Mutton Shahi

You need two pounds of fresh cut mutton pieces that you don't need to marinate. All we need is the paste of half a large sized onion with one tomato, cashew nut and poppy seed paste about half of a small cup. Spices we need are one and a half teaspoons of cayenne pepper, two tablespoons of ginger paste and three tablespoons of garlic paste, eight to nine cardamoms, six to seven cloves and two cinnamon sticks ground into a powder with a bay leaf or two and lastly mustard oil for cooking. We need boiling water for later use and salt for taste.

For the cooking procedure we first need a big pressure cooker and add mustard oil to it and let it be warmed enough. Turn the heat to medium hot. Then add the spices one by one. The mix of cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves go all into the oil as it splutters and releases aroma, add in the tomato and onion paste. Let them all come together as it is evenly cooked in oil and browned slowly over few minutes of constant sautéing. Add cayenne pepper, ginger garlic paste subsequently and let it all become a nice homogenous mixture stirring occasionally. Ensure that it does not catch at the bottom of the cooker. Pour little warm water as you stir the surface of the bottom. Now is the time to add the mutton pieces and coat them well in the spices and sauté for fifteen to twenty minutes till the rawness does not disappear completely. Then pour boiling water and let it come to a boil. Add the cashew and poppy seed paste, salt for taste and close the pressure cooker tight. Wait for eight to nine whistles. This time around the mutton was less tender and it needed more whistles than usual. All I do now is to open the top of the pressure cooker and let thick whipping cream be trickled over while the flame is turned off. It should look rich and creamy and serve it hot to your guests with rice and some other side for special occasions need special dishes like so.