Purchasing Meat.

A warm welcome to my blog, and Thank you for spending your time here and, I hope it will be worthy of your time. I am a culinary student at George Brown College, Toronto, received an assignment that provides me with an opportunity to explore my local market, butcheries, and retail groceries and choose an animal and a specific cut from that animal. I live in the downtown area of Toronto, so there are lots of options available here worth exploring. I wanted to try the recipe from my hometown, Lucknow, which uses the tougher cuts or the cuts that take quite a lot of time to cook, but the result is oh-so-delicious. The recipe I wanted to try is called Nihari. So, I chose to visit an Asian retail grocery store near my home called AMBAL Trading, from where I bought goat cross-cut shanks. The reason being the recipe called for tougher cuts of the animal that are better for stewing. In India, the meat of a goat is generally known as 'Mutton' whereas goat meat is simply referred to as 'Goat'. My hometown, Lucknow, offers Awadhi cuisine, which serves one of the most technically challenging food to cook, highlights the usage of regional ingredients, and the prepared recipes are per the climatic conditions of the place. The use of goats in cooking is quite old as it was one of the first domesticated animals. Other than meat, milk from the goat is also used widely by people. Nihari is a stew made with beef and can be substituted with the cross-cut shank of mutton. It pairs very well with an Indian clay-oven baked bread called 'Gilafi Kulcha' It is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. As the animal is older, the legs are the most exercised part and therefore develop a lot of collagen. Upon using coking techniques like braising and stewing, it becomes the tastiest meal.

This meat I purchased came in a bag of 3.5 lbs which cost me $ 30.22 CAD. From a personal point of view, If these lean cuts should be used for stewing and braising as mentioned before, to maximize the flavor and return on the investment. Therefore, I chose the stewing cooking method and the recipe is as follows:

Ingredients:

Cross-cut shanks of goat 3.5 lbs or 1.5 kg

Onions, thinly sliced 750 gms

Mustard Oil 250 ml

Ghee 30 ml

Ginger and Garlic paste 30 gms

bay leaves 2 pcs

Cloves 4-5 pcs

Black cardamom pods 2 pcs

Ingredients (for garnish):

Cilantro or coriander 1 bunch

Green Thai chilies 5-6 pcs

lemon wedges -4 pcs

For nihari masala:

Vetiver roots 5 gms

Black peppercorns 15 gms

Cinnamon stick 2" pc

Galangal 2" pc

Cloves 8-10 pcs

Green cardamom pods 7-8 pcs

Rose petal dried 10-15 gms

Mace 2 gms

Black caraway seeds 15 gms

Turmeric 1 tsp

Red Chilli powder 2 tsp

Coriander seed powder 4 tsp

Dried fenugreek leaves powder 1 tbsp

Toast them slightly and use a grinder mixer to make a powder. Use a fine-mesh strainer to obtain a fine powder.

Method :

Fry 1/3rd of the onions in ghee for garnish. Fry the rest of the onions along with bay leaf, cloves, and black cardamom pods in the Mustard oil. As the smoking point of mustard oil is one of the highest, it's the better choice. Add in the meat cut in 1" chunks, add the ginger garlic paste, and the prepared nihari masala. Stir fry for 15 minutes.

Add 1.5- 2 liters of water and let it come to a rolling boil. Switch to a simmer and let it stew for 2 hours.

Check for tenderness, if not keep on simmer for additional 30 minutes. Transfer to the bowl or portion cup of your choice. Garnish with finely chopped coriander, fried onions, and finely chopped green Thai chilies. Serve piping hot. I hope you try this recipe and find it delectable.