Redeeming Myself at Cooking Something Pakistani
My miserable failure of attempting to cook Punjabi Yakhni Pilau did not stop me from trying again my hand at another few Pakistani meat dishes. Well, that’s partly because I had happily bought four boxes of Shan meat spices. But as the saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try again!
So on the morning of Singapore’s National Day, I resolved to cook something simpler - Masala Gosht, or as it says on the packaging, Meat Masala. Without the need to cook the rice, it seemed easy enough. All I needed beside the masala mix was 500g of meat, onions, a tomato, oil and ginger/garlic paste.
Simple ingredients.
Mutton, tomatoes, onions and potatoes.
I tried to find out more about this dish, but it seems Masala Gosht is a generic meat dish cooked with spices. I suppose it’s kind of like our localised kari daging (meat curry) or daging korma (meat kurma). It looks good to eat with some piping hot roti. The recipe didn’t call for potatoes, but I’m an aloo lover, so I added that into the dish as well.
With the disaster burning my onions the last time around, I paid careful attention to them this time around. I made sure I didn’t wait till they were completely brown because the window before it turns dark brown from brown is really quick.
Another point to note is that being a beginner and someone who just needs to have everything measured, I use a multi-cooker. It helps to know the exact temperature the dish is cooking at, as well as the time that has passed by. So you can say, for me, cooking is not an art but more like a science project.
Meat masala in a multi-cooker.
I find using a multi-cooker easier. You can control the temperature and be aware of how long each stage of cooking lasts.
If there’s something I’ve learnt from the previous attempt at cooking mutton is that it’s alright to cook the meat for longer. For that reason, after adding the meat, other ingredients and four cups of water, I left the cooker covered for an hour and a half on low heat.
Some people I know can’t stand the smell of mutton, but here it was just fantastic. With the scent permeating through the house from the kitchen, it felt like my house was not truly becoming a home!
When the oil started to separate from the masala, that’s where I added the potatoes. I cut the potatoes lengthwise for this dish. Somehow in my head it appeared more aesthetically pleasing. As a side note, it’s worth mentioning not to add in the potatoes too early, or to leave it cooking for too long. It gets soft and mushy with prolonged heat.
The result? Tasty and tender mutton cooked almost to perfection. My boys seemed to enjoy it too.
The recipe was simple enough that I’ve cooked it for a second time a week later. This time, I doubled the recipe hoping to offer it to my mum. Now you know how it is, cooking for your mum who herself is one of the best cooks around. I mean, which South Asian mum isn’t, right? But my mum is kind with her compliments. I’m glad to report that she said the dish was “very nice” and that the mutton was really tender.
Excuse me while I cry my eyes out, again.
