Navami is usually reserved for house parties and some good ol’ pulao-mangsho! If you have plans of a Navami feast that you plan to cook up yourself, we have your sorted. How about giving the pulao and mutton curry a regional spin this season? Try a Kashmiri Pulao recipe with Mutton Rogan Josh, a creamy Paneer Methi Chaman and a sweet dry-fruit rich dessert this Navami! After all, the day before bisharjan is all about lavish comfort food to keep away the blues.
(You can find last year’s Bengali recipes here.)
Kashmiri Pulao
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An aromatic pulao to prep the heart for almost Dashami.
Ingredients
- Basmati rice: 1 medium cup
- Ghee: 4 tbsp for rice, 2 tbsp for saute
- Saffron: 1 tbsp
- Rose water: 1 tsp
- Finely sliced onion: 1 small
- Cashew: 10-12
- Raisins: 10-12
- Chopped cashew, raisin and almonds: 4 tbsp
- Full fat milk: 4 tbsp for saffron, 4 tbsp for raisins
- Lukewarm water: 1 ½ medium cup
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Bay leaf: 1 large
- Cinnamon stick: 1 large
- Green cardamom: 3
- Black cardamom: 2
- Clove: 2
Method:
- Wash rice, strain excess water and let it air dry
- Soak raisins in milk
- Mix saffron in milk and keep it separately
- In a nonstick pan, add 2 tbsp ghee and heat well. Keep the flame low and fry the cashew and raisins until golden. Strain excess ghee and keep the dry fruits aside
- In a pressure cooker, add ghee and heat well. Now add bay leaf and the whole spices (cinnamon, cardamom and cloves)
- Add chopped onion and fry until golden brown
- Add rice and mix gently
- Pour the saffron milk, and add salt and sugar. Mix with a light hand
- Add water and give a quick but careful mix. The rice grains should be whole and not broken
- Cook for 1 whistle on low flame. Open and check the rice and seasoning. If there’s excess water or rice needs to be cooked a little bit more, place the lid loosely and cook on low to medium heat. Don’t forget to stir gently at regular intervals.
- Serve hot, garnished with chopped dry fruits
Mutton Rogan Josh
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What’s a Kashmiri meal without the popular rogan josh. Spicy and succulent mutton to go with the light and nutty pulao — #NavamiFeast is sorted, what say?
Ingredients:
- Mutton: 1kg + 20gm mutton fat
- Bay leaves: 2 large
- Cinnamon stick: 1 large for cooking, 1 for marination
- Cloves: 2 for cooking, 2 for marination,
- Green cardamom: 4 for cooking, 2 for marination
- Black cardamom: 2 for cooking, 1 for marination
- Whole dry red chillies: 2
- Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tbsp
- Kashmiri red chilli paste: 1 tbsp
- Asafoetida (hing): 1 tsp
- Roasted fennel (saunf or bhaja mouri) powder: 1 tsp
- Hung curd: 1 medium cup
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Mustard oil: 4 tbsp
- Black pepper powder: 1 tsp
- Black peppercorns: 1 tsp
- Ghee: 2 tbsp
- Ginger paste: 1 tbsp
- Ratanjot in hot oil for colour (This is a traditional step in making rogan josh and ratanjot is available in the market, but if you can’t find any a drop of red food colour also works)
Method:
- Wash the mutton well and strain any excess water
- Marinate the mutton with salt, black pepper powder and 1tbsp mustard oil and leave aside and you prepare the spices
- Dry roast cinnamon, cardamoms (green and black), cloves, black peppercorns and dry red chillies. Make a fine powder. Add this powder to the mutton and leave overnight in a covered utensil in the refrigerator
- Next day right before cooking, beat the hung curd into a lump free and smooth batter
- Cut the mutton fat in small pieces
- Add ghee, mutton fat and mustard oil in a kadhai and heat well. Allow the mutton fat to render well
- Add bay leaves and saute
- Now add the whole spices and saute until aromatic and they change colour
- Add fennel powder and ginger paste and saute well
- Add Kashmiri red chilli powder, a pinch of salt and Kashmiri red chilli paste. Cook the spice base until the oil separates
- Now add mutton and mix well with the spices. Add asafoetida and give a good mix
- Add ratanjot and a splash of water
- Now fry the mutton well for about 15-20 minutes on medium flame
- Once the mutton has started to change colour, add hung curd and mix well
- Cover and slow cook for around 2 hours on low flame until the mutton is fully cooked and the colour is red, rich and the gravy is slightly oily. Serve piping hot
Kashmiri Methi Chaman
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Paneer with a twist to make the Navami spread even more delicious.
Ingredients:
- Paneer cubes: 300gm
- Malai paste: 2 tbsp (Fresh cream can be used as an alternative)
- Vegetable oil: 2 tablespoons
- Methi leaves: 2.5 cups
- Spinach leaves (palak): 1 small cup
- Ice cubes: 4-6
- Cold water: 1 small pan
- Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
- Cinnamon: 1 small
- Cardamom: 2
- Turmeric powder: ½ tsp
- Kashmiri red chilli powder: 1 tsp
- Coriander powder: 1 tsp
- Roasted fennel powder: 1 tsp
- Ginger paste: 1 tsp
- Asafoetida (hing): 1 tsp
- Kasuri methi leaves: 1 tsp + a pinch for garnish
- Salt: To taste
- Sugar: To taste
- Sunflower or vegetable oil (shada tel): 2 tbsp (You can also use colourless sesame oil or olive oil)
- Full fat cream: 2 tbsp
Method:
- Boil the methi and spinach leaves for 2 minutes and blanch in ice-cold water
- Add a pinch of salt and sugar in a bowl of water and add the paneer cubes
- Make a smooth paste of the spinach and methi leaves
- Mix all the dry spices in a bowl
- Add oil in a kadhai and heat well
- Add the whole spices and saute well
- Add the powdered spice mix you made earlier
- Mix all the ingredients in the pan well and cool until oil separates and the spices are cooked, and keep the flame low
- Add the puree and cook with a pinch of salt and sugar for 3-5 minutes on low flame
- Add malai paste and full fat cream and mix well. Balance seasonings
- Strain the paneer cubes and add to the kadhai. Fold gently and mix with the gravy
- Hand crush kasuri methi leaves and sprinkle. Turn off the heat and cover for 1 minute. Serve hot
Shufta
A Kashmiri feast has to have dry fruits, and if you love nuts in your dessert then this protein-rich, adequately sweet Kashmiri shufta is bound to appeal to you.
Ingredients
- Dry fruits like almonds, walnuts, cashew: ½ cup each
- Raisin or Sultana (kishmish): ½ cup
- Pistachio :½ cup
- Dates: 8-10
- Paneer: ½ cup diced
- Dry coconut: ½ cup cut into slivers
- Dry ginger powder: 1tsp
- Black pepper powder: 1tsp
- Cardamom powder or whole green cardamom: 1tsp or 5-6 crushed
- Cinnamon powder: 1tsp (optional)
- Saffron strands: a pinch
- Dry rose petals: 2tbsp (optional)
- Ghee: 1/2cup
- Sugar: 1-2 cup
- Water: as required
Method:
- Soak the dry fruits in lukewarm water for an hour. Drain the dry fruits and set aside. You can choose to peel the skin of the almonds
- Soak the dry dates in a separate bowl until soft. Drain the dates, deseed and cut into slivers or small pieces and set aside
- Add about 2tbsp ghee to a pan and fry the coconut slivers until golden brown, and set aside
- Add some more ghee and fry paneer cubes till golden brown and set aside
- Add remaining ghee to the pan and let it heat up, add the dry fruits and cook for a few minutes. If you are using whole cardamom, add the crushed cardamom at this stage
- Add the fried coconut and paneer pieces, stir well
- Add the powdered spices, except ginger powder, and mix before adding the sugar. Give it a stir and as the sugar melts, add the saffron strands
- Cook until the sugar dissolves completely, while adding a splash of water to help it cook. You can add more water at this stage to help the sugar cook and if you like your dish syrupy
- Add ginger powder as the sugar melts and dried rose petals when the dish is almost cooked. Serve warm
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