I might have told you about this place before, a small Pakistani restaurant near our house, that we frequent. A trip to this place at least once a week is a must in our household. We get jitters if for some reason we unable to make it there for more than a few days and those jitters can only be subsided with a visit there. Deep complex curries with layers and layers of flavors, falling off the bone meat preparations, juicy and delicious tandoori chicken with simple yet full of punch dips. Ah, you will know the meaning to all this only once you taste them all! And the hustle at the place with long line of people waiting to order and then impatiently waiting for their food to show up, just takes me back home to the dhaba, road side restaurants in India. And what I like best about this place is that even after running in America for more than a few decades, it still hasn’t adulterated the use of spices and oil here.
One of Abhishek’s favorite dish from this place is their bhuna gosht. A beloved Pakistani/Indian preparation using mainly whole spices instead of garam masala powder, slow cooking the meat which in this case is typically goat or lamb. You also add yogurt to give it a tang and cut through the spices and finish it off with a little milk that adds to the richness of the dish. A mildly spiced dish that can brighten up any dinner table. I made some for Eid this year and was a great hit.
Ingredients:
2.5lbs Lamb or Mutton pieces
1.5 tbsp meat Tenderizer
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or mustard if you like the flavor)
3/4 cup red Onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 cup red Onion (coarsely ground)
3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 thai green chili
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
3 black caradamom
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
3-4 cloves
1.5 cups tomato (diced)
2 tbsp coriander powder
1.2 tsp red chili
1 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup water (optional)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cilantro (chopped) for garnish
Method:
Mix meat tenderizer to the meat. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
Heat oil in a thick bottom pan. Add ginger garlic paste. Saute for 5 seconds then add sliced onion. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp salt and cook the onion until translucent, 5 minutes. Then add onion paste and cook the mixture until the paste is golden brown, 8-10 minutes.
Add chili, cumin seeds, black cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaves and cloves. Stir and add tomato followed by coriander, turmeric and red chili. Mix well and cook until the tomato melts, 5 minutes.
Add lamb to the masala paste and cook for until dry, 10-15 minutes. Now add salt. Cook for another 10 minutes.
Stir in yogurt. Cover and cook until the meat is cooked, approx. 20-25 minutes. Somewhere in the middle add a little water if you want the curry thin otherwise you can skip this step.
Once the meat is cooked, stir in milk and finish off cooking. Garnish with cilantro and serve with steamed rice and naan.