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food talk
Rista relish
These spongy meatballs
with a subtle flavour leave you hankering for more. Pushpesh
Pant on the Kashmiri dish that never fails to tickle the
tastebuds
 Gushtaba
is indisputably the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Kashmiri waazwaan
but we must admit a sneaking admiration for its Cinderella cousin
the rista. It has a less delicate (more colourful and robustly
tasty) gravy and a remarkable resemblance with the familiar kofta;
qualities that do not require an acquired taste for an enduring
relationship.
It has a distinct ‘personality’
and can never be confused with the more mundane meatballs, Indian or
phoren. The mouthwatering balls are no less spongy than the much-hyped
gushtaba and deserve a more respectful treatment.
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CHEF’S
DELIGHT
Ingredients
Mutton (boneless)
1kg
Ghee or oil 100 ml
Onion paste 4 tbsp
Sonth (dried ginger powder) 4 tsp
Fennel (powdered) 2 tsp
Cinnamon (powdered) 1 tsp
Chilli powder 2 tsp red
Black cardamom (powdered) six
Salt to taste
Mowal extract (obtained by soaking the
dried coxcomb flower in ukewarm water) 1 cup
Method
Pound the pieces of
mutton with a wooden mallet. Gradually add small amounts of fat
with a pinch of sonth, salt, black cardamom until the meat
is pulped and acquires a silken texture. Shape into balls of about
one and a half inch diameter. Boil water in a thick-bottomed pan,
and gently lower these rista (tightly packed spongy meat
balls) one by one in it. Stir these very gently for about five
minutes till firm. Remove and set aside. In a separate vessel,
pour the ghee/oil and bring it to a boil. Add all the ingredients
except the onion paste. Add two cups of water and immerse the
poached meatballs. Now add the onion paste to the mixture. While
it is simmering, add a cupful of mowal and allow it to simmer on a
low flame till the ghee/oil rises to surface. The rista are now
ready to be devoured without much ado. |
During a recent trip to
the Valley, we had the good fortune to sample this ‘plebian’
delicacy at different outlets ranging from the trendy Adu’s to several
street-side eateries. The beauty that bewitched us was prepared and
served at an unptretentious stall nestling under the shadow of the
tranquil Harban garden—lesser known than the legendary Shalimar and
Nishat.
There was no ritual of
pairing it with an appropriate roti or ‘must-be-had with-steamed rice’
prescription. A loaf of double roti was just fine and the slices
came in handy to mop up the sauce redolent of cardamom, fennel and more.
Preparing rista does call
for patience and some tedious work but is it not true that all good
things in life are worth waiting and working for? The
bliss that both rista and gushtaba provide derives from the magic worked
by the wooden mallet. Not even the triple-minced meat for the fabulous galouti
from Awadh compares with the satin smoothness.
It is also true that these
extraordinary kofta (yes, some guests insist on calling this
delicacy by this familiar name) incorporate sinful amounts of fat but if
you are not using the artery-choking hydrogenated vanaspati and
staying faithful to ghee or mustard oil, an occasional lapse from the
straight and narrow path will not kill you. Do try this recipe out at
the earliest!
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