SAOJI MUTTON SPICE RIOT FROM MAHARASHTRA BY SOUMYASHREE CHATTERJEE

IMAGE CREDIT: TIGER PURU

There are some times when you want to overload your sense with spices. Times when the urge for meat is compelling. Meat cooked in the ways of the savji or saoji community of Maharashtra can fulfill both this compulsions at the same time. While exploring my mom’s kitchen with her and wanting a twist to the traditional meat cooking of Bengal I stumbled onto saoji mutton, and it was a hallelujah of spicyness for me. My mom had grown up in a small sleepy town of Andhra Pradesh and every travel to Bengal had to be through the orange city of Nagpur. It is in this beautiful city that she found out about saoji mutton.

Traditionally the saojis or savjis as they were originally known were people involved in the silk weaving and cleaning business. They had migrated to Maharashtra and parts of Karnataka around hubli and belgaum from the region referred to as Malwa. Malwa is traditionally a north central part of india snuggled between Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. King Sahastrarjun of the Haihaya dynasty is considered as the proponent of the savji and kalchuri clans. The saojis are worshippers of Goddess Shakti in her form of Hinglaj Mata. The cuisine of the saojis is typically identified by the riot of spices it imbibes in it and regions of Maharashtra and Karnataka are dotted with family style restaurants. These are called Bhojanalayas or Khanavalis. But wherever you go saoji khana is synonymous to a fiery mix of typical and traditional saoji spices. But enough of the saoji talk let’s start making saoji khana.

The hall mark of saoji khana is its mix of various types of garam masala to heighten the spice quotient, and the ingredients we cover for this portion to serev 4 people will clearly demonstrate that. We will start with:

·         Mutton 1 kg, pieced into small pieces (curry cut)

·         Onions 2 medium sized

·         Dry coconut ½ cup (or ½ a shell)

·         Ginger garlic paste 2 tablespoon

·         Black cardamom (Bara Elaichi) 2-3

·         Green Cardamom (Elaichi)  2-3

·         Coriander (Dhaniya) seeds 2 tablespoons

·         Shahi Jeera 1 tea spoon

·         Clove (Laung) 3-4

·         Black pepper8-10

·         Cinnamon (Dalchini) stick of 3-4 cms

·         Bay Leaves (Tej Patta)3 -4

·         Dry Red chilies 7-8

·         Khus Khus 1 tablespoon

·         Stone flower (Dagad Phool) 1 tablespoon

Preparation of spices: The preparation for this dish is primarily in getting the spices prepared. To begin with we will chop the onion into thin slices and sauté the same on a low flame till it turns golden brown. We will then drain of the excess oil and grind the so fried onions into a paste. We will add a little water to smoothen the grinding and achieve a fine paste. We will then slice the coconut into small thin strips. The coconut will help ensure that the body of the gravy is thick, and its natural sweet taste will heighten the spices it will be mixed with. We would now throw in all the other major ingredients left save the ginger garlic paste into oil and sauté it. So we add bay leaves into heated oil and then throw in the black pepper, red chillies, stone flower, cardamoms both black and green, clove, cinnamon and khus khus and sauté it. We then add the coconut strips also into and sauté. Once the mix is ready we turn off the gas and drop this entire mix into the grind and grind it into a smooth and fine paste. Water may be used as per requirement to help achieve an eve consistency while grinding. We are now set for the actual cooking.

To cook add oil to a pressure cooker and heat it. The mutton pieces are now added and sauteed over a high flame for about 10 minutes till it turns golden brown. The paste of the Pre fried onion is now added to the mutton along with the ginger garlic paste. This is mixed and stirred regularly till the mix is properly fired and cooked as you can identify from the smell. To this we now add the masala mix paste that we have prepared and saute for some more time. Salt is to be added as per taste and then 3-4 cups of water is added. The entire mix is thoroughly and evenly mixed to make gravy. The gravy is now brought to a boil over a high flame. We then close the pressure cooker lid and let it steam. 3 whistles on the pressure cooker should be enough to tender the mutton and cook it. After the steam is let out we transfer it to a serving bowl, and voila our spicy saoji mutton is ready. This can be served either with roti or with rice, and it tickles your palate as much.

The trick in this cooking is to make the mix of spice as heady as possible, so that when you have it with the bland rice, it fires up all your taste buds. But before I sign off on this delectable mutton preparation, do remember adding my mom’s special ingredients. We cook for the pleasure of cooking or the pleasure of making our loved ones happy with our cooking. So go ahead and smile as much as you can while cooking and do remember that extra dash of love before you set it down, and see how wonderful it tastes. Bon appétit.

Note:This is the authors way of cooking this dish. The author Does not make any Representation that this is the right, Only and/or authentic way to cook this dish. Everyone is Free to make his/her Interpretation and adjustment to the dish.