JUNGLI MEAT

INTRODUCTION:

This is a recipe I hit upon , while going through a cookery book titled " Cooking with Maharajas" , By Digvijay Singh of Sailana.Excellent simple recipe.I have lost count of the number of times I have made it. Recently I made it again, when Shyam Benegal, the renowned film maker was over for dinner.He told us that he had a had it , long ago , when he had dined with the royal family of Sailana. I recall vividly the day, when I first made it.My husband wanted mutton for dinner. I wanted to try this recipe.However,I was slightly sceptical , since it had bare minimum ingredients and was worried that it might turn out bland.So I divided the mutton into two portions. With one ,I made the usual regular mutton curry and with the other, I proceeded to experiment making"Jungli meat". The recipe stated that no weights and measures were given ,as in a jungle one doesnt have the wearwithall and one makes with "Andaza" or approximation or instinct. However, one can carry dry ingredients like salt & dry red chillies and treat the "shikar" (The hunt) with this recipe.Coming back to the day when I first tried it out, my husband came back home after work, he being a foodie & a die hard core mutton lover, heard my introductory speech about the two praparations and decided to check out the jungli meat first. The first bite and his lament was" itna thoda kyon banaya" i.e why did you make such a small quantity?. But then this was an experiment and wasn't quite sure that it would be a successful one. Thereafter the next time I made it , I innovated and added garlic to it and wow , it tasted even better now. So the original recipe got modified and now is a constant feature of my parties.I have figured out measures too, so that my cook can replicate it and now he is a pro.

The recipe is as follows:

PRINCIPLE: The meat is cooked in minimum cooking medium and water, so that the meat is neither boiled nor fried.In fact ,my assumption is, that in the jungle , it must be cooked over slow fire with wood and no cooking medium coz meat has its own fat and it must be getting cooked in that.

INGREDIENTS:(Serves 4 to 5)

Mutton-16 pieces( Thats how I usually buy-one each of nalli, gole , machli and chop per person, so that everybody gets all the various kinds of cuts)

Unbroken dry red chillies -8 ( 1/2 the number of pieces of mutton)

Cooking medium-1 tsp ghee ( Sorry, the taste is not the same with oil-Like my husband says ghee aur nahari ko upar vale ne khud apne haathon se banaya hai ).Dont add more than 1 tsp please ( read aforementioned principle).

Garlic chopped fine- 4 tbsp ( Almost 1 tbsp per person)

Salt -According to taste.

Water- variable amount ( bare minimum)

METHOD:

A WORD OF CAUTION-Do not break the red chillies and please do not cook in a pressure cooker. It will be unpalatably pungent.

Take a kadhai/ pateela ( any pan of your choice). Add 1 tsp ghee.When it is hot add, the washed & drained meat. Cook on high heat for 10 minutes , by the watch. It will start releasing water.If at the end of 10 minutes, no water is left, add 2 tbsp water.Add salt, garlic and red chillies.Now cover it with a tight fitting lid and cook on slow fire for 1 and a 1/2 hour, checking every 15 minutes, to ensure there is some water, so it neither boils nor fries. If water dries out before meat is fully cooked, add 2tbsp water. Once tender, uncover and cook on high heat and dry out the water. Serve piping hot, either as snack with cocktails or as part of main course.

NOTE: NO GARNISHING REQUIRED WITH GARAM MASALA /HARA DHANIYA ETC.

VARIATIONS:

I have tried it with small round unpeeled potatoes( 1 chilly for 5 potatoes) after washing them, piercing with a fork and with chicken too after puncturing with fork coz chicken , unlike meat is bland and spices should seep in for it to taste good. Both potatoes and chicken will cook earlier than 1 and ½ hour.Do experiment with green chillies, vary the number ,depending on the variety of chilly and how pungent it is.