Smoking hot

For the mutton curry,the chef first boils a kilogram of medium-sized mutton pieces in a deep vessel with a teaspoon of oil and salt till the pieces are soft. “We will use the rest of the water or the stock while cooking,” he says. Once the mutton is tender,he fries chopped onions,bay leaves,star anise and black cardamom in a pan. When the onions turn golden-brown,he adds the chopped tomato pieces and turmeric. To the tender tomato-onion mix,he adds a paste of ginger-garlic-coriander leaves. To this he adds the kanda-lasun chutney which instantly changes the contents in the pan to a rich maroon.

The stock is then added to dilute the masala and is set to cook for five minutes. The chef then grinds a bit of dried coconut,fresh coconut and onion in a blender. The white coconut-onion paste finds it way into the bubbling hot masala,turning the gravy from a deep red to a mellow orange-yellow. After a few stirs,the chef adds garam masala and goda masala and lets it simmer. “We don’t need to put the lid while cooking as the chutney and the masalas are already cooked,” says Holankar.

Mutton stock goes in occasionally into the pan to keep the curry’s consistency,which should neither too runny nor too thick. The chef then adds the boiled mutton pieces. “Kolhapuri food is spicy,so a gravy of medium consistency is best. Since we had boiled the mutton earlier,the final dish doesn’t takes much time. Another 10 minutes are sufficient,” says Holankar,while he chops some fresh coriander leaves for the garnish.

Tandoolchi bhakri
This is roti made with rice flour. It can be shaped without a rolling pin. We take a big plate or tat with 200 gm of rice flour and knead it with water for 10 minutes. Once it is a smooth ball,the chef wets his palms with water and takes small fistfuls of dough and rolls them. He beats the flour disc onto the tat and pushes it outwards into a thick even circle. The bhakri then goes on to a hot tawa to be roasted on both sides.
With a spoonful of ghee on both sides,the bhakri is ready to scoop up some of the piping hot mutton rassa.

GODA MASALA:
Coriander seeds: 1 cup
Cumin seeds: 1/4 cup
Til (white sesame seeds): 1/3 cup
Cloves: 2 tbsp
Badi elaichi (big cardamom): 2 tbsp
Cinnamon sticks: 3-4 sticks
Peppercorns: 2 tbsp
Dagadphool (Lichen): 2 tbsp (optional)
Bay leaf: 1/2 cup
Oil to roast: 1-2 tsp
In a pan heat the oil and roast all the spices together till they turn dark in colour. Grind to make masala.
For Mutton curry
(Serves 4)
Mutton: 1 kg (cut into pieces and boiled with a teaspoon of oil and salt. The stock has to be retained)
Refined oil: 100 ml
Star anise: 2
Black cardamom: 2
Onion: 1 medium size finely chopped
Tomato: 1 small finely chopped
Turmeric: 1/2 tsp
Ginger-garlic-coriander leaves ground to a paste: 2 tbsp
Kanda-lasun chutney : 150 gm
Mutton stock: 4 glasses
Fresh and dry coconut: 200 gm
Onion paste: 250 gm
Garam masala: 1 tbsp
Goda masala: 1 tbsp
Salt: 1 ½ tbsp
Coriander leaves to garnish
Tandoolchi bhakri:
Rice flour: 200 gm
Water as needed
Ghee: optional