<b>FEAST FROM THE <font color ='black'>PAST</font></b>

Chef Rasool, an Awadhi cuisine expert, currently working with the Jaypee Siddharth hotel in Delhi, feels the essence of Frontier cuisine has changed dramatically. It’s more like fast food now. To understand Mushq-e-Tanjan, a sweet biryani, a visit to the kitchen of Chef Rasool is a must. He trains cooks in Awadhi cuisine and participates in food festivals in India and abroad. Mushq-e-Tanjan translates to fragrance of paradise (mushq) and treasure trove of riches (tanjan), and for his unusual recipe, Chef Rasool cooks meat as a qorma and rice as zarda (sweet rice), before combining them in layers. “Mushq-e-Tanjan was a favourite of Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh,” says the 70-something chef, who is best known for the sumptuous Awadhi dastarkhwan he spreads out. A student of Ustad Haaji Ishq, a biryani maestro, it was tough grasping the nuances of cooking even for Chef Rasool. “Chefs those days snobbishly maintained secret recipes. They made us work as a masalchi (spice mixer) and never allowed us to touch the preparations,” he recalls. “But now I cannot do that, I cannot hide recipes from cooks. Otherwise, the cuisine might die with me.” Like chef Rasool’s master preparation Lahsun ki Kheer in which garlic miraculously turns sweet and tastes almost like almonds. “It’s Ratan Tata’s favourite but it’s not documented in Awadhi cuisine,” he laughs, and adds, “You have to be innovative and move with changing trends.”

CHUTNEY MUTTON
( Begum Kulsum’s recipe can be preserved for days, like a pickle)
Ingredients
1 kg boneless mutton
1/2 cup garlic paste
10 curry leaves with stems
1/2 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, onion seeds
1/2 cup each of tomato puree and tamarind extract
2 tablespoons each of sesame seeds,
coriander powder, cumin powder
6-8 cloves of garlic
4 whole red chillies
Salt to taste

Method
Pressure cook 1kg boneless mutton with 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste, 2 curry leaves with stems and 2 cups of water until meat is tender. Heat 1 cup Oil and add 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, onion seeds, 6-8 cloves of garlic, four red chillies and six curry leaves. Add 1/2 cup garlic paste, two tablespoons of sesame paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, one tablespoon chilli powder, one cup tomato puree, one cup tamarind extract and salt to taste. Shred mutton and add to the pan and stir fry with the paste for 2-3 mins.

Ads By Google

Message*	Maximum characters allowed

Name*		Email ID*
Subject*		Country*

TERMS OF USE:
The views, opinions and comments posted are your, and are not endorsed by this website. You shall be solely responsible for the comment posted here. The website reserves the right to delete, reject, or otherwise remove any views, opinions and comments posted or part thereof. You shall ensure that the comment is not inflammatory, abusive, derogatory, defamatory &/or obscene, or contain pornographic matter and/or does not constitute hate mail, or violate privacy of any person (s) or breach confidentiality or otherwise is illegal, immoral or contrary to public policy. Nor should it contain anything infringing copyright &/or intellectual property rights of any person(s).

I agree to the terms of use.

Mail this page

FEAST FROM THE PAST