Dazzle your cooking with plums

Just before the first monsoon showers reach the hills, the orchards are flush with fruits. First come the apricots, then the plums and peaches. The small, suckable pears, aptly named chussi naspati, make you wait a little longer. Apple blossoms magically turn into miniature apples not yet tempting enough to take the forbidden bite. It is a feast for the eyes purple Santa Rosa plums, thin-skinned and juicy Rose June and Alexander peaches and flat Morepankh apricots.

One cannot have enough of the luscious fruits. After gorging on fresh fruits, our thoughts turn to cooking with them. It is common to prepare chutneys and sauces, jams and jellies, stews and puddings but we wanted something fruity yet substantial. We considered the Parsi favourite jardalu gosht but that is prepared with dried apricots. So, we finally settled for aloo bukhara qorma. It is a take-off on a Kashmiri classic. We are equally fond of aloo bukhara kofta, which is dazzling, both in its vegetarian and non-vegetarian avatar, but that recipe can wait for now.

The other recipe we share with our readers this time is equally mouth-watering. It is purloined from the repertoire of Nizams’ Kitchens though some Awadhi cooks claim that it is their invention.

Ingredients

Kid/mutton (preferably shoulder, cut into small pieces) 1 kg

Plums (150 g in case you are using dried plums) 250 g

Curd 1/2 cup

Ginger-garlic paste 1 tbsp

Cloves 4-6

Cinnamon piece 3 inch

Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Green cardamoms 4-6

Saunf powder 4 tsp

Sonth (ground dried ginger) 2 tsp

Kashmiri red chillies (whole dried ones

soaked in water, ground to paste) 4

Almonds (slivered) 2-3 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

• Wash the meat well, pat dry and trim.
• If using dried plums, soak them in hot water for half an hour. Wash fresh plums well, discard the stone and chop in small pieces.
• Put a thick-bottomed pan or pressure cooker on the stove and heat ghee in it. Add the curd in slow steady stream and cook, stirring constantly on medium-high flame to avoid curdling till the raw smell is gone and the cooked curd acquires a light brownish hue.
• Add chopped plums, along with ginger-garlic paste and continue cooking for 7-8 minutes. Put in the kid/mutton, raise flame and sear for another 7-8 minutes to seal in the juices. Add all the dry spices, stir-fry for another five minutes. Put the whole and powdered spices, along with Kashmiri red chilli paste. Pour in about a cup of hot water just enough to cover the meat. (In case of dried plums, you may use the water in which the fruit was soaked.)
• Transfer to pressure cooker if initially another pot was used and cook for 4-5 whistles on high flame. Reduce flame to low and cook for another 15 minutes.
• Release pressure, check if the meat is tender to taste. Garnish with almond slivers before serving. Enjoy with steamed rice, phulka or parantha.

Plum wala paneer

Ingredients

Paneer 500 g

Plums (fresh) 200 g

Curd 200 ml

Onion (medium, very finely sliced) 1

Ginger-garlic paste 1/2 tsp

Royal cumin seeds 1/2 tsp

Bay leaf 1

Green cardamoms 2

Cinnamon powder 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder (Kashmiri) 1/2 tsp

Black peppercorns 4-6

Green chillies (deseeded and ground to paste on mortar) 2-4

Sugar (optional) 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder (optional) Large pinch

Ghee/butter 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Method

• Wash the plums, remove the stones, chop 1/4th of the plums and puree the rest.
• Prepare a marinade by blending the ginger-garlic paste and green chilli paste and powdered spices with the curd.
• Massage it gently to the paneer cubes and keep aside for an hour.
• Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan, raise the flame to medium-high, put in the ghee and when hot, add bay leaf and all the whole spices. As these begin to change colour, add the sliced onion, and stir fry for about a minute till these turn translucent. Add the paneer, along with the marinade, and continue stir-frying for 7-8 minutes till the paneer is browned lightly.
• At this stage, add the chopped plums and the plum puree. Continue cooking without cover, stirring in between for another five minutes.
• Add half a cup of hot water, stir well. Add sugar, if needed. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Uncover, adjust seasoning and garnish with freshly chopped coriander or mint leaves. Do not overdo the garnish. Enjoy!

(Non-vegetarians can replace the paneer with chicken.)