As part of a full course meal, red meat is the most favored dish in the Royal houses in Rajasthan and different regions have their own way of cooking it. This dish is an important part of the wedding cuisine and its the responsibility of the Males in the family to prepare especially this dish for the special guests.
Today I am cooking the famous 'Laal Maas', the way it is cooked in regions near Udaipur ( The city of lakes).
Ingredients :
- 1 Kg red meat (Lamb/Goat), medium sized pieces from ribs and legs cuts.
- 4 big red onions cut into thin circular rings
- 20 to 25 cloves of Garlic
- Plain yogurt 1 cup
- Ghee/Musturd Oil 300 ml
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds soaked in water
Spices:
- Whole red chilies soaked in water (approx 30) for 2 hours and made into paste.
- Turmeric powder 4 spoons
- Coriander powder 5 spoons soaked in water
- Cumin seeds 1 spoon
- Shahi Jeera 1/2 spoon
- Black pepper 10
- Black Cardamom 3
- Cinnamon sticks 3 (4 inches)
- Bay leaf 4
- Cloves 5
Method:
Heat the Ghee/Mustard oil in an iron pan, and till the fumes starts to come. Add all the whole spices to it and cover it with a lid so that the aroma of the spices should not escapes out. Once the spices turns to black add the onions and garlic cloves to it and stir it occasionally until the onions turns golden brown. Its very important that onions should be cooked properly otherwise the texture and taste of the gravy will not be good. add salt as per the taste (it needs to be a bit more as it will help to tenderize the meat).
Add the meat pieces to the pan now and stir it nicely, preventing the meat to stick to the pan. It need to be roasted for another 15 mins. Then add the red chili paste, turmeric powder and stir it so that the chili and turmeric should not get burnt. This needs to be stirred and roasted for another 10 mins and then add enough water to it so that the meat pieces are soaked completely into water now. add half of the soaked coriander powder and cover the lid and let it boil and cook for another 30 minutes. The water level need to be checked in between just to ensure that it doesn't stick at the bottom else no need to add extra water.
After 30 minutes once the water evaporates and it forms a thick gravy, add the soaked poppy seeds and cook and stir for 5 mins then add the yogurt, stir it. Cook and stir it occasionally adding little water as and when required in order to prevent it from sticking to the pan. The meat pieces needs to be checked if they are cooked. If meat is tender now and cooked then add remaining soaked coriander powder and water as per the gravy desired and let it cook for 15 minutes. Put off the fire now and add chopped green coriander and cover it with lid.
Serve this with wheat or maize chapatis/rice.
Note: If whole red chilies not available then chili powder soaked in little water can be used.
Iron pans gives a distinct flavor to the meat, which won't come with the non-stick pans.
The garlic cloves should be dissolved completely in the process of stirring and cooking.
