Hyderabad Deccan is known as the home of grand cuisine. The rich cuisine of this region is famous for its sour flavours using tomato, raw mango and tamarind, and lemon. Equally marvellous are the cooking techniques of marination and slow cooking. Here’s a selection of recipes from Dining with the Nawabs by Meera Ali and Karam Puri. Reading contemporary accounts of the elaborate meals of the kings and nobles, one realises that these people had no shortage of cooks, nor time, but the recipes below are light, simple and delicious and you really don’t need a brigade of sous chefs to lay out a princely spread on the table … oops dastarkhwan.

Luqmi Mince puff

Ingredients

For the pastry
Refined flour 700gm
Clarified butter 350-400 gm
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Salt 2 tbsp
Water 2 cups
For the stuffing
Minced mutton, washed, drained 500gm
Vegetable oil ½ cup
Onion 1 medium-sized, sliced
Ginger-garlic paste 1 tsp
Turmeric powder 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder 3tsp
Garam masala powder 1 tsp
Green coriander 1 bunch, fresh
Salt to taste
Juice of lemon 2

Method

Combine all the ingredients together and knead the dough like that of chapatti. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for half an hour.

Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to the size of a big dinner plate. It should be a thin layer like a chapatti. Apply ghee with a spoon all over and sprinkle flour over it. Then fold the dough inwards making a five-inch square. Roll it again into a thin chapatti. Apply ghee, sprinkle four and fold inwards to a five-inch square again. Repeat this process three to four times so that the dough is layered. Make as many such five-inch square pieces and set aside.

Heat the oil and fry the onion till red. Add the ginger-garlic past, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and garam masala powder and mix.

Some tangy, tasty and easy-to-do recipes from the royal kitchens

Add the mutton mince and fry for about half-an-hour till the mince is tender. Add the salt and green coriander, and mix well. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and mix well.

Take two square pieces of dough. Roll them out separately to about seven-inch, cut them into two perfect squares of five to six inch each. Fill the mince in the centre of one and cover it with the other piece of dough sealing the edges using water. Deep fry till golden brown. Remove and repeat till all are fried.

Serve hot.

Shami Shikhampur Stuff mince patties

Ingredients
Minced mutton, cleaned washed 500gm
Vegetable oil 4 tbsp
Onion 1 large, finely sliced
Garlic 6 cloves
Red chilli powder 1 1/2tsp
Turmeric powder 1/4tsp
Salt to taste
Green chillies 2 chopped
Coriander leaves ¼ cup, finely chopped
Mint leaves ¼ cup, finely chopped
Cashew nuts 50gm, chopped
Cinnamon stick 1 medium sized
Green cardamoms 3
Poppy seeds 2 tsp
Charoli 2tsp
Yoghurt 2tbsp
Bengal gram 2tsp
Juice of lemon 1 large
For the filling
Onion 1 finely chopped
Mint 2 sprigs, finely chopped
Green chillies 2 finely chopped
Yoghurt 2 tbsp

Method

Heat two tablespoon oil in a pressure cooker, fry the onion till light brown. Add the garlic, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, chopped green chillies, coriander and mint leaves and mix well.

In a separate pan, dry roast the cashew nuts, cinnamon, green cardamoms, poppy seeds and charoli. Grind to a smooth paste.

Add this paste to the pressure cooker and continue frying. Add the minced mutton, yoghurt and Bengal gram; close the lid of the cooker and pressure cook for about 20 minutes. Continue cooking if the mixture still contains any water. Boil till the water dries up completely and the minced meat is tender. Add the lemon juice and grind in a blender till fine.

For the filling, mix the onion, mint leaves and green chillies with the yoghurt.

Make round shaped patties of the minced mutton paste with a hollow in the centre. Fill the hollow with a generous pinch of the yoghurt mixture. Close the hollow like a cutlet and shallow-fry in oil till light brown. Remove and repeat till all are fried.

Serve hot garnished with fresh coriander and mint leaves.

KADDU KA DALCHA PUMPKIN AND LENTIL CURRY

INGREDIENTS
Breast meat of goat (mutton), washed, cleaned, cut into bitesized pieces 500 gm
Bengal gram (chana dal), washed 500 gm
Pumpkin (kaddu) 500 gm
Tamarind 1 limesized ball, soaked, juice extracted
Vegetable oil 6 tbs
Onions, large 2, thinly sliced
Gingergarlic paste 2 tbs
Chilli powder 1½ tbs
Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
Salt to taste or 1 tsp
Tomatoes 6 small or 4 large, chopped
Green chillies 6
Green coriander leaves ¼ cup chopped
Mint ¼ cup chopped
Curry leaves 3
Black cumin seeds ¼ tbs
Cardamoms 2
Cinnamon 2, medium-sized sticks
Cloves 2
Water 3 cups

METHOD

Extract the tamarind juice after half an hour of soaking, remove the seeds and strings, and the grainy mud at the end. Place the meat and daal in a pressure cooker and cook for 15 minutes until the meat is tender and the daal is mashed.

Heat the oil in a separate pan; fry the onions till light brown. Add the gingergarlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder, salt, tomatoes, green chillies, green coriander, mint and curry leaves. Cook till the tomatoes are well done.

Add the pumpkin, cooked mutton and daal and the juice of the tamarind along with three cups water; mix well.

Lastly, add the black cumin seeds, cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves; cook till the pumpkin becomes tender. Remove from heat and serve.

SERVES 4-5

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 30th, 2017