a
special dish was already sitting in the kitchen prepared earlier that day.
Indeed it was
Mutton Kadhai or
mutton curry slowly cooked in a gravy of
onion, tomatoes, spiced up with
ginger-garlic and lots of
green chilies.
The
credit for this recipe goes to my
father. I am
proud of him and the other two most important men in my life -
husband and
brother who don't shy away from
picking up a kadchi or spatula and
take over the
kitchen whenever they like or when its
needed.
My father started cooking non-vegetarian food in his tiny kitchen in his office just for our delight a few years after I got married. My parents house is strictly vegetarian courtesy my mother, though my father, brother and I have always ordered butter chicken or tandoori chicken whenever we went out to eat at a restaurant. Two winters back when I had gone to Delhi I caught a bit of cold due to the stark difference in the weather of my two most loved cities - Delhi and Dubai. That was when my father invited me to his office (which we barely visit) to gorge on some amazing mutton kadhai. He believed the gravy of the mutton alone will take care of my running nose.
Now the gravy that my father prepares is slow-cooked for over an hour before the meat is added. And the thick curry consists of big pieces of ginger and garlic along with a mashed curry of onion-tomatoes. Surely my cold was warded off by my father's magical mutton and I slept that night breathing peacefully.
This recipe is made by me in close conversation with my father
on phone at different stages of its making to make it
taste as close as it can to my dad's version. The only alteration I made was chopping ginger-garlic finely while my dad likes to use big pieces of both. And I have skipped the garam masala as well just to ensure it doesn't turn up too spicy.
My dad's generosity and
bigheartedness is very much
evident in all of his recipes which is why he
never measures the ingredients before adding to the recipe. I have tried to be as generous as him with what I put into this recipe but I know for a fact that it can never be enough if I put myself in his shoes.
Difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20min
Cooking Time: 2-3 hrs
Ingredients:
1-1.25 kg mutton pieces bone-in
8-10 onions, quartered
6-8 tomatoes, quartered
4-5 tbsp each of finely chopped ginger and garlic
8-10 green chilies, slit
6 tbsp oil
2 tbsp coriander powder
2 tbsp red chili powder
1 tbsp garam masala or all-spice powder
salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish
Method:
1) Start by taking a big wok/pressure cooker and pour in the cooking oil. Put the finely chopped ginger. Let it brown a bit and then add the garlic.
2) After the ginger and garlic are done, add in the quartered onions. Saute on medium heat until brown.
3) Put in the chopped tomatoes and cook until mushy and the oil looks separated from the curry. Add in slit green chilies when you put in the tomatoes.
4) Now is the time to add the seasoning, put in coriander powder, salt, red chilli powder, Stir and add in the meat with a liter of water. Mix well.
5) If you are cooking in a pressure cooker, you can either give the meat a few whistles for about 20 min and your curry will be done. But I like to let the meat simmer slowly on low heat and gruadually absorb all the aromas of the spices and ginger-garlic and have the deep red hue of the mushy tomatoes. Just like my father does.
This is the step that requires the
maximum patience as the mutton takes about 30-45 min to become so soft that it just
leaves the bone with a whisk and just
melts in the mouth. Believe me I have taken the easy route also many times by letting it whistle away in the pressure cooker, but the taste of the mutton in that case is nothing as compared to the
slow-cooked succulent meat bathing in the gravy that has taken its time to thicken to perfection and reach a dark and dense consistency.
Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve it with hot chapattis or paratha or naan.
Do let me know
your thoughts about my father's version of this mutton kadhai. If you try out this recipe then do
share it with me on my Facebook or Instagram page with the code
#DilliToDubai.
How do you like to make
your mutton kadhai?
Spicy and thick or a
tariwala gosht to go along with
herbed rice?
Share your thoughts with me in the comments below. I would love to read them!
Thanks for reading! :-)
