Ancient kadai kredo

Mutton Hathodi Parchey
Ingredients    
Lamb meat (leg boneless dices 1” thick)
6 pieces raw papaya paste 1 tbsp
Garlic paste 1 tbsp
Ginger  paste 2 tbsp
Black peppercorn  crushed 2 tbsp
Garam masala 1 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Malt vinegar 1 tbsp
Mustard oil 2 tbsp
Hung curd 4 tbsp
Kasmiri red chilly powder 1 tbsp
Coriander leaves, a few leaves
Mint leaves 4-5 leaves
Ghee for frying and salt to taste.

Mutton hatodi parchey

Method
Pat dry the lamb chunks and flatten with a hammer or a meat mallet.
Prick with a fork, apply ginger-garlic paste, lemon juice, malt vinegar, raw papaya paste, salt and leave for two hour.
For second marination, take hung yogurt in a bowl, add cumin powder, garam masala powder, pepper, coriander leaves and mint.
Heat mustard oil in a pan and add degi mirch and remove.
Mix with oil, chili paste with yogurt marination.   
Now, apply above marinade to lamb meat, which was in first marination, and allow to rest in the refrigerator for two days.
Cook on a flat grill on medium heat and serve hot immediately on a hammer.

Mutton hatodi parchey inspiration
Inspired from a hammer that one maintenance worker was using when I was writing the menu for Kopper Kadai. This one includes interesting spices like Patthar key Phool, Balchar, Bedi Chillies, Mustard, Nagarmotha among others, all used in ancient Indian cuisine for dawats.

Lucknowi Dahi ki Shammi
Ingredients
Hung curd 1 cup o green cardamon 1/4 tsp
Panko bread crumb 2 tsp o ginger chopped ¼ inch cube
Cumin powder roasted 1/4 tsp
Coriander fresh (chopped) 1 tsp
Black salt 1/4 tsp o white pepper 1/4 tsp
Green chilly (chopped) 1/4 tsp
Brown onion (chopped) 1 tsp
Fried garlic chopped 1/4 tsp
Mild cheddar cheese (grated) 1 tbsp o cottage cheese (grated) 1 tbsp and refined oil for frying

Method
Hang yogurt in a muslin cloth for two days in a chiller to drain out all the whey water.
Place a bowl and mix hung yogurt with remaining ingredients, except oil. Check seasoning and adjust if required.
Now, divide above yogurt mixture into small balls (40 gram appx) each and make gallets. Chill these gallets to make them firm before frying.
Heat oil to 140 c and deep fry until golden brown.
Serve immediately with a mild chutney.

Dahi shammi kebab inspiration
This one is inspired by the art of creating delicate kebabs using only yogurt to ensure same silky texture. It’s quite a challenge to retain the softness, but we got it right. It’s also something that was used in ancient times when curd was made and consumed immediately to preserve freshness.

Mushroom Gul Guley
Button mushrooms (big size) blanched and cored from inside 4 pieces
Bell peppers chopped ½ piece 
Curry powder 1 tsp
Onion  chopped 2 tbsp
Degi mirch powder 1 tsp
Cumin powder 1/2  tsp
Corn flour 4 tbsp
Gram flour 4 tbsp
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Ginger (chopped) 1 tsp
Green chili (chopped) 2 tsp
Mustard oil 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Coriander (chopped) a few leaves
Cheddar cheese grated ¼  cups
Semolina ¼ cup

Mushroom Gul Guley

Method
Blanch and core the mushroom from inside, keep trimmings aside.
Now heat oil in a pan, sauté onions, mushroom, bell peppers, green chilli, ginger and add all powdered spices.
Cool above mixture and then add cheese.
Finish mixture with coriander.
Fill the above stuffing inside the blanched and cored mushroom. Join two mushrooms together and secure using a toothpick.
Now make a batter for coating the above filled and joined mushrooms using corn flour, gram, lemon juice, mustard oil and salt.
Coat filled and joined mushrooms evenly and then dust with semolina.
Crispy fry them in vegetable oil at 220 C for four minutes.
Remove toothpick, and serve opened with cheese melting from its core.

Picnic Chicken
Ingredients
350 gm chicken thigh boneless
1 chopped onion
2 chopped green chilly
¼ tsp crushed black pepper
2 tsp chopped coriander
1 tsp salt to taste
4 tbsp hung curd
2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 cup boiled urad dal
3 tbsp bell peppers (chopped)
2 tsp ginger (chopped)
1-½ tbsp degi mirch
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
1 cup boiled rice
1 lemon
2 tsp butter and oil for frying.

Picnic Chicken

Method
Par boil rice separate, keep aside.
Cut chicken thighs into small ½ inch cubes, marinate with ginger-garlic paste. Leave aside for two hours.
Now, make a second marination by mixing curd in bowl with red chilli powder, salt and pepper.
Skewer chicken and cook in a microwave/grill or tawa until well cooked, keep aside.
Take a nonstick cooking pan, add garlic; cook until golden brown.
Add onions, bell pepper, crushed black pepper sauté, add cooked chicken tikka, urad dal, green chillies and let it cook on low flame for a minute.
Sprinkle fresh coriander and squeeze lemon; Serve hot.

Picnic chicken inspiration
As a kid this used to be my favourite picnic dish which was curated by my grandmother. All that went into that recipe was left overs from the refrigerator including lentils, parathas, cauliflower and chicken tikkas. The perfect way to recycle, that most grandmothers always believed in!