Meats - Goat/Lamb/Pork/Beef

[Suvir Saran]

What do you think of when thinking meat and Indian food?

What makes Indian food preparations of meat different from other cuisines?

What should one keep in mind when eating Indian style meat dishes?

[anil]

What do you think of when thinking meat and Indian food?

What makes Indian food preparations of meat different from other cuisines?

What should one keep in mind when eating Indian style meat dishes?

One dish meal ? Two dish meal ? South ? North ? East ? West ?

Lets take Bengal: When they have a regular meal without a feast style affair -Its normally with rice - so the mutton is mostly curry - same is true of fish -

The key being that rice is the staple.

Orissa: A daily meal in many parts of that state, is rice is prepared porridge style and fish or meat is optionally dry (sookha) along with lots of green chili-pepper.

North: With roti {tandoori, or otherwise plain} being the staple, the meats tend to be semi dry - sometimes it's with "tarri" In a two dish senario {which is quite common in households that I knew of} one dish veg-or-non veg was saucy - like maa-di-daal, and the meat became optionally dry like in kebab,tandoori tangri,or dry kalai-masala....

Goa: The basic staple is the pau - The meats invariably are with gravy. Many an accompaniment of a soup with the main dish.

Mumbai:/Maharastra: Both dry and gravy variations of the meats are served because there is always a potato-onions-gravy dish that accompanies the small pooris they use in their meals. There is also the parsi and Irani style cooking with emphasis to gravy with ulta-tava rootis.

South: Kerela where the meat eating tradition is more common - The meat is invariably dry as a side to rice and a spicy daal basic. On rare occasions I have seen meats prepared as they call Punjabi-style - meaning really gravy the style of rogan joshs etc.

Hyderabadi: This is south,north,west fusion of meat,roti,rice - The one dish meal - The biryanis are legendary - Then their meats with roomali rotis are also faboulous.

Of course there are lots of sub regional variations which I will not go into because of my inherent laziness to type on the keyboard.

[Jinmyo]

"Rice prepared porridge style"? Is this like congee (jook)?

[tighe]

What makes Indian food preparations of meat different from other cuisines?

I'm so ignorant about Indian food that I probably shouldn't even be posting, but....

I do know that my favorite Indian restaurant here in Seattle is the only place that I've ever seen curried lamb, whick I think is fantastic. I also love the tandoori meats, which seem to have a unique character compared to the roasted meats of other culinary traditions.

[Simon Majumdar]

Tighe

Lamb is one of the most wonderful meats to use in Indian cooking

Fresh young spring lamb is wonderful when Tandoored ( very easy to do and there are some threads on this board with different marinades - I made some this week marinaded in yoghurt, cumin, saffron, chilli powder, ginger, chilli and garlic )

Older Lamb/hoggart works well when cooked in a bhuna or in a fiery goan style curry using vinegar, chilli and coconut milk

Mutton ( and also Goat ) is tougher but lends itself to very slow cooking. I have a recipe for mutton or goat which is cooked in a sealed pot ( almost like a daube ) for nearly 12 hours then flavoured with apples. Fantastic.

Each works in a very different way but all are delicious

S

[Suvir Saran]

Mutton ( and also Goat ) is tougher but lends itself to very slow cooking.  I have a recipe for mutton or goat which is cooked in a sealed pot ( almost like a daube ) for nearly 12 hours then flavoured with apples.  Fantastic.

Care to share that recipe? It sounds fantastic.

[anil]

"Rice prepared porridge style"? Is this like congee (jook)?

No, not really - It is more like gruelly.

[Suvir Saran]

Kakori Kebab

2 lbs. Minced lamb

1/2 cup canola

1 cup chopped onion (1/4 cup of it should be caramelized)

1 inch fresh ginger, very finely minced

1/4 cup finely grated raw papaya, optional

1/4 cup Indian poppy seeds

1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/3 cup chickpea flour, roasted

1/4 cup cashewnuts, processed as fine as you can without turning into butter

1 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 teaspoon black peppercorn

1/2 teaspoon cloves

16 green cardamom seeds, peeled and seeded (in a pinch you can use a teaspoon of store bought powder but it is not the same. In the US the powder has cardamom peels ground as well and so the aroma is diminished, sad but true)

1 teaspoon saffron, gently toasted and ground

1 tablespoon milk

In a cuisinart blend the minced lamd with the oil, onion (chopped and caramelized), ginger, raw papaya, and garam masala. Marinate for a half hour.

In a spice grinder process all the spices and cashewnutes into a fine powder.

Add the chickpea flour and the ground spices into the mince and marinate another 15 minutes.

Add milk to the ground saffron and blend into a paste. Add to the lamb, mix well and shape into sausages and cook in oven or layer around skewers and cook in the tandoor or grill. Midway through cooking baste with butter and cook till done.

[LaNiña]

This past weekend I was upstate and I had the pound or so of cubed stew goat I bought from the Union Square greenmarket, so I improvised, and it was a really good dish. I had to do with what was in the house up there. Here's what I did:

In the blender, I blended an onion, some garlic, and some fresh ginger into a paste. In a pot, I heated some vegetable oil, and threw in some mustard seeds, cloves, chili pepper flakes, a cinnamon stick, and some cardamon pods. When they started sizzling, I added the paste from the blender along with some turmeric, and let that cook a bit.

In the meantime, I mixed some plain yogurt with some tomato sauce. When the mixture in the pot started to thicken and gel together, I added the yogurt and tomato sauce mixture, along with some coriander and cumin. Let that cook a bit, and added the goat and some pieces of peeled potato. Cooked it for a long time - well over an hour, until the meat was tender and the potato pieces were soft and the sauce was dark and thick. Adjusted the spices (added salt and pepper), threw some fresh chopped cilantro in it.

Served it with white rice and lemon wedges.

Thanks to Madhur Jaffrey for all the experience her recipes have given me so I could pull this experimental variation out of my head. So easy and so good.

[Toby]

Nina, that sounds so delicious, and I'm so hungry.

Was the goat you got at the market really better than buying it in Chinatown or from halal butchers, do you think? (Also, there's a new stand there on Mondays selling very delicious lamb.)

[LaNiña]

I really thought the goat from that guy was superior to much of the goat I've bought in the past. Lots of meat (good meat to bone ratio), and full of flavor - also tenderized beautifully when cooked.

Another note/question, for Suvir and anyone else...I know lots of recipes call for browning the meat first, but I frequently ignore that instruction (as in the recipe above)...what am I missing (besides adding more oil to a dish?)

[spicegirldc]

I love to eat Lamb, I have to say! Is it politicaly correct these days (or even legal) legal to admit that you like meat! Just kidding

Last nite I made Indian Meat balls. Indian Meatballs or Koftas as meatballs are known in India are one of my favorite finger foods (thought they are also served as entrees). I laced mine with fresh fenugreek. I generally serve these with a Vietnamese inspired Ginger lime dipping sauce. This full bodied dipping sauce actually takes its inspiration from the Vietnamese “nuoc mam gung”. I first ate Vietnamese food in Cleveland and it was a wonderful experience.

I just reread your question Suvir, I guess mine is not a purist Indian meat recipe.. sorry!

[Suvir Saran]

I just reread your question Suvir, I guess mine is not a purist Indian meat recipe.. sorry!

But it certainly is inpired Indian cooking... Would rather have this latter anyday.

[Suvir Saran]

Another note/question, for Suvir and anyone else...I know lots of recipes call for browning the meat first, but I frequently ignore that instruction (as in the recipe above)...what am I missing (besides adding more oil to a dish?)

Nina, I add just the same amount of oil I would use for the onions and spices. Once the onions are nice and brown, I add the spices and the meat. Stir fry for a bit. This helps them get tempered very quickly with the spiced oil... after 5 minutes of such frying, you can add yogurt, tomato or whatever else you are using for the sauce.

You can also fry the meat in the spice infused oil first, then add onions and fry them and then add the spices and then the tomato/yogurt with the meat. However you want.

Try it next time... tell us what you think. But I would never add more oil to a dish just to fry the meat. I am with you on needing any more fat than necessary. Not that I love health food... But I am not one for fatty oily sauces either.

[Stone]

Nina,  I add just the same amount of oil I would use for the onions and spices.  Once the onions are nice and brown, I add the spices and the meat.  Stir fry for a bit.  This helps them get tempered very quickly with the spiced oil... after 5 minutes of such frying, you can add yogurt, tomato or whatever else you are using for the sauce. 

You can also fry the meat in the spice infused oil first,  then add onions and fry them and then add the spices and then the tomato/yogurt with the meat.  However you want.

Try it next time... tell us what you think.  But I would never add more oil to a dish just to fry the meat.  I am with you on needing any more fat than necessary.  Not  that I love health food... But I am not one for fatty oily sauces either.

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I've been curious why I don't notice pork used outside of Goan cuisine. It is simply due to the Muslim influence?