I don't want to miss a thing. A Malvani restaurant inspired mutton sukkha thali on Vishwakarma Puja.

Something which gave me a lot of joy in the early days of my cooking was recreating dishes that we ate in restaurants back in our home kitchen. This was just after we had got married. Funds were tight then and going out to eat regularly was not an option. Life has come a full circle now thanks to the lockdown and going out to eat is currently not an option in Mumbai. Which is why we have spent a lot more time in the kitchen of late than we have in the past. By we, I mean both Kainaz and me. She looks up recipes when she does cook and makes some spectacular stuff in the process. I still prefer to go by my gut and instincts.

With food blogs and food books aplenty, it is not that difficult to find recipes of regional Indian dishes anymore. I guess the keera (bug), to use Mumbaiyya lingo, which got into me back then prevents me from going through recipes even now. Even though following recipes could lead to better results. Experimentation often leads to a sense of euphoria for me in the kitchen. I love it when I get the kitchen to myself. Getting Alexa to play my favourite songs from when I was in college. Pottering away with my pans in the kitchen. Looking to the spice cupboard for inspiration. And the fridge.

Today I decided to cook mutton sukhha, in memory of the mutton thalis that I have had at Malvani restaurants in Mumbai, as there was both mutton and freshly grated coconut (courtesy our friend Shaswati) in the fridge. I could have looked up the recipe on the internet. Or in the books on Maharashtrian cooking that I have at home, but then where’s the fun in that?

Lunch turned out pretty well. Here’s what I did.

I heated a tablespoon of coconut oil in a pressure pan. Sesame oil is more commonly used here.
I then added 5 curry leaves, 1/2 a teaspoon of whole mustard seeds and then a tablespoon of finely chopped onion.
This was followed by a teaspoon garlic paste. I would have preferred finely chopped fresh garlic but we are out of it at home.
I then put about 3 tablespoons of freshly grated coconut and a tablespoon of ‘Solapur style’ crushed dry roasted peanuts and red chilli chutney that our cook, Banu, had made and kept in the fridge. She keeps the chilli levels low for me. I also added 1/2 teaspoon each of turmeric, garam masala, red chilli, cumin and coriander powders.
I stirred the coconut and masala mix for a while and then added the mutton and a bit of lime juice. I think there was about 250g of mutton.
Salt next. I added an excess amount of it, but that’s another story. I was thrown off by the fact that the salt spoon in the jar had been changed. By the way, I changed cookers in between as the bell rang as my physio had come and some of the masala got burnt as I opened the door. These kitchen mess ups are not a part of the recipe.
I stirred the meat for a bit and added a cup of water and let it come to a boil while I did my physio exercises. I then shut the pressure cooker, and requested K to let 5 whistles happen and then let it cook for 30 min on a low flame while I completed my physio session. The dish is traditionally slow cooked by Maharashtrian aais and taais I am sure. Mothers and aunts.
I opened the pressure cooker after half an hour and then decided to transfer the mutton to a small kadhai (wok) and let it cook further with some more curry leaves and a chopped green chilli, separate from the gravy. The end result was meat that was quite tultule (tender).

I did the dry cooking process of the mutton for about ten minutes during which I heated the kachcha pakka paratha Banu had made in bulk on Sunday with ghee on a tava. Rice, jowar or baajra bhaakri would have been more traditional.
I also made a koshimbir (salad/ raita) with curd, roughly chopped onion, tomatoes and chillies to complete my thali and took the extra curry as rassa in a bowl, the way I have seen it served in thali joints, on the side. Mine was a lot less spicy of course than what you get in restaurants.

There was a Kolkata influence on my decision to cook this ‘tribute to Maharashtra mutton sukha’ in Mumbai. It is Vishwakarma Pujo today. The day the lord of architects, engineers, etc is worshipped back in Bengal. The God of the ‘caste’ we belong to apparently, as my dad had told me when I was very little and we had just moved into Kolkata.

My memories of Vishwakarma Puja is that of a day on which kites (ghuri) are flown. I sucked at this. It was not a holiday in school or college. The day was observed more in factories, workshops, auto and rickshaw stands, rather than in homes or in the neighbourhood. Places of commerce and craftsmanship. A world far removed from that of mine.

This year I saw a number of my friends from Kolkata write about mutton curry being ‘essential’ on Vishwakarma Pujo. I confess that I was not familiar with this practise.

That’s what blogs and social media do. They make us aware of the day to day life of others and thereby expands our worlds and makes them richer.

That is why I decided to make mutton today. A tribute to Maharashtra, Malvani inpired sukkha mutton, that is. Not the traditional mangshor jhol.

Remember what I said about expanding our worlds through the people we meet and the experiences we have? Makes our palettes richer for sure.

PS: I just discovered that there was another container of mutton in the deep fridge. We could have eaten less parsimoniously!

Do read: My mother, Rekha Karmakar’s post on Biswakarma Pujo from her blog, Tabulous Mom.

Update: The following Instagram grabs from the pages of my friends Kaniska and Anindya and Madhushree might explain why mutton curry is traditional of Vishwakarma Puja. Turns out that this was the menu of the feast that factory owners would host for the workers on this day. A social ritual you could say.

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If you live in Bandra, you can call Mhosin of Janta Mutton at 9820420136 on Saturdays for deliveries on Sunday. His mutton is very good. This mutton was purchased 2 weeks back and yet so soft at the end at cooking.