Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

Achari Mutton Recipe

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Achari Mutton Recipe – a must-have in every home cook’s repertoire

Mutton is my favourite form of consuming red meat and though I LOVE pork with equal fervour, it can never quite compare to the deeply satisfying rich taste of a proper Maharashtrian Mutton Curry. This Achari Mutton curry is something I have cooked several times over the past years and tweaked the recipe to get it to this current one. Though I do still love experimenting with the curry by using various pickles, the basic achari mutton recipe remains the same.

How I came about to love this particular recipe is particularly interesting as it is from a phase of my life when I was working a very hectic full-time job back in India. My colleagues and I were all at a party and that’s when I tasted this Achari Chicken which totally blew my socks off! We were all at my boss’s house in Pune and one of my colleagues who also happens to be a trained chef, made Achari chicken and roti’s for us in a flash! It tasted so divine!

Achari Ghost

Fast foward a few years, to when we have moved to London. I remember,I had to make an urgent trip to India due to some unforseen circumstances. My husband was not able to get leave at short notice and was feeling pretty misreable for not being able to fly with me. I had to do something to lift his spirits and comfort food topped the list. After all, nothing beats the feeling of waking up after a good afternoon nap on a weekend, better till if that nap is brought by the supreme satisfaction one feels after consuming a comforting homecooked meal that reminds you of the taste of life back in India. Exactly for such occasions a good mutton curry and rice meal, is just the thing.

Mutton in a rich pickle flavoured curry

Fresh Mutton was procured but I didn’t have any puree’s to marinate them in and then a brainwave happened ! I got out my most treasured bottle of mango pickle made by my sister’s mum-in-law (who is an expert with pickles and makes a minimum of 10 varieties every summer, yes you heard that right, TEN, these are then packed and parceled all over the world !!)

I really didn’t want to use up all the pickle but for a kilo of mutton, I just had to, ah well small scarifies for the larger good I say 🙂

I silently thank Asha Ma as we lovingly call her, for the fabulous pickles she makes so expertly for her family. And more so for her immense patience with packing them neatly in air-tight, spill-proof containers.

Achari Mutton Curry Recipe

Achari Mutton Recipe

Manjiri Chitnis
Achari Mutton Recipe, Succulent mutton cooked in a richly flavoured, thick gravy sauce, flavoured with pickle or achar, this is also called Achari Ghost
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 30 mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kilo mutton curry pieces
  • 250 gm 1/2 bottle of mango pickle
  • 2 tbsp heaped of freshly ground ginger garlic paste
  • 200 gm 1/2 tub of yogurt /Dahi
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 3 small Red Onions
  • 4 tsp heaped Red Chilli Powder /Laal Tikhat
  • 3 tsp heaped Turmeric Powder / Halad
  • Pinch Asafoetida / Hing
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1 small Stick of cinnamon
  • 4 tsp heaped coriander and cumin mix powder
  • 3 1/2 tbsp Oil
  • 4 boiled eggs peeled and sliced into halves

For the Chilli Marinade

  • 3 Green Chillies
  • 1 Lime juiced
  • 1 tbsp Oil
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder

Instructions
 

  • Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly and then pour the pickle over them and add the ginger garlic paste and mix well such that each piece coats well in the pickle.
  • Ideally I would marinate this mutton overnight to really let these flavours seep deep into the fibers of the meat. Also, as mutton curry takes longer to cook than lamb it is necessary to ensure that for the flavours to full develop and mature, marination must be done for over 5 hours at least.
  • Cover the meat with a plastic cling film and leave in the refrigerator overnight, do not freeze unless the temperature outside is over 35 deg Celsius as at that temperature if the cooling in the fridge is not good the meat may go bad. If freezing the mutton allow at least 4 hours to totally defrost by first moving from freezer to fridge and then keeping it outside.
  • Pour the yogurt over the marinated meat and mix well,leave aside for 20 minutes
  • Just when you are ready to cook the mutton peel and roughly chop red onions into chunks and also made big pieces of the tomatoes and puree them in the food processor.
  • In a large vessel heat the oil and add a pinch of asafoetida, sauté the bay leaves and the cinnamon stick for about 30 seconds on a medium flame.
  • Then add the red onion and tomato puree , sauté in the oil ,stirring well and let it simmer on a low flame with 1 cup of water.
  • Add red chilli powder,turmeric powder, coriander and cumin mix powder.
  • Let this cook for about 10 -12 minutes.
  • Now add the marinated mutton and add enough water to make a good amount of gravy , if you are going to use the pressure cooker then add a little extra.
  • Cook on a medium flame for about 1 and a half hour , in a pressure cook give it 8 whistles.
  • Mutton pieces have a lot of fat attached on the sides which also adds to the oil used for cooking hence I have used less oil.I am unable to eat the overtly oily curry which leave a huge layer of oil on the top if allowed to stand.
  • Now for the spicy dip, slit the green or red chillies lengthwise and dip into the oil and red chilli powder mix and add the juice of one lime.
  • When the curry is cooked serve hot on a bed of steaming hot rice with half a boiled egg.
Keyword Achari Mutton

For extra flavour bite into the fiery red chilli with the lime-chilli mix. It’s not for the faint-hearted though, but if you really do manage to relish the aftertaste of hot chilli you can safely say that you can now eat any fiery dish without breaking a sweat or getting the runs, a sort of baptism by fire food ritual!! One only for the brave souls! This powerful blast of heat on the tongue will see your forehead dotted with beads of sweat. Truly a labour of love.

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The resulting mutton curry is rich in flavour and served hot with fluffy Jeera rice it is such a satisfying and comforting meal. But the best bit is when you leave the balance of this curry overnight , the next day the taste is so much better I’d almost choose left over curry over the fresh 😉

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Achari Mutton Recipe

Highly recommend serving this curry with a cooling curd side dish – half a cup of yogurt mixed with  with sliced red  onions and cucumbers ,seasoned with a pinch of salt , half a spoon of sugar and 1 heaped teaspoon of toasted cumin powder ,garnished with some freshly chopped coriander leaves.I’d wash down the meal  with butter milk or a good glass or two of a full bodied red wine.

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Achari Mutton Recipe

LEARN HOW TO MAKE INDIAN FOOD FROM SCRATCH WITH MY EASY TO FOLLOW RECIPES

Borough Market – a slice of London’s History, Heritage and FOOD!

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If ever there was a memory I revisit connected to food, browsing, new experiences, and feeling that I LIVED and loved life to the fullest it is this Friday in July when I visited Borough for the first time ever…

Coming from India and have spent most of my life in Bombay I am no stranger to massive open food bazaars, haggling to get one free lemon or a bunch of coriander and feeling triumphant that I could get HAPOOS AAMBE – the king of fruits Alphonso Mangoes at a few rupees lower than the previous customer ….old memories of accompanying my mother as a child to the market every other day and helping her carry home-made cloth and nylon bags full of fresh vegetables and fruits. With these vivid memories in mind I set off with my pal N to visit the market.

Getting there by tube was fun and the first glimpse of the market sort of gave me that feeling of a newcomer to a large city, no not of feeling LOST but simply overwhelmed by the sheer variety of goods available,Of course the most beautiful part is the way all the sights and smells make their way into your mind, literally it was my nose leading me to the food !Set in Southwark, one is found staring at the SHARD as soon you exit from the Tube station, towering over the place it is an imposing glass structure.

The market is massive,has a really amazing old world charm thanks to its origin roughly dating back to the 1800’s when it started off as a wholesale market and continues to be,to this date.

Of course, we took a lot of pictures and ate many free samples along the way but the places where I feel silent with admiration were the Fresh Fish counter – for its sheer variety and activity surrounding the stall, the Mushrooms on display-I guess I had never seen so many colourfull, delicate and edible mushrooms in one place before! The Gamston Wood Farm with its exotic meats, yes as exotic as ostrich meat – left me totally speechless but owing to my many food allergies I didn’t experiment, but someday soon I do hope too! I purchased some ripe nectarines, ripe juicy tomatoes, and some crunchy salad leaf bunches.

The Market itself is divided into a few large chunks, we started by walking around the fresh fruit,vegetable and sea food shops, moving onto the inner food court where one find everything from superior Assam tea(which I did buy and got home in a cute brown paper bag and treat myself to some mornings with a generous chunk of ginger and plenty of milk, proper boiled sweet Indian CHAI!) to different varieties of cheese,exotic breads,organic foods,herbs,spices,nuts,dates,desserts sighhhh, then one is led to the many fresh food stalls where one can eat exotic burgers, hot dogs, rolls, pizza or sandwiches,soups,salads almost any imaginable snack packed with fresh meat,cheese and all things divine,I certainly envy all the office goers who can visit this place during lunch hour!Not to be missed are the bakery,patisserie and confectionary stalls, creative, hand-made and exotic all rolled into one, giving into those sweet craving is very easy indeed.Each trader no matter how small the stall exuded passion for their craft.Lot of international foods are available here in this massive expanse of a market each with its own spot under the sun so to speak.

There are many pubs and restaurants in the vicinity which sort of take over when the market itself shuts down for the day.

Simply walking past the fresh oysters and taking in all the gorgeous food aromas wafting around does good for any appetite.Aptly then Borough Market has won ”London Food Market of the Year” 2010 at the London Lifestyle awards.The sea food selection is the best in the city and it is also a great place to buy some amazing wines and spirits, from far-flung places across the globe.

”N” and I got ourselves ” The Spitfire”  and  a ”BBQ Banger” respectively from a friendly fella who happily smiled for my camera! Big Bonus points to him, am definitely going back for more yummy food!The rail-bridge crossing over this part of this market causes a bit of a rattle-shake-shudder when trains pass by overhead.

We took our hot meals wrapped in tissues and sat down in the compound of the Southwark Cathedral with many other and though it was windy we hardly noticed, eating our lunch like hungry school kids with sauce dripping off our face!

We then ate ice cream made from goat’s milk,thick,creamy and delicious are base emotions, it transported me to a green farm far away into the English countryside, I left I was on a patch of land watching women dressed up like village belle of times gone by carrying pails of creamy thick milk and barns full of healthy cows and other animals…. N had to shake me out of my dream world so we could continue browsing;)

Ice cream in hand and after much posing for pictures we strolled to the area with big shops which have been around for many years so much so that they have are food institutions on their own, one of them is Ginger Pig.When one enters the Ginger Pig shop,it’s almost like walking into a museum of oink oink 😉 EVERY possible cut,chop,slice,dip,garnish associated with cooking pork all under one roof – sigh ….

After strolling around some more and drinking in the sites, we decided it was time to leave but not before we spent some time browsing the flower stalls outside and purchased some magic potions from Neal’s Yard and some more relaxing tea for me, which I sampled at their store, it made me all drowsy and calm just what I recommend for a good nights sleep, count more deep sleep zzz’s after drinking this one folk…

Chocolate – the food fit for The God’s especially the one made by Hotel Chocolat‘….. the wooden interiors with the dim lighting and walls filled with chocolates so divine and varied that we just had to go in and have some liquid chocolate, mine was mixed with CHILLI! yes, awesome right? we also got to sample many of the new innovations and sat down on one of the massive wooden benches and sipped our hot chocolate and dreamt of ……well more CHOCOLATE!

Though the weather decided to play spoil sport,nothing could take away the feeling of a day spent pampering my senses….all I wanted to do was go home with my spoils wrapped in crinkly brown paper and sink my teeth into the nectarines and turn the tomatoes into a thick creamy soup.

If I could I would have written a poetry to describe my feelings when I left the market, I wish I could come up with some quotable quote to put all that happens in one’s mind in the market in a nutshell, but really , it wouldn’t suffice, no written word or picture can do justice to the beauty of this vibrant part of London’s heritage and history, treat yourself to a day out Visit Borough Market ….

Visit the official website for updates on opening times, events and news

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An Omlette with a twist

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Easy omelette recipe

What’s life without a bit of a twist I say !

So here’s one of my “different” omelette recipes, I love eating eggs in all shapes and forms and am more so obsessed with omelettes and scrambled eggs.

This recipe is for hungry morning times when you have a rumbling tummy and need time to hold the tummy quiet and prepare for rest of the day .It’s a filling , satisfying yummy start to the day , I serve this with 2 slices of toast generously buttered and a large glass of freshly squeezed orange juice to wash it down 🙂

Ok so you will need the following ingredients:

2 eggs

1 medium size of half or a large sized red onion chopped lengthwise

half a garlic cloves sliced very fine lengthwise again, will tell u why soon..

1 large chicken sausage roughly cut up

1-2 green chillies chopped into pieces which are visible n too fine

Salt and red chilli powder to taste

Preparation: time 15 minutes

Chop the red onion lengthwise and so also the garlic clove, why? Because in a omelette the tiny square bits will loose themselves and vanish I like to chimp on and feel the taste of all the ingredients as I eat the omelette and appreciate each and every ingredient, it’s just so much more fulfilling and creates a immense feeling of happiness as a creator of a true mouth-watering masterpiece.

Sauté the red onion n garlic slices in a generous blob of butter on a pan until the onion starts to reduce turns a mild brown n stays a bit soft so that when you bite into in it releases a sweet burst of onion taste on your palate.

Toss the above mix into 2 eggs in a bowl and add the sausage ,chopped green chillies and salt and with a  fork mix thoroughly till the eggs begin to froth  and the sausage is all mashed up and mixed into the whole set of ingredients.

Next take your favourite omelette pan , again add a generous blob of butter on a slightly heated pan , to reduce your guilt use a low fat option , I do – either Lurpack’s latest or any one that you fancy.

Pour onto this pan the omelette mix and cover for sometime as this helps the omelette fluff up and it looks chubby almost and you start to salivate at the every sight if it 😉

Turn it when the sides are done n there is just a bit of centre that needs cooking

I like mine slightly brown if you prefer it to be less well done just flip it sooner n don’t cook it for as long.

Enjoy it with hot buttered toast and as you bit in enjoy the bits of buttery toasted garlic as they hit your tongue and finely balanced by the yummy red onion caramelised to perfection almost.

AAAHHH pure omelette pleasure.

If you do make and enjoy eating this share your partners or husband or children’s reactions, it will surely make me smile.

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