Food talk
Magic of two

The pairing of tomatoes and garlic makes this mutton curry hard to resist, writes Pushpesh Pant

WHO doesn’t love curried meats? Mutton, chicken and fish are consumed by tones on the sub-continent and far outweigh the more snobbishly named qormas, kaliyas and salans. By now, everyone is wise to the secret that it is the kari from Tamil Nadu of yore that is the mother of all curries but this knowledge doesn’t ensure that you are guaranteed satisfaction whenever you order the dish.

The problem is more acute with mutton/kid. It takes longer to tenderise and requires greater culinary skills to cope with what we like to call the ‘spicing challenge’. Even when the meat is done to taste more often than not it tastes monotonously the same. There are interesting options in Purani Dilli, Lucknow and Bhopal like alu gosht, gobhi gosht and, of course, tamatar gosht. Seldom have we had a really exciting mutant of these classics at home.

This is the reason we can’t wait to share with our readers the recipe we recently savoured at a friend’s house. The tari was light and exceptionally flavourful. The magic was created by the jugalbandi of tomatoes and garlic. We have in past sang paens to a single ingredient providing the key flavour e.g. adraki champ or methi macchi or kali mirch ka murg. Now we admit that the pairing of two tasty notes make no less powerful an impact. Tomatoes lend a pleasant touch of sourness and accent the tint and garlic contributes not only its distinct taste but also enhances the warm after-glow. All in all a very satisfying mutton curry that can hold its own against all. We also feel that using mustard oil instead of the ubiquitous refined oil also chips in this symphony. Do please try out this recipe just right for the late monsoon.

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