SALAN WALAH CHAWAL

Serves: 4 as part of an Indian meal.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours.

Dietary Style: GF.

The test of skill and patience with salan walah chawal is the protracted browning process: shortcuts here will only affect the end result and you don’t want to cheat yourself with this incredible dish. Pour a glass of red wine for the process on a Sunday afternoon - that’s what Dad always did. The actual browning process will take around 90-minutes of standing by the stovetop. It might be a little quicker or a little slower depending on how your pot of choice conducts heat.

But there is not a minute you will regret upon eating what is a very traditional and delicious Kashmiri Pandit dish. The important tips to note are to cut the lamb into sizeable chunks; use beautiful rice and don’t shortcut that soaking process; pay attention to the visual indicators of the dish - wait until the meat is truly rich and deep, dark sticky brown before finalising the browning process.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 4 tbsp ghee, heaped
• 1.5 cups yoghurt
• ¼ tsp powdered asafoetia or a few drops of asafoetida water
• 1 kg fat-trimmed lamb shoulder, cubed in 4 cm x 4 cm pieces
• 8 lamb bones, cut into 5 cm x 5 cm pieces
• 1½ tsp salt
• 2 cups Basmati rice

Chilli water

• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp yoghurt
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• ⅓ tsp ginger powder
• ¼ tsp asafoetida powder of a few drops of asafoetida water (see Note)

Masala

• ½ tsp medium red chilli powder
• ½ tsp ginger powder
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• 4 tsp coriander ground, heaped
• 1 tsp fresh ginger paste
• 3 tsp cumin seed
• 8-10 cloves
• 5 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
• 4 bay leaves

To finish

• 1 tsp garam masala, heaped
• Salt, to taste

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1. Cook sunflower oil and ghee into a heavy-based pot and heat on medium-high. When hot, add the yoghurt and stir immediately. It should spit and sizzle. Straight away, add the asafoetida and stir through.

2. Add cubed lamb, lamb bones and salt. Allow the lamb to release its water, stir occasionally with a metal spoon as the yoghurt and ghee cook down. This should take 30 to 40 minutes. You will see the fat cook away, the lamb begins to stick, and the oil from the meat split, brown and then clear. Cook this oil down until no more than a thin layer on the pot’s base. Turn the heat down to medium if the lamb begins to burn.

3. While the lamb, yoghurt and ghee are cooking down, repeatedly rinse two cups of rice in a large bowl under cold running water four or five times, until the water runs almost clear. When finished, cover rice with water and leave to soak.

4. To make the chilli water, combine water, yoghurt and spice and stir well and set aside.

5. Once the lamb, ghee and yoghurt have cooked down, begin browning the lamb with a metal spoon in small portions of the chilli water - around 2 tbsp at a time - on medium to medium-low heat. Wait until each addition of chilli water has cooked down before adding more. The lamb should be stirred during the browning process to remove the caramelised pieces from the bottom and sides of the pan. This process is slow and will take from 60 minutes to 90 minutes depending on the width of your pot. A wider heavy-used pot will brown faster (see Note).

6. Once the meat has cooked, add the main masala and cook through for a few minutes. Taste to notice how rich and masala has become.

7. Add the pre-soaked rice with four cups of water, 1 tsp salt and garam masala and cook on low heat until no water remains. This will take around 30 minutes.

8. When the rice is dry, cover the pot with the lid, lined with a tea towel inside to catch condensation and help the end dish to dry. Place on a griddle or a pot rest over low flame and cook for 13 to 15 minutes on very low. When done, the rice grains should be separated and standing up along their lengths and the meat will be tender. Serve with fresh parsley and raita.

   Note

   • Asafoetida water is made by dissolving a pinkie fingernail amount of asafoetida resin in two cups of water until opaque. Keep in a sealed jar in the fridge. Asafoetida resin is softer than powdered asafoetida, and so is used at intervals through the cooking process. A mild ground red chilli can be used to replace Kashmiri chilli powder.

   • If you have a pressure cooker, transfer the meat to the pressure cooker at this point, add the masala, cover the meat with water and cook under pressure for 15 minutes over medium-high heat, or until the meat is cooked. Without a pressure cooker, keep the meat in the heavy-based pot, add the masala and enough water to cover the meat and cook on medium-high heat for seven minutes, then turn to medium heat and cook for another 35 to 40 minutes or until the lamb is tender.