Saturday 26 March 2016

Kerala Mutton Fry or Kerala Beef Fry



What if Vishnu avatar Parasurama had not thrown his axe across the sea from Konkan to Kanyakumari? Would we still have Kerala? A land of temples, churches and mosques? Is that really why it is considered as God's own country. I would like to believe that pristine beaches, emerald backwaters, dense forests, exotic wildlife, deep rooted cultures, jeweled lagoons and bays, long river networks and mind blowing food is what win the state its name. I have not seen enough. But I have seen enough to believe in the miracle called Kerala. 

Even before that I met Angela. She was recruited just before me or maybe even earlier in the Customer Service team at Standard Chartered credit cards, Bangalore. Our work was intense and chaotic. We would vacillate between fire-fighting and crisis management. Lunch breaks were treasured moments. We would share our lunch boxes. She was lucky. Her mom packed her food. Often she would get the Erachi Varattiyathu aka the Kerala beef fry and I would partake of this hand-created bliss and reach heavens or maybe God's own country itself!

Beef is not available here any more. So I tried the recipe with mutton. I recommend you use beef and that you use the boneless variety. Rest, just follow this recipe. It is bang-on. 

For this recipe, I used half kilo mutton as in lamb and I kept it on the bone. So, first steps would be that in a pressure cooker you boil the mutton with one red onion sliced, 1 tsp ginger garlic paste, salt to season, 1/2 tsp turmeric powder and 3 cups water. Allow about 6- 7  whistles. The meat should cook well. 

Take 1/4 of a dry coconut. Slice them. Fry them till golden. Set aside. Take a hand full of fresh curry leaves. Set aside too.

Take 2 tbsp broken cashew and grind into a paste with a tad bit of water.

Now take about 2 red onions and slice them long. Fry them till pink. Add 2 slit green chillies and half the above curry leaves. Toss for 2 minutes.

To this add 1/2 tsp ginger garlic paste. Next add cashew paste. Stir for 2 mins in low heat. Add chilli powder depending upon your taste remembering that it is a spicy preparation, 2 tsp coriander powder and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Suate well. 

Chop one large tomato into medium small pieces. Add to the above wok. When you do this increase the heat to high flame. Stir well so that the mix does not stick to the surface of the wok. 

I added the meat now with about a cup of the water it was boiled in. Blend everything in with your spatula. Season with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp garam masala, 1/2 to 1 tsp freshly ground fennel powder and 1/2 tsp pepper powder. I also poured in 1 tsp white vinegar now for acidity. Cover and keep at low heat now for the meat to roast. 

In about 5 minutes, add the fried coconut slivers, the rest of the curry leaves and some freshly chopped coriander leaves. The final colour will be a delicious blackish brownish gold and the meat will be tender and well roasted. 




Transfer to a dish. Enjoy with ghee rice or the traditional "puttu". I served it with plain crisp "dosas".

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