Eating India: From Kashmir to Kanniyakumari

Editor’s note: In this wonderful new cookbook, Sunita Kohli, shares delicious recipes from the tables of friends—some whom you might know. Contributors range from Vinod and Chinna Dua to Shabana Azmi, Shashi Tharoor and William Dalrymple. The dishes we selected have less bold name clout, but they sound positively scrumptious: Goshtaba with mooli ki chutney, Picked Avakkai biryani and Til ande ka achaar.  

Excerpted from ‘The India Cookbook’, selected and edited by Sunita Kohli, with permission from Aleph Book Company.

Goshtaba with mooli ki chutney

Rupin Pahwa, Kashmir

Serves: 4–6 

Preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the mutton balls

Lamb 1 kg, very finely minced (800 gms

boneless meat and 200 gms meat fat)

Salt 1½ tsp

Mustard oil 1 tsp

Ghee 1 tbsp

Full cream yoghurt 1 tbsp

Black cardamom seeds 1 tbsp, crushed

Fennel seeds 1 tbsp, freshly ground

For the bouquet garni

Fennel seeds 1 tbsp

Cumin powder 1 tbsp

Cinnamon powder 1 tbsp

Dried ginger powder 1 tbsp

Green cardamom seeds 2, crushed

Cloves 6, crushed

Bay leaves 2

Fine cotton cloth 1 piece

For the sauce

Onions 3 medium-sized, chopped

Ghee 3 tbsp

Caraway seeds ½ tsp

Yoghurt 1½ cup, whipped

Full fat milk 1½ cup

Salt to taste

Rose petals to garnish

For the chutney

Medium-sized white radishes 4, grated

Walnuts 40, chopped very finely

Hung curd 8 tbsp

Green chillies 4, deseeded and ground to paste

Ground coriander leaves 4 tsp

Salt to taste

Method

Add all the ingredients for the mutton balls to a bowl and mix well. Make medium-sized mutton balls (about 30 grams each or 2–3 inches in diameter).Make a bouquet garni of the dried herbs using the muslin cloth and make a knot in such a way that all the herbs remain inside. Put a litre of water in a big pan and heat the pan on a full flame. Soak the bouquet garni in the water. Once the water has boiled, simmer it on low heat for about 5 minutes and then gently immerse the mutton balls in the boiling water. They will expand a little bit. Cover and cook on low heat for about half an hour, till most of the broth has evaporated. Take out one meatball to check that it is cooked through. If the meat seems underdone, add some more hot water to the pan and cook the balls till they are done. Do not discard the remaining water.

Once the pot has cooled, remove the bouquet garni and squeeze it out into the pot.

Add a tablespoon of the ghee to a frying pan on high heat. Fry the caraway seeds and remove from the pan. Heat the remaining ghee in the pan and fry the onions in this until they are brown. Grind the onions in a blender and set aside. Heat a large pan. Add the onions, then the caraway seeds, then the whipped curd, stirring constantly to prevent curdling, then the milk and salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required. Add the meat balls along with the remaining water and let them warm through on a low flame for about 5 minutes. If preparing the dish in advance, do this just before serving. Garnish with rose petals, if you have them. 

For the white radish chutney, squeeze out some but not all the water from the grated radish by pressing between your hands. The radish should still be wet to the touch. Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Note: If you find yourself missing a couple of the spices listed, feel free to follow

the recipe without them. You can also change up the amounts of herbs and spices

you use: if you prefer a stronger fennel flavour, add more fennel, or add one or

two dry whole red chillies along with the shahi jeera if you wish to make the dish

spicier. You can also replace the lamb with minced chicken.

Picked Avakkai biryani

Preetha Reddy, Andhra Pradesh

Serves: 6

Preparation time: 2 hours (plus extra time to make pickle)

Ingredients 

Basmati rice 1 kg

Onion ½ kg, sliced

Tomato ¼ kg, chopped

Yoghurt 200 gms

Red chilli powder 50 gms

Garam masala powder 1 tbsp

Avakkai (Andhra mango pickle) 600 gms

Soya chunks 100 gms, soaked

Mint leaves 1 cup, chopped

Mint leaves for layering ½ cup

Coriander leaves 1 cup, chopped

Fresh ghee 200 gms

Ginger and garlic paste 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method

Wash the basmati rice 2–3 times using only cold water. Then transfer the washed rice into a large vessel, pour water into it until the rice is fully covered and set it aside to soak for at least 25 minutes. Meanwhile, blanch the soya nuggets in salted water for 5 minutes and then, grind them to a coarse paste using a blender (to resemble minced meat). Heat the ghee (reserving a tablespoon) in a heavy bottomed pan; add sliced onions and sauté until golden brown. Set aside half the quantity for layering the biryani.

Add the ginger and garlic paste, red chilli powder, and garam masala powder, and sauté until the raw flavour goes away. Add chopped mint and coriander leaves, then the chopped tomato, coarsely blended soya nuggets, and cook for 3–4 minutes. Add

the yoghurt, salt to taste and simmer for 3–4 minutes. Strain the soaked rice. Separately, heat water in a vessel to cook the rice. Add salt to the water and gently add in the rice. Cook until the rice is parboiled.

Preheat oven at a temperature of 176°C. Once the rice is cooked, it is time to start layering to prepare the biryani. In a heavy bottomed pot, arrange a thin layer of the gravy, then layer with a third of the biryani rice, add a third of the avakkai pickle, and top it with a third of the biryani masala. Keep adding 4–5 mint leaves between each layer. Repeat as above twice and finally add in a large tablespoon of ghee along with the fried onions and fresh mint leaves. Cover with a lid and to make the vessel completely airtight, seal the edges with chapatti or bread dough, or aluminium foil. This will preserve the aroma of the biryani. Now place the biryani pot in the preheated oven for 10–12 minutes. Once done, remove from the oven and serve hot along with some raita.

Note: Pickles have considerable salt, so keep in mind while adding salt to the

Biryani.

If you want to make your own pickle, follow the steps below.

For the avakkai

Whole raw mangoes 2 kg

(known as avakkai mangoes)

Red chilli powder 750 gms

Fenugreek seeds 100 gms

Turmeric powder 3 tbsp

Asafoetida powder 3 tbsp

Sesame oil 1 kg

Garlic cloves 200 gms, peeled and crushed

Garlic cloves 100 gms whole peeled

Cumin powder 2 tbsp

Salt to taste

Method

Wash the mangoes thoroughly and then soak them in a large bowl for an hour to remove any mud that might be deposited on them. After an hour, wash them again under running water and then pat them dry individually with a clean cloth to ensure that they are completely moisture free. Cut the mangoes in half with the seed and kernel intact. Remove the kernel using a spoon and wipe it dry.

Powder the fenugreek seeds and set aside.In a thick bottomed pan, heat the sesame oil, add in the powdered fenugreek seeds, then the cumin powder, crushed garlic and finally the turmeric and chilli powders and immediately remove from heat.

Add the cut avakkai mangoes, peeled whole garlic, asafoetida, and

salt to taste.

Transfer them into a dry ceramic container and store them in cool dry place. Allow 3–4 days for maceration before using the avakkai.

Til ande ka achaar

Chitrangada Raje Singh, Gwalior, Kashmir

Serves: 8 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

Hard-boiled eggs 5, halved lengthwise

Timur peppercorn and jambu 6 pieces

(Nepali spices)

Cumin seeds ½ tsp

Whole dried red chillies 4

Sesame seeds ¼ cup

Garlic cloves 4

Ginger ½-inch

Salt to taste

Yoghurt ½ cup

Lemons 2, juiced

Mustard oil 1 tbsp

Fenugreek seeds ½ tsp

Green chillies 4

Turmeric powder ½ tsp

Red chilli powder ⅓ tsp

Coriander leaves Few sprigs

Method

Place the halved hard-boiled eggs on a serving dish. Dry roast the timur, jambu, and cumin seeds until fragrant in an iron pan. Transfer to a separate bowl. In the pan roast the whole red chillies, sesame seeds, garlic, and ginger until toasted and fragrant. Take off the heat and remove the skin of the garlic pods. Put all the roasted ingredients with some salt into a food processor and blend them until they reach a fine consistency.

Combine the yoghurt and lemon juice in a separate bowl. Add the blended mixture to this and stir until well combined. In the pan, heat mustard oil for tempering the spices. To this, add fenugreek seeds, green chillies, turmeric, red chilli powder, and coriander leaves. Once the fenugreek seeds change colour, take the pan off the heat and pour its contents over the yoghurt mixture. Pour the above mixture over the eggs in the serving dish. Refrigerate, and serve cold.