recipe of shaljam patta gosht | mutton curry with turnip leaves

Shaljam patta gosht was served at my Banaras ka Khana festival last year at ITC Maurya. Since this time we showcased the Ganga Jamuni tehzeeb of Banaras and teamed up with Rana Safvi to bring some food from Muslim homes as well, this homely recipe of shaljam patta gosht was included as I always prefer serving seasonal foods from the region in my food festivals.

Shaljam patta gosht is made almost similarly in many Muslim homes, Some people like to add a hot ghee tadka with ginger julienne and red chillies or green chilies over each serving and some have it as it is after the slow cooking. Use of garam masala is rare for this everyday recipe but some add whole spices too. Some people have started cooking it in one step pressure cooker process but I feel the slow cooking suits this delicate recipe better. My recipe is based on my trials after talking to a few Muslim friends from Banaras and other places close by. 

Shaljam or shalgam is the humble turnip that many people hate for reasons beyond my understanding. I find it a very flavourful vegetable that has a delicate flavour and pairs well with many other ingredients really well. So while shalgam matar ki subzi remains my favourite and the Kashmiri style gogji nadur keeps repeating in my kitchen, bhien shalgam matar ki subzi is loved as much but I am yet to perfect my shalgam gosht.

The shaljam patta gosht is an everyday meat curry that uses leaves of turnips. It will be appropriate to mention that turnip leaves are many times more nutritious than the more common spinach and has one of the highest amounts of iron and calcium. Normally I would get it from Tijara farm as getting turnips with leaves is next to impossible in Delhi.

The other day Atiya Zaidi tweeted about shaljam patta gosht and I couldn't resist but look for turnip leaves in our weekly market. While I couldn't find any turnip leaves as usual, my quest was so intense that I saw a sack of medium sized fresh turnips being opened and the sack was sealed using the leaves from the same turnips as a cushioning material. I requested the subziwala to give me those leaves and he relented after initial hesitation. There I was, the leaves were very fresh to be cooked with my shaljam patta gosht.

ingredients 
(3-4 servings)
500 gm mutton on bone and some fat
1/2 cup finely chopped onions
2 tbsp mustard oil
300 gm turnip leaves chopped finely*
5 whole dry red chilies
3 tejpatta 
salt to taste

*The turnip leaves should ideally be from baby turnips but I have always used the leaves from medium sized turnips as I never find baby turnips, thankfully the shaljam patta gosht has always turned out great. If using baby turnips you can use the turnips chopped along the leaves too. 

ingredients to make a fine paste together
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chili powder
 
procedure 

Heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan and add 1/2 cup chopped onions along with the whole dry red chilies and tejpatta. Fry them on medium heat till they get brown. Make a paste of the ingredients listed under paste while the onions brown.

Once the onions are browned, add the paste and get ready for some slow bhunoing for 20 minutes. keep the flame low and keep bhunoing the masala till it gets dry and sticks to the bottom leaving the oil on the sides.

Splash 1 tbsp water in the masala and bhuno again to deglaze, so it slows down the bhunoing process and brings out the complex flavours of the simple spices used.

Bhunoing is the key to the taste of many such mutton curries as our elders have stressed upon.

When you see the masala getting a deep shade of brown and aromatic, add the mutton pieces and keep bhunoing for 20 minutes more on low flame. Keep turning the meat along with the spices so the fats are rendered into the masala slowly and the meat absorbs the spices well.

Add the turnip leaves, mix the leaves well with the meat and let them release their juices. Once the leaves are wilted you can bhuno the meat mix for 5-7 minutes more. I often get the leaves steamed to make them limp so that I can refrigerate the in my borosil boxes, so I use steamed leaves from the fridge.

Add 1/4 cup of water (no more please), salt to taste and cover the lid. Keep the gas flame low and let the meat cook on very low flame till pressure builds up on its own, it takes about 40 minutes in a 2.5 liter pressure cooker. Once the whistle blows up you can switch off the gas and let the pressure release before opening the cooker.

Note that the cooking time can vary depending on the quality of meat, the flame strength and the size of pressure cooker so adjust accordingly. New cooks often err on this aspect and end up with under cooked or overcooked meat but that's how we learn.

You would see loads of leaves covering all the meat but trust me that is where the taste is. This cooking process ensures that the fats and gelatin from the bones melds well with the leaves and the turnip leaves flavour the meat with their own signature aromas.

Shaljam patta gosht tastes even better the next day so make double the amount you need for one meal. This is one mutton curry that can be eaten 3-4 times a week and is worth cooking in bulk and stock in the fridge.

gogji mutton | a simple stew with turnips and mutton cooked the Kashmiri way

I don't know if a true blue Kashmiri would approve of this stew but for me this Gogji Mutton curry speaks of winters. This simple stew is so good for a winter dinner, so warming that you would feel blessed if you get good turnips in your part of the world just for this mutton stew if not the vegetarian version called Gogji Nadir. I have adapted this gogji nadir according to my taste but I am sure the soul of the stew is not compromised with.

I have been cooking this gogji mutton for a couple of years and have learnt a trick to make the thin soupy gravy look almost milky in appearance and pack a punch of flavours that feels impossible with just three ingredients. Yes, apart from the mutton, there are only three ingredients that make the flavours so comforting. Mustard oil, green chillies of the thick skin variety (bajji chillies of Bangalore or Rajasthani pakoda chillies) and turnips. These three ingredients create magic in this stew trust me.

It so happens that I always cook this stew for dinners and once it is ready we both can't wait too much to be able to click decent pictures to be shared on the blog. But this time I sneaked a couple of pictures while cooking and one picture of the plate that I served for myself. The pictures are still bad but I wanted you all to create this simple Kashmiri stew this winter if you have not tasted it already.

Note how this recipe helps make an almost milky soupy gravy in this stew. The instructions typed in bold letters are the pointers. But don't worry even if the gravy looks watery, as the taste will not be affected much even in that case.

ingredients...
(2-3 servings, depending on what is served with it)

mutton on bone (curry cut) 200-250 gm
fresh turnips 250 gm
fat variety green chillies (Anahiem or any mild hot chillies) 3-5
mustard oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste
water 1.5 L

procedure...

Add the mutton and a little salt to the water in a deep stock pot (or handi) and cook on medium flame for an hour or till the mutton is almost done. Or pressure cook the mutton with a litle salt with 1 L of water.

Remove the stalks, clean and chop the turnips in irregular shaped thick slices. Try and not peel the turnips as some of the flavour will be lost if you do so. Chop the chillies in 1 inch long pieces and keep aside.

When the mutton is almost done, heat mustrad oil in a deep pan till smoking point. Now add the chopped chillies and turnips all at once and toss and stir fry till a few blisters appear on the chillies and the turnips look glazed and blemished.

This is the time the cooked mutton along with the hot stock will be poured right into the hot cooking turnips. By adding the hot mutton stock into the already sizzling turnips and chillies will make the stock look milky within seconds. Now check and adjust seasoning and simmer till the turnips are fully don, soft and disintegrate when pressed.

Serve hot with plain boiled rice. Some plain home made yogurt or raita works with it but we don't care about it when we need a hot stew in our hands, preferably served in bowls.

Less rice and more of this stew is my idea of a great home cooked meal on winter nights. Meals that we cook while watching TV and the home smells of a good stew being slow cooked in the kitchen. This stew is so aromatic that the neighbors can often get to know what is cooking, that too with such humble ingredients and not a single spice used. Simplicity brings the best from some foods. Gogji mutton is one of best example of such foods.

Hope you would try this recipe if it is not a family favourite already. There are more recipes of turnips cooked with mutton in the Mughlai way and that has it's own charm, suited for a different kind of meal but gogji mutton will always be my all time favourite light mutton stews.

monji haak from Kashmir and mutton monji haak to make it non vegetarian : ganth gobhi ki kashmiri subzi

Monji haak or monji haakh is a simple stew from Kashmir that makes beautiful use of the bulb and greens of knol khol (kohl rabi or ganth gobhi). The simplest of recipes can be the tastiest and this monji haak is one of those examples. I followed Anita's recipe a few years ago once and never cooked knol khol any other way. Even when we had loads of ganth gobhi growing in the garden, I would always cook this monji haak either plain or with boiled or poached eggs or with mutton. We love this simple and flavourful stew any which way. Another version of monji haak cooked with a little rice and a stew with knol khol and lotus stem, called monji nadru are slight variations of this recipe.

Ganth gobhi stands tall in the garden. We had about 40 of them this season.

Ganth gobhi (knol khol) leaves are so fragrant and delicious that it can't be wasted. Sadly, many people throw away the leaves and use the bulb part only. Even my gardener often discards the leaves but he has now understood that I like the leaves more than the bulb. I hardly throw any part of this vegetable if it is freshly plucked. only the hard woody base is peeled off if the knol khol is mature.

The curry is a simple recipe but I must let you know that following a simple recipe to the T is very important. As each ingredient and each little step in the recipe adds something to make it special, you can't afford to miss anything. Once you follow the recipe once and know how it turns out, you can make necessary changes to suit it to your taste.

ingredients for the monji haak
(serves 2-3, large portions)

Ganth gobhi (knol khol) 2-3 with leaves (about 600 gm)
green chillies broken 2-3 or to taste
hing 1 pinch
mustard oil 1 tbsp
salt to taste
water 2 cups

procedure

Peel the hard woody parts of the knol khol if it is mature or use it whole. Slice the bulb in half moons, the stems in one inch pieces and the leaves in large shreds. Keep aside.

Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker pan (or a deep stockpot or kadhai), tip in the hing and add the slices of the vegetable. Toss and fry till you see few brownish patches on the margins. Add the stems and leaves at once, the green chillies and salt and toss and cook for a few minutes more.

Add the water and pressure cook for 5 minutes after the first whistle blows. Let it cool on it's own, open the lid and serve hot with plain boiled rice or as a side dish to any Indian meal.

You can adjust the consistency by adding more water or by reducing the water as per choice.

If cooking it in a stock pot or kadhai, cook covered till the leaves and slices are all thoroughly coked. It takes about 25-30 minutes or more if the ganth gobhi is mature.

To make mutton monji haak, boil 300 gm of mutton (with bone) in 500 ml water and salt to taste for a couple of hours in a stock pot, adding a little more water of required. Or pressure cook for 30 minutes. Keep aside.

Now follow the steps of cooking the ganth gobhi as above recipe of monji haak and instead of adding water, add the cooked mutton with the stock and cook again till the vegetable is cooked well. Serve as required.

We eat our meats in watery stews like this in summers and love the way it tastes so rich and yet so light on the tummy. I recently tried a lauki ka shorba with mutton after reading good reviews of a recipe from Rampur and that also became our favourite. The recipe will be shared soon.

Monji haak remains a favourite not just for being a simple stew or a patle rasse ki subzi as we call it, it is because I love the taste of ganth gobhi so much. It is a vegetable I look forward to. I still have a few left from our winter vegetables crop and they will also be cooked into this flavourful monji haak.

Did I tell you we both love this mutton monji haak as a stand alone dinner? Yes we do.

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. 

dahi wala gosht or dhaba style mutton curry...

Dahi wala gosht means meat cooked with yogurt and dhabe wala mutton means the mutton curry one gets in highway eateries. This is yet another rustic mutton curry that doesn't involve many steps in the cooking procedure. The highway eateries cook large amounts of meats with balanced spicing but the cooking procedure is not complicated. Almost all of them cook the marinated meat in just one step, but they do slow cook all meat as a rule. At least an hour's marination time and about 2-3 hours cooking time makes sure the cooked meat curry is truly melt in your mouth type with a rich gelatinous sauce clinging to the meat. Some of them cook the meats overnight but you can always cook small quantity at home for approximately 2 hours with great results.

You normally get kulchas with such mutton curries in dhabas, at home you can choose what kind of bread you need with it. Such meals do not require any side dishes, just some raw onion on the side as they serve in the dhabas will be perfect.

You would be glad to know that this recipe is just 2 steps, just mix all ingredients first and rest the mixture (the marinated mutton) for a couple of hours. Then heat ghee and cook the mutton on very low flame tossing and turning once in a while in between.

ingredients..
(serves 2-4)
mutton pieces on bone mixed cuts 500 gm
yogurt 250 gm
finely chopped or minced onion 3/4 cup
minced garlic 1 tbsp
minced ginger 1.5 tbsp
special garam masala* 2 tsp
*(or just pound 6 green cardamoms, 6 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon and 1 fat black cardamom together)
kashmiri red chilly powder 1 tbsp or to taste


ghee 1/2 cup
whole coriander seeds 2 tsp
whole cumin seeds 2 tsp
whole black pepper corns 2 tsp

procedure...

Mix the mutton pieces with all the ingredients of the first list. Marinate for 2 hours or overnight.

At the time of cooking heat the ghee in a wide heavy bottom kadhai, and tip in the whole spices.

Wait till they sizzle and then slide in the marinated mutton slowly. Bhuno the mixture on low flame slowly, turning the meat once in about every couple of minutes in the beginning for 20 minutes and then cover the kadhai with a lid and let it simmer.

Check after every 15 minutes and keep adding 1/4 cup of water every time you feel it is getting dry. Be aware after an hour's time of cooking the meat as it might stick to the bottom if your kadhai/pan is not thick enough and the flame is not calibrated to cook very slowly according to the thickness of the pan.

Just keep simmering the mixture and watch when the meat is about to fall off the bone. The gravy starts looking almost gelatinous after 1.45 to 2 hours of cooking and it can be ready any minute after that.

Adjust seasoning and consistency of the gravy by adding a little water if you wish. You might want to throw in a few slit green chilies at this time. They taste great but coriander greens should be avoided as this meat tastes better without dhaniya patta.

This dhaba style meat will be one of the most delicious mutton recipes you have tried. You can always cook it in slow cooker if you use one. I normally like to keep stirring or feeling my curries when I cook, so the long cooking time is not a problem if I am home and want a therapeutic cooking time. After all the treat of slow cooking is immensely yummy meat.

The flavors are not too overpowering spicy, the yogurt makes the curry a little towards tart but the chilly heat and the spices complement the yogurt and slow cooked gelatin extraction kind of gravy really well. Everything that was chopped finely or not so finely gets soft and silky after slow cooking.

Sponge off the gravy with some freshly baked whole wheat naan or roomali roti.

You would love to cook this for crowds too. It is one of those crowd-pleasers and does not need much equipment to be cooked.

Cheers...

mutton curry UP home style...

Meat curries in UP mean mutton curries essentially in Hindu homes. Made spicy using home ground spices or whole spices sometimes, simmered in heavy bottomed pans for hours in leisurely times and pressure cooked when the meal needs to be quicker if not instant. But the flavors of the spices remain the same for most conservative food snobs of the state. They wont 'like' a mutton curry enough if it is not done 'their' way. I know because my dad is one of those snobs. And he was the one who used to cook mutton curry at home and later when I started eating meats, taught me as well.

 Spice blends are different in all Indian states and we immediately locate the origin of a dish by the whiff of the complex bouquet of spice blend used in a particular dish. All spices are Indian but they create a infinite range of combinations and permutations. Isn't that a wonderful thing to experience living in a country that is known for spices. Spice blends are like perfumery. The more robust spices are the base flavors and the delicate aromatic ones make the tasting notes that hit the palate first. The meats and vegetables add to the bouquet and we get a unique meal in every little home across the country. The homes where homemade spice blends are used I mean. Many packaged spice blends have made the curries taste similar in some homes though, still the amount of fats used, the additional seasoning makes a difference. So if you didn't pick up the MDH or Everest blends for mutton curry, trust me to get a nice home style mutton curry with this recipe.

The addition of potatoes is mine as I have seen a few friends of mine loving potatoes in a mutton curry, and the husband loves them too. My dad would shrink his nose at the potatoes I know. Skip them if you don't want them.

Note that the final taste of this mutton curry depends on the curry powder blend too which is homemade in my case. Try and powder the spices in the same ratio and combination when you are making a UP style curry. Ready made packed curry powders are different.



ingredients...

(2-4 servings, depending on the side dishes served along with it)

mutton, curry cut (on bone, preferably from shoulders but any bony cuts would work fine) 300 gm
a large potato with skin, scrubbed clean and cubed
ginger julienne 2-3 tbsp
sliced garlic cloves 1.5 tbsp
thinly sliced onions 1 cup
turmeric powder 1 tsp
everyday curry powder 1 tbsp
special garam masala 1 tsp
salt to taste

mustard oil 1/3 cup
cumin seeds 1 tsp
tejpatta 2-3 leaves*
whole red chilies broken and seeds removed about 10 or to taste

chopped coriander greens 2-3 tbsp or to taste



procedure...

• Heat mustard oil in a wide and thick base kadhai. Tip in the cumin seeds and wait till they crackle. Add the chopped ginger and garlic, saving 1/2 tbsp ginger julienne for garnish and let them fry for 30 seconds. Add Tejpatta, whole red chilies broken and seeds removed, and then add the sliced onions immediately. Add 1/2 tsp salt (more to be added later) and fry the onion till browned well.

*I added 4 cloves and one black cardamom at this step as well, the husband doen't like whole spices in his curries so I keep the whole spices minimal most of the times, You might like to add a stick of cinnamon too.

• The mutton will be added at this step, mix well with everything and keep turning the pieces to let them cook from all sides. This bhunoing process will go on for about 25 minutes on low flame so the mutton pieces keep browning slowly, absorbing the flavors of the ingredients. You might need to quench the dryness with a tbsp of water every now and then but keep the mixture dry all this while. Since the flame is low, you can do a few chores in the kitchen while the meat is cooking.

If cooking in a pressure cooker, this bhunoing step will be minimised to 10 minutes.

• Add the cubed potatoes and the powdered spices along with 2 tbs of water so the powdered spices do not get burnt and aromatic oils get absorbed into the half cooked mutton pieces. Keep the flame low and keep bhunoing for about 10 minutes more. Add salt and about a cup of water, cover the kadhai with a well fitting lid and let it simmer for 20 minutes or till the mutton gets completely cooked, the meat should be ready to fall off the bone, but should not be already detached from the bone.

If pressure cooking, just bhuno the spices and cook for another 20 minutes. Potatoes should not be added when pressure cooking as they disintegrate and interfere with the taste of the curry when pressure cooked.

• Adjust the consistency of the curry, add more water or dry up on higher flame if required. Check seasoning and adjust. Add the green coriander leaves and serve hot. The ginger julienne make a nice garnish, they taste great in the curry as well.

As I told you, I am not too fond of the potatoes in this mutton curry, the husband loves them ans I add them sometimes just to add some carbs to the curry when required. They do not hamper the taste of the mutton curry if added in small amount.

This is a robustly spicy mutton curry, you get the top notes of clove, green cardamon and cinnamon, tejpatta makes an appearance in the aromas as well. Browned onions and the black pepper, black cardamom and cumin make it robust and deep in flavors. The spiciness of this mutton curry is deeply satisfying in a meal. You would feel like having more of the gravy and all your spice craving will be sated once you have it. Just don't load up your plate with too much roti or rice as it would make you feel heavy and dull after the meal.

Another UP home style mutton curry is made in a different way. First boiling the mutton and making a yakhni, then bhunoing the boiled mutton with spices and proceeding to simmer the curry with spices. I have posted this mutton curry in the post where spice powders and their therapeutic uses are discussed. It is long post and you would have to scroll down to find that mutton curry at the bottom.