Malvani Vade Mutton
The festival of Lord Ganesha is carnivalesque in Maharashtra. Before I got married I had little knowledge of these festivities but now after observing the rituals for the last several years I have got well versed in them. Gauri is Goddess Parvati who is the mother of beloved Ganpati (The elephant god). This festival is observed by the Maharashtrian women both married and unmarried. Gauri Poojan is done on the fourth or fifth day of Ganesh Chaturthi. It is believed that Gauri has come to her parent’s home so she is pampered with sweet offerings, fruits and variety of foods.
It is very interesting to know that in the Konkan belt of Maharashtra in a few homes who eat non vegetarian, make an offering of spicy non veg platter to the Goddess to appease her and Goddess Gauri blesses the devotees with prosperity and well-being. Our household is one such household which offers a prasad of Vade Mutton to Goddess Gauri along with other sweets.
Women in the household stay awake the whole night on the day of Gauri Poojan and indulge themselves in playing traditional games like Zhimma and Phugdi. There is also Jagar where they sing Bhajans in the praise of the Goddess.
I have been fairly lucky to have visited our ancestral village of my in-laws and observe these rituals and festivities.
I hail from the eastern part of India where another female deity, Goddess Durga is worshipped with honour and reverence. Durga Maa killed the Mahishasura in an epic battle, and some sections of the society commemorate her victory by cooking an abundance of fish and sacrificial meat.
The recipe to make Vade Peeth (flour) is bit more detailed from scratch but if you are fortunate and residing in Maharashtra then this flour mixture could be readily available at the local grocery store.
Malvani Mutton Curry
So lets start cooking Malvani Vade button. You may find it a bit over-whelming initially with a range of ingredients but traditional cooking is about method and special note to details. My recipe writing is very verbose and easy to follow.
In a deep bottomed pan heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add the ground fresh coconut Vatap and the dry coconut vatap and sautee for 2-3 minutes.Then add the Malvani masala at this stage. Please note the recipe for making the Malvani Vatap can be found here. (How to make Malvani Vatap).
Then add the washed mutton into the spice mix and Coat the mutton with the masala properly. Braise the mutton until it is changes its color.
Then add two cups of water and let it simmer for 45 minutes. Cover it with a steel plate or glass lid.
Then uncover and give it a good stir and then add red chilli powder, salt to taste and fresh coriander leaves. Just simmer for 20 minutes and let it stand for sometime before serving it.
- 1 cup rice flour
- 1 cup Jowar flour
- 1 cup wheat flour
- 1/2 cup Urad dal
- 1/2 cup Channa Dal
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin sseds
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
- 10-12 black pepper
- 1 tsp turmeric
- salt according to taste
- Oil for frying
- On a hot skillet dry roast the urad dal for 2-3 minutes and then set it aside. Followed by channa dal dry roasted for the same time and set it aside.The heat of the cooktop should be medium. Allow it to cool down then dry grind it into a fine powder in a grinder.
- Then dry roast all the dry spices and then grind it into a dry powder in electric spice jar.
- Now mix all the flours together along with all the powdered spices, 1 tsp carom seeds and seasoning. Mix it well and then knead it into a dough with water. The texture of the dough should be neither too dry nor too wet. Just right 🙂
- Now allow the dough to rest for 15-20 minutes covered.
- Now for making the vade you need to take a flat base and cover it with a cling film and rub a little oil on the rough and a little on your palm. Then take golf ball size dough balls and then flatten it into nice round circles with the back of your palm. I know if you follow online they would flatten it out with their fingers but my mother in law always instructed me to use the back of my palm ensured the Vade would rise like a balloon while deep frying them. The circle should neither be too thin nor too thick.
- Now heat oil in a deep bottomed vessel and then gently leave the flattened dough into the hot oil and the other important trick is to use the back of your slotted spoon to gently splash oil onto the Vade when it is immersed in oil. Once it rises we should fry it until it is a nice golden red color. The heat should be maintained at medium heat otherwise the Vade’s would remain undercooked.
- I know it sounds a bit tough but after a first few trails you can achieve traditional perfection.
