Au..waah…uh… (This is me yawning)
Its Sunday time and its only 5 in the morning. Then why the hell am I up ? Once a month dad would go fetch the best mutton for us for our sunday feast. It was customary to visit the butcher in the morning to get the best and the tenderest meat.
How old was I ? I was only 5
Since then I have always made it a point to accompany my dad to the butcher’s place. How weird may it sound but I had tolerance for the place and stood there observing the butcher as he performed his customary task for the buyers.
This place where we went was a complete downhill ride and very close to the river side. It was always chilly as it was so early in the morning. My flip flops were never on the right foot. My crumpled frock from the night’s sleep. Unbrushed teeth. As you can see I have no fear in revealing the most untidy details.
Dad would take out his Yezdi…Mum still in her sleep would come to close the backdoor. I would be sitting in the front seat which ideally is not the front seat but rather the fuel tank of the Yezdi. A scene quite prevalent in most the motorbike ads. My dad fresh as dew and as all dads are perfect they know their job and their rituals.
He never said a ‘no’ to me. He believed in one simple principle to develop tolerance in life a child should be pushed into the situation. He always did that to me when I was learning how to ride a bicycle, going to school in the rains, riding my first bike or taking my first solo train ride. He was never there in the middle he was either in the beginning or in the end.
That morning visit taught me a lot of things. Tolerating sights which are gruesome to some. Understanding the value of caring for your family. Getting the best for your family. Knowing your stuff. Bargaining with shopkeepers. Appreciating a profession.
On a very side note this write-up is not about hailing the act of butchering. It is about a food habit passed on to me at the tender age of two and has stayed with me. Talking about the consumption of meat there is a lot of black and white in between.
I today want to do the same for my family. To feed my family good foodd and Nurture them just like my father. It is the start of autumn here in London and I can feel the chill in the air as I step out in open air. I have started to drape my kaftan and scarf. This is the time to make pies. I have tried a new combination by blending the Indian simmering curry and the pie crust. The idea for this originated after seeing Jamie Oliver’s show on Australian Veal Pie. The dish form the Indian subcontinent which I have chosen today is the Kashmiri mutton rogan josh. After reading several websites I zeroed down on Soma Rathore’s ecurry.com for the authentic recipe though I have added rattan jot infusion for the striking red colour.She has some of the most luscious indian-bengali recipes. A rogan josh never has tomato added into it so beware of such recipes. The curry itself is a delicious blend of spices and the rich red colour from the red Kashmiri red chillies.
Rattan jot is a root of a Kashmiri plant, used to impart red colour to food like tandoori and rogan josh
A little more of about pot pies, A pot pie is a type of meat pie with a top crust, generally made of flaky pastry.Now we will make this flaky pastry at home and no store bought short crust pastry for a change. 
- For the Flaky Pastry
- 600 gm organic plain flour
- 150 gm plain butter
- 150 mature cheddar, shredded
- a pinch of salt
- water to knead
- 1 beaten egg fot brushing
- For Kashmiri Rogan josh
- 1 kg boneless meat,preferably lamb
- 8-10 tsp Kashmiri chillies,deseeded and grounded into paste (integral part of dish)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground green cardamon
- 1/2 tsp ground black cardamons
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground black peppercorn
- 1 tbsp ground fennel seeds (integral part of dish)
- 11/2 tsp ground dry ginger (integral part of dish)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 stick whole cinnamon
- 2-3 whole peppercorns
- 2-3 whole cloves
- 1 tsp asafoetida (integral part of dish)
- 11/2 cup thick yoghurt
- 1/4 cup rattan jot infusion (optional)
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp refined oil (traditionally use mustard oil)
- Marinate the mutton in 1 tsp oil,little salt for 1 hour.
- Heat oil and add the hing/asafoetida to the hot oil. Add the whole cinnamon stick,Indian Bay Leaf,cloves, pepper corns followed by the meat to the pan and cook at medium heat, while tossing them occasionally until they start to brown.This technique is called as braising as it helps locks the moisture of the mutton and prevents it from drying out during the elongated process of cooking. Do this activity for 5 minutes.
- Then reduce heat and add your ground spices. Add the ground cinnamon, ground green cardamon,ground black cardamons,ground cloves,ground black peppercorn,ground fennel seeds,ground dry ginger and rattan jot.Coat the meat with the spices and cook it 10-15 minutes.
- Now remove the pan from heat and add the beaten yoghurt and mix throughly. This prevents the yoghurt from getting split due to high heat.
- Put the pan back on low heat and add 1 cup of water and let it simmer covered for 1.5 hour. This generally is the time it takes for me for a good quality spring lamb. For some it might take longer. Keep checking on the mutton by cutting it with your spatula or checking the tenderness with your fingers.
- Add salt to taste and throughly mix. I usually add salt in the last stage of mutton preparation.
- The red rogan or the red oil would have surfaced and that is why they call this dish rogan josh. You can see the rogan in the pictures. I haven’t added much water to have a saucy texture to the gravy to be added in my pie.
- Garnish it with fresh cilantro.
- Sift the flour and add a pinch of salt. Then crumble the butter and cheese with your hands and mix it gradually with the tip of your fingers rubbing it into the flour. Until the fat is roughly mixed with the flour.
- Then add water gradually into the flour and roughly pack it into a dough. Caution add small quantities of water to make a rough dough for rolling. Then make a small round dough and put in a cling film and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 mins.DO not over work the dough by kneading as it would make the dough hard. The picture shows the texture of the dough.
- This would make the pastry bind and make it perfect for rolling into thin sheets.
- Now sprinkle some flour on your rolling board. Then roll out the dough into a thin sheet about the thickness of a one pound coin. Then place it over the pie dishes. I have four circular pie dish and I have cut it into four squares to evenly fit over the dish.
- Then cut of the excess from the edges and then push the sheet into the dish. Fill it with the Kashmiri rogan josh slightly spread the mutton chunks with your fingers. They are so moist that they generally spread easily. Now brush the egg over the edges for sticking.Add a ladle of the thick gravy.
- Now repeat by rolling the remming dough into a thin sheet. Cut it into four squares again and put it over the filled pie dishes.Cut off the extras. Take a fork and mark the edges with lines. This would seal the pie.Make some fork insertions on the top for the pie to release the steam.Brush egg on the edges and the centre for the lovely golden colour on top.
- Preheat the oven to 180C.
- Place the pie dish on the baking tray and bake them for 40-45 minutes until golden crust is formed on top of the pie.
- Gosh, this is the most awesome pot pie I have ever had. It has the lovely rich taste of the Indian subcontinent and the flaky crust of the Britain. What a dish !! A complete hit for this seasons beginning.
Note: The top signature pictures styling is inspired from Marks & Spencer’s Autumn Free issue for food.
Your photographs are brilliant as always! Every time you do something unique and different, and the first picture reminds of Donna’s Magazines. Who can think of making potpies with rogan josh? Last year when I went to India, I got a bag of dried ratanjot but rarely I make meat curries with that.
My utmost favorite is your first one.
I also forgot to mention, the Sunday butcher story is so common. I think every Bengali or Oriya family has that story. LOL. Dad or my uncle used to go every Sunday and get meat pieces. There are some times I joined them as well.