everyday subzi : raw papaya stew | kachhe papeete ka ishtoo

Raw papaya is an interesting vegetable. While it becomes a table fruit once ripe, the raw fruit makes wonderful salad, raita, paratha, chutney and even curry. The neutral taste of raw papaya makes it a perfect candidate for any flavour you want it to acquire.

This kachhe papeete ka ishtoo is actually a stew that everyone loves with all types of Indian breads. I remember we used to love it with do pad ki roti, poori or crisp parathas. Kachhe papeete ka ishtoo is spicy, aromatic and yet very light so it can be a part of light meal with thin chapatis and makes a paratha meal comparatively light too.

ingredients  
(3-4 servings)

500 gm raw papaya peeled, seeds removed and chopped into big chunks
250 gm red onions sliced thinly
100-200 gm potatoes peeled and cubed (optional)
4 green cardamoms
2 black cardamoms
12 cloves
2 sticks of Indian cinnamon
1 tsp pepper corns
1/2 tsp whole cumin seeds 
3 tejpatta leaves
4-6 whole dry red chillies
12-15 cloves of garlic peeled and smashed
1 tbsp thin julienne of ginger
2 tbsp mustard oil
salt to taste 

preparation 

Heat the oil in a deep pan keeping the heat low, a handi or pressure cooker that can be used with or without the pressure lid. Add the whole spices, dry red chilies and smashed garlic at once and wait till they all become aromatic. It takes less than a minute.

Add the sliced onions and potatoes, mix well and cook till both look a little glazed. It takes just 2-3 minutes. You don't need to brown the onions but a few brownish streaks are okay.

Add the papaya chunks, toss to mix well. Add salt and mix. Cover with a well fitting lid and let it cook on dum till everything gets cooked well. The papaya chunks will start disintegrating and the onions will almost dissolve. You can add a few spoons of water in between to keep the dish moist at all times. This dum cooking can take about 30 minutes but if you pressure cook it gets faster. Take care to switch off the gas just after the first whistle blows.

The onions and raw papaya has enough water in it to make this stew watery enough but you can add up to 1/4 cup water to make the cooking easier.

This kachhe papeete ka ishtoo is quite aromatic and delicious and can be made with bottle gourds too. Some people like it just with potatoes but use more onions in that case if you try.

The kathal ka dopyaza is a similar recipe with minor differences but the taste of kathal ka dopyaza is very different from this one. Some people call it kachhe papeete ka dopyaza as well.

Do try this recipe and serve with any regular chapati or roti you eat. This stew pairs well with light flat breads and not too much with millet breads but we like it with our mixed grain rotis too.

I have shared a basic recipe of this kachhe papeete ka stew with dal bhari poori here. It is actually a versatile subzi and can be served with whatever you like.

everyday subzi : a lotus stem dopyaza and how spices are included in summer meals...

Lotus stem is one vegetable vegetarians like a lot. Called as bhien, nadru or kamal kakdi in local parlance, it is the under water stem of the lotus plant. Very nutritious and very tasty, although sometimes it is difficult to clean it from inside but those who love it just get it done anyhow. This dopyaza will remind you of the chicken or mutton dopyaza that is cooked in many UP homes.

The nutritional value of lotus stem is well known and it is a good thing that most people like the taste of this healthy vegetable.

Using lot of onions and some whole spices is a popular way of using spices in hot summer months. This way the curries remain light, the quantity of onion balanced the spice heat and the curry doesn't feel too hot in summer heat. The plains of UP get quite hot in summer months and it lasts till the monsoons make the whether a bit pleasant.

Lotus stem can be cooked almost like meats and if you use the same spices the resulting curry is actually comparable to meat dishes. Obviously if you want to get the taste of meat you will be disappointed but vegetarians wont miss anything. In UP vegetarian homes whenever people want something special, that is apart from he usual green vegetables, they turn to jack fruit, lotus stem or some of the koftas that are made with much fanfare. Many types of besan ki subzi is also made for those who detest vegetables. A special dry gatte ki subzi is peculiar to Banaras and I am yet to post that one. Paneer is almost an everyday affair in most homes since I remember but elders say that paneer was not so common in older days.

Even lotus stem makes good koftas but somehow I never make koftas as I don't find them worth the time and effort. This blog only has one kofta recipe that was posted because that kele ka kofta had become the talk of our extended family when I had made a brave effort to cook them at a special occasion. I remember my mother used to love bhien ka kofta quite a lot.

This dopyaza is one of the curries that remind me of my childhood. Actually there are very few that I cook as most of them use a lot of oil and frying so I avoid them. Not just for being heavy, they require more cooking time as well. Dopyaza fits the bill. Kathal ka dopyaza is one of the most popular recipes on this blog.

So how do you cook bhein ka dopyaza? Not complicated at all.

ingredients
(2-4 servings depending on other side dishes served)

peeled and diced lotus stem 2 cups (about 200 gm)
sliced red onions 1.5 cup
whole dry red chillies 3-4 (broken if you want the curry hot)
black cadamoms 2
green cardamoms 4
cloves 4-6
cinnamon stick one inch piece
whole peppercorns 1 tsp
salt to taste
turmeric powder 1/2 tsp (many people omit turmeric powder)
mustard oil 2 tbsp (or a bit less if you can manage cooking the curry on really low flame)

Procedure

Heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan or a thick base kadhai.
Tip in all the whole spices and let them sizzle for a few seconds but don't let them splutter.
Add the sliced onions, salt turmeric powder if using and the diced lotus stem all at once. Toss a few times to mix everything well.
Cover the lid and let the curry cook really slow at very low flame for about 30 minutes in a kadhai or just put the pressure cooker lid if using the gadget and pressure cook till the first whistle blows.

Let the pressure release on its own, serve hot as desired. We used to love this with paranthas in our childhood but now it is more of multigrain roti or sometimes a plain flaky crisp parantha with it.

It is another matter if I cook besan wali bhien ki subzi. That I can eat all by itself.

gosht dopyaza or mutton dopyaza (UP style), a simple home style mutton curry...

Dopyaza was a dish made using a lot of onions (apparently double the onions than meat) at my place and it had a few vegetarian versions too. Alu dopyaza was most common as an additional curry and parwal dopyaza was made during summers when we all wanted something spicy yet light. Paneer dopyaza was the easiest paneer curry that tasted yum with just about anything. The good thing is, the basic cooking procedure and spices are the same in all these dopyaza type recipes. Only cooking time changes with the main ingredient used. I must add the nomenclature of a dopyaza is probably disputed as some people say dopyaza is a curry where meat and vegetables are cooked together and there is no link with the amount of onion used. In our family, it was a pyaz (onion) connection only that we knew. So doguna pyaz...double the onion it is for us.

Kathal ka dopyaza is a much loved recipe here on the blog though I cook that rarely. Bhindi dopyaza is a dry subzi that I still make quite frequently and I just checked again to my horror that I haven't posted it yet. Chicken or murgh dopyaza was most common non vegetarian option back home as it cooks faster than mutton probably. I wouldn't know exact reasons as I used to hate all non vegetarian food back then. Yes, I am a convert now and see how :-)

This mutton dopyaza recipe would make a few of my friends happy as they have been asking for more non vegetarian recipes to be posted. I am guilty of infrequent posts and rare non vegetarian recipes already, found these pictures in the old albums and decided to post the recipe quickly. The recipe is slow cooked, so takes about an hour and some more to cook but you don't need to do much preparation for this curry especially if you are chopping the onions in the food processor.

This is a gravy type curry but the gravy is not uniformly creamy. The onion caramelize during the slow cooking process and cook to become a smooth coating around the meat. The fats separate after the long cooking time and the spices lend their aroma to every single fiber of meat. This is the uniqueness of this recipe, the onion rich gravy that is a bit sweetish yet heavy with the aromatic spices. Heat can be controlled by adjusting the quantities of chilies, black peppercorns and ginger. All three provide a depth of heat in this curry, where onion has lend enough sweetness to round up the spices.

ingredients...
(2 large servings)

goat meat/mutton 300 gm (I prefer shoulder pieces on bone)
sliced red onions 400 gm (or 4-5 large Indian red onions)
5 dry red chilies broken or more to taste
ginger julienne 2 tbsp
sliced garlic 1 tbsp
2 black cardamoms
3 green cardamoms
6 cloves
2 tsp black pepper corns, or to taste
2 inch piece of cinnamon broken
a thin sliver of mace
salt to taste
mustard oil or ghee 2 tbsp

procedure...

The dry red chilies lend a very nice flavor to this onion-centric curry so the use is very important. Do not replace red chilies with green chilies in this recipe and I suggest you use more red chilies than you think will be enough, as the amount of onion neutralizes the chilly heat quite a bit. If you don;t want the heat, just empty all the seeds and discard, the aroma of chilly will be nice that way, without making the curry too hot.

Crush the spices lightly, not disintegrating them in the process. You just need to macerate the spices while cooking, so a light handed pounding will be enough.

Heat oil or ghee in a thick base pan or kadhai.
I normally use my handi shaped pressure cooker pan and do the cooking without using the pressure lid. It is a slow cooked dish so takes about an hour and half, be prepared to do some more chores around the kitchen in the meantime.

Add the red chilies, ginger and garlic to it and wait till everything gets aromatic and the color changes a bit. No more than 30 seconds and then tip in all the onion and the whole spices that you have crushed lightly. Add the salt too and keep stirring on medium heat till the onion starts getting pinkish.

Add the meat, mix well, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir and mix, cover and cook on lowest flame. Keeps stirring after every 10 minutes and place an iron skillet (or tawa) below the cooking pan if you think the curry might stick to the base. It has never happened with me so relax, it's not a possibility if you are using the right pan.

The curry is done once the fats are separated and the meat is cooked through. The onions are almost homogenized by now and make a nice gravy without a drop of water being added to the curry.

Serve with any chapati or paratha or naan. We had it with mixed grain kulcha and a pumpkin and mint stir fry salad. The kulchas were ignored royally until we needed a few bits of it to polish off this dopyaza gravy. This curry is so aromatic that you would start feeling hungry as soon as it arrives at the table, and would would be guilty of tasting a few chink of eat if you are cooking it. A statutory warning.

Do let me know whenever you try this eastern UP style dopyaza. Some people call a similar recipe Ishtoo but they add some more spices in it and make it a bit runny. Ishtoo is made when someone needs a soup like curry during a flu or cough and cold or during rainy season. But no seasonal constraints for healthy people who can have it any time. 

khade masale ka chicken dopyaza or chicken ishtoo

Ishtoo and Dopyaza are similar recipes made with meats and vegetables both. While Dopyaza normally stays dry as the ingredients are cooked in their own moisture, Ishtoo is stewed with some water so it becomes a comforting winter stew. And yes, Dopyaza is mostly made in summers while Ishtoo is made in winters, the ingredients are exactly the same the cooking pocess is modified to suit the season.

The chicken dopyaza is a mildly spiced recipe which can be a good finger food too if the juices are dried a bit during cooking, the stew version is great with chapatis, naans, khamiri rotis or parathas.

Dopyaza is a name given to a meat curry cooked with lots of veggies as some people say but I doubt of this theory. I call a recipe dopyaza just because there is lots of pyaaz (onions) in it. Onions in a 1:1 ratio to meat or a veggie make the curry dopyaza, as it has been called in my family.

Nothing more special about dopyaza, just a stewed kind of curry cooked with minimum effort, paired well with khamiri rotis or plain parathas.

ingredients...
( for 3-4 servings depending on the side dishes)

chicken with bone 800 gm (I used leg pieces)

sliced onions 500 gm (more onions if you want more gravy)

ginger chopped in julienne 50+25 gm

garlic cloves slit lengthwise or the whole bulb cut through the middle

dry red chillies broken and seeds removed as many as you wish

(no green chillies are used in this stew)

cumin seeds 2 tsp

crushed black pepper corns 2 tsp

small and black cardamoms 3 each 

cinnamon stick 2 inches piece broken
bay leaves 2-4 nos.

cloves 4-5

salt to taste  

mustard oil 2 tbsp

preparation....

Heat oil in a thick base kadai and throw in all the whole spices along with dry red chillies.

Add the 50 gm part of ginger julienne and slit garlic cloves or cut garlic bulb, stir fry till fragrant and then add the sliced onions. Let the onions coat with oil and get hot, there is no need to cook them actually, they get cooked and caramelized along with the meat.

Add the chicken pieces, mix well and cover to cook on medium heat. This takes about 5 minutes and you are free to do other chores in the kitchen as the dish needs minimal attention after this.

Add salt and mix well. The onion should start getting caramelised by now. Once the onions get caramelised, add about 500 ml water if making Ishtoo (like in the pictures) and cook covered for at least 40 minutes on low flame.

For making the dry dopyaza the chicken is cooked with a tight lid without adding any water or just a sprinkle of water if needed. No powder masala is used in this curry and the aroma of the spices need to be conserved during cooking. Hence the lid which also helps in cooking the chicken without any additional water for making dopyaza, the cooking is done on minimum possible heat.

Check after 7-8 minutes of cooking and give it a good stir, the aroma will be very pleasant by now and the onions start caramelizing, giving a darker colour to the dish. Add a splash of water if you feel it is getting dry and can stick to the base before getting cooked. Place the lid again and check again after 5-7 minutes. It should be cooked by this time, otherwise cook till done.

Add the 25 gm portion of ginger julienne in the last and mix them well. This step is optional as I like the crunchy ginger pieces in this dish, the cooked ginger is also enjoyable with a milder taste.

Serve hot with chapatis or anything you like. The dish has a sweetish taste due to caramelized onions and the whiff of the spices is wonderful. You may like to remove the whole spices before plating as some people do not like them in the dish. I like to press the black cardamom and soak in the juices with a piece of khamiri roti or kulcha...

The hollow red chillies also trap the most awesome flavor in it, this is crazy but I like to squeeze them and mix the juices in the caramelized onion gravy.

As I mentioned earlier the ginger pieces added in two steps are to be enjoyed with the masala too, they taste so good when cooked this way...

Enjoy the Ishtooo in winters as a stew comforts like a soup and fills like a hearty meat curry. The dry dopyaza can be made in every season and can be served like a roast too.