Turkey to Deccan India: The legendary meat porridge Haleem
A meat, lentils and broken wheat porridge cooked with spices
| PREP TIME | 1 h |
|---|---|
| COOK TIME | 2h |
| SERVES | 2 |
500 gms mutton, boneless, cubed
650 gms tomatoes or 4 to 5, chopped
170 gms daliya or broken wheat
2 ½ tbsp or 30 gms masoor dal or red lentil
2 ½ tbsp or 30 gms moong dal or yellow split pigeon peas
2 ½ tbsp or 30 gms channa dal or Bengal gram
6 ½ tbsp or 80 gms ghee/clarified butter
4 tsp or 25 gms haleem masala (check the recipe or can be store brought)
2 tsp or 15 gms yellow chilli powder
1/2 tsp or 7.5 gms turmeric powder
4 ½ cup or 1 l mutton/lamb stock
2 tbsp or 20 gms ginger-garlic paste (an equal portion of both)
2 brown onions, sliced length-wise
Salt to taste
1. Wash the lentils and soak them in water for about 2 to 3 hours.
2. Then, put the lentils in a pot and boil them with 2 cups of water. As you cook, add half a teaspoon of turmeric.
3. In a separate pan, boil the daliya (broken wheat) in 1 cup of water, adding half a teaspoon of turmeric powder.
4. Cook the dal and daliya separately, taking around 30 to 40 minutes. Then drain the excess water using a strainer and cool them down.
5. Once the mix cools down, blend them into a fine purée. Strain the purée and set it aside.
6. Take a pan, heat some ghee, around 30 grams or 2 ½ tablespoons and sauté the mutton pieces. Toss and turn the pieces regularly, ensuring the sides sear well. Cook them just enough to lock the water in but make sure not to caramelise them. Note: You can marinate the mutton with salt, a tablespoon of yoghurt, red chilli powder, turmeric powder and other spices, cover it and refrigerate for an hour.
7. Then, remove the seared mutton from the pan and transfer it into a pressure cooker.
8. Deglaze the pan (the one you cooked mutton in) with the mutton stock and add it to the pressure cooker. Note: Deglazing means adding liquid to a hot pan, which allows all of the caramelised bits stuck to the bottom of the pan to come off.
9. Pressure cook the mutton on a medium flame, cooking it for 12 to 15 whistles.
10. Once the mutton is done, strain it. Separate the stock, cool down the cooked mutton and stock separately.
11. Using a meat hammer or any sturdy equipment, pound the mutton to break it into tiny pieces. Note: You can use a heavy rolling pin or even the base of a large pan to beat the meat. Just make sure to plastic wrap the meat first before pounding for hygiene purposes and also so that it does not scatter around. After breaking down the meat into tiny pieces, add it to the stock to retain moisture.
12. Then, take a pan and heat the remaining ghee, around three tablespoons. Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté it.
13. Once the paste turns translucent, add the haleem masala and yellow chilly powder and cook. At this point, add some stock, a few tablespoons and cook the spices with it. This way, the masalas won’t burn.
14. Next, add in the sliced tomatoes and cook.
15. After the tomatoes are done, please remove them and strain the mixture using a fine chinois (sieve or filter).
16. Then, add the strained tomato mixture into a pan and the dal and daliya puree that was kept aside, and cook them together on medium heat—followed by adding the mutton, stock and sliced brown onions to the pan. Cook further on medium heat for about half an hour.
17. Cook till the mutton mixes well and the whole mixture reaches a porridge-like consistency.
18. At this point, taste the haleem to check seasoning and spice levels. Then add salt or other spices according to your preference.
19. Garnish with chopped mint and julienned ginger.
To make a small jar of haleem masala, you will need 2 tablespoons of coriander seeds, 2 tablespoons of cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon of caraway or ajwain seeds (carom seeds), 1 tablespoon black cumin seeds, 2 crushed bay leaves, crushed, 2-inch cinnamon stick, 2 black cardamoms, 8 green cardamoms, 8 cloves, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, 15 red button chillies, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon turmeric powder, 1/2 tablespoon of salt or according to taste.
Dry roast the whole spices and blend them to a fine powder. Haleem masala recipe has been adapted from food blogger Mariam Sodawater of recipe52.com
Recipe courtesy: Chef Gaurav Yadav, Robaru Indian Restaurant, Dubai
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