I enjoy the times when i have unrestricted access to the kitchen. No that does not imply that i enjoy when my better half is away. Honestly. All it means that once in a while when the kids insist that i cook, do i get this unrestricted access.
One fine sunny winter morn, I was reading a novel set in the British Raj times.The 'propah' Memsahib, the 'Burra Sahib' with his penchant for immaculate dressing and dining was driven by a keen desire to embrace Mughlai food.And the cook, the eternally ephemeral Inamdeen. I drifted off to slumber land and was ushered in to the Burra Sahib's dining room. The Burra Sahib was shouting at Inamdeen, who had failed to set aside the delectable mutton dish he had prepared earlier for the household for the Burra Sahib. "Bloody, meri mutton kha gaya tum."
I woke up with a start. "Bloody Mary Mutton". What an idea!! Checked the freezer. Mutton was in stock. Checked the bar, vodka was still there.Did No tomato juice. Not a problem. Plenty of tomatoes. Got down to business!!
Pureed the tomatoes while the mutton was on a merry-go-round in the micrwave. This experience would leave it sweaty and thawed. Soften it for the what i was going to do with it. So would it be with the tomatoes. Aah!! but what about my poor parched throat? It too must be satiated. And my poor arms, which are used to a translatory motion in the longitudinal plane. Lifting a glass with increasingly reducing weight and then again gaining weight. What about their exercise? There were half a dozen beer cans inside. As the information travelled from my optical nerves through the complex system of synapses, I could hear my throat heave a sigh of relief and my arm tingle in anticipation. The finger tips twitched with joy at the prospect of holding the chilled beer can!!
By the time i opened a can, the mutton had thawed and the puree was ready.
Marinated the mutton in vodka (120ml), tomato puree and the usual spices. Did not forget to add salt.
Dealing with three cans took about an hour or so and i was back in service of the mutton-mix.
Heated a pan with two spoons of oil, tej patta, cloves, cardamom and some chopped onions.
Stirred till the onions were brown. Then put the mutton-mix in the pan and turned the flame low. Covered the pan with a lid. Forgot to put chillies. Opened the lid and put about 10 green chillies.
Went back to stir the mix in between couple of sips. In fact i was functioning like a metronome. Four sips, stir for five minutes. Four sips, stir for five minutes.
Each sip took two seconds and the time interval between successive sips was two minutes. In each sip i took in about 20ml. Thats about 22 sips for a 440ml can!!
To cut it short, the mutton-mix was on fire for about an hour and a half. The colour was brownish red. Brown from the onions and spices, red from the tomatoes. So much for Mendellian laws.
By the time three beer cans had found their way to the trash can, the meat was cooked. Soft and succulent and fiery.
The kids were back from the market and were hungry. Fried some chicken nuggets for them ( they have resisted from sampling the delights of mutton cooked by self). My wife is very fond of my cooking... Actually which wife wouldn't be!! Not by my cooking but by their respective husband's cooking for them.
So we had Bloody Mary Mutton with parathas and chicken nuggets!!!
One fine sunny winter morn, I was reading a novel set in the British Raj times.The 'propah' Memsahib, the 'Burra Sahib' with his penchant for immaculate dressing and dining was driven by a keen desire to embrace Mughlai food.And the cook, the eternally ephemeral Inamdeen. I drifted off to slumber land and was ushered in to the Burra Sahib's dining room. The Burra Sahib was shouting at Inamdeen, who had failed to set aside the delectable mutton dish he had prepared earlier for the household for the Burra Sahib. "Bloody, meri mutton kha gaya tum."
I woke up with a start. "Bloody Mary Mutton". What an idea!! Checked the freezer. Mutton was in stock. Checked the bar, vodka was still there.Did No tomato juice. Not a problem. Plenty of tomatoes. Got down to business!!
Pureed the tomatoes while the mutton was on a merry-go-round in the micrwave. This experience would leave it sweaty and thawed. Soften it for the what i was going to do with it. So would it be with the tomatoes. Aah!! but what about my poor parched throat? It too must be satiated. And my poor arms, which are used to a translatory motion in the longitudinal plane. Lifting a glass with increasingly reducing weight and then again gaining weight. What about their exercise? There were half a dozen beer cans inside. As the information travelled from my optical nerves through the complex system of synapses, I could hear my throat heave a sigh of relief and my arm tingle in anticipation. The finger tips twitched with joy at the prospect of holding the chilled beer can!!
By the time i opened a can, the mutton had thawed and the puree was ready.
Marinated the mutton in vodka (120ml), tomato puree and the usual spices. Did not forget to add salt.
Dealing with three cans took about an hour or so and i was back in service of the mutton-mix.
Heated a pan with two spoons of oil, tej patta, cloves, cardamom and some chopped onions.
Stirred till the onions were brown. Then put the mutton-mix in the pan and turned the flame low. Covered the pan with a lid. Forgot to put chillies. Opened the lid and put about 10 green chillies.
Went back to stir the mix in between couple of sips. In fact i was functioning like a metronome. Four sips, stir for five minutes. Four sips, stir for five minutes.
Each sip took two seconds and the time interval between successive sips was two minutes. In each sip i took in about 20ml. Thats about 22 sips for a 440ml can!!
To cut it short, the mutton-mix was on fire for about an hour and a half. The colour was brownish red. Brown from the onions and spices, red from the tomatoes. So much for Mendellian laws.
By the time three beer cans had found their way to the trash can, the meat was cooked. Soft and succulent and fiery.
The kids were back from the market and were hungry. Fried some chicken nuggets for them ( they have resisted from sampling the delights of mutton cooked by self). My wife is very fond of my cooking... Actually which wife wouldn't be!! Not by my cooking but by their respective husband's cooking for them.
So we had Bloody Mary Mutton with parathas and chicken nuggets!!!
