Mutton ChaaNp - Our Eid Special

There are some dishes that will linger in your taste buds long after you have eaten them. One such dish for me is the Mutton Chaa(n)p that they make in Shiraz and Aminia here in Kolkata. The flavours are subtle,the lush gravy that coats the lamb ribs with that taste of kewra and meetha attar that you mop up with fluffy tandoori rotis ,makes you crave for for. This Eid I had decided that I would try to recreate this dish in my kitchen.  I was not sure if the flavours would turn out right as I was following a very easy recipe. The key was to marinate the lamb for as long as possible for it to soak up the flavours from the garam masala, kewra and rose water. My local meat man was very sweet to first show me a sample of how he makes the 'chaaNps' before I could decide if I want it or not.He asked me if it was going to be Eid special and gave me that big grin when I said yes!
So there I set out to make my first ever Mutton ChaaNp (Lamb ribs in a silky nutty gravy with fat oozing out from all sides) - chaap pronounced with that little nasal twang! Kindly excuse the not so great pictures here as I was a task for me to set the night time mode right on my camera and that dish waiting to be devoured was making it worse.

BTW I was having this little chat with one of my uncles who is a great cook himself and rustles up amazing dishes in his kitchen. He told me that a Chaap recipe would have poppy seeds and cashewnut paste in it but somehow I had made up my kind that I wont use any and just let the yogurt, onion paste and the kewra essence do up its magic. And I am happy to say that it turned out exactly the way I had imagined the flavours to be. So now you note the recipe, you will be surprised how easy it can be.

Ingredients:

Mutton ribs/chaanp - 500 gms - approx. 6-8 pieces

Yoghurt - 200 gms

Onion - 1 large - made into a fine paste

Ginger paste - 1 tbsp.

Garlic paste - 1 tbsp.

Mace and nutmeg paste - 1 tbsp.

Garam masala powder - 1 tbsp. ( cardamom,cloves and cinnamon grounded into a paste)

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Lemon juice - 2 tbsp

Kewra essence - 1 heaped tbsp

Rose water - 1 tsp

Ghee - 4 tbsp

Method:

Wash , clean and dry the mutton chaanps/ribs. Marinate with some salt and lemon juice and keep aside for half an hour.

By this time the mutton will release the excess water, drain that and keep aside.

In a big bowl, mix together the yoghurt,onion paste,ginger-garlic paste,red chilli powder, mace-nutmeg paste,garam masala powder, kewra and rose essence and some salt. Give it a good whisk.

Now add the mutton pieces into this marinade and let it marinate for atleast 6-7 hrs or even better if left over night.

In a heavy bottomed pan, heat the ghee. Dunk in the mutton pieces with just the marinade coating it into the pan. Cover and let it simmer for 25 to 30 mins. By now the mutton would have cooked tender and soft and slightlt coated with the yoghurt gravy.

Remove and keep aside. Now add the remaining marinade into the same pan, add a little ghee if reqd and let the gravy simmer till done. Oil oozing out from the sides of the pan.

Pour the gravy on top the mutton pieces.Garnish with some onion rings.Serve it with home made tandoori rotis and some green salad.

Recipe for Tandoori Rotis :

Ingredients:

Wheat flour/atta - 2 cups

Baking soda - 1 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Salt  - 1 tsp

Yoghurt/curd/Dahi - one cup

Milk - enough to bind the dough.

Method:

Mix together all the ingredients into a soft dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and keep aside for 2 hrs.

Make small balls of the dough and roll in out into thick rotis.

Heat a heavy bottomed flat pan/tawa. Put the rolled dough in it and cover with a lid. Keep the flame on high. In 2-3 mins remove the cover you will find bubbles being formed on top of the rotis. Now dunk the roti into direct flame..same way you make your regular rotis till done. Slather with ghee and serve with the mutton chaanps. Heaven I tell u!!


Notes:

• I used only ghee but you can use half ghee half refined oil.
• Make sure the mutton is marinated for longest possible time as it brings out the best flavours then.
• You could also marinate the mutton with some raw papaya paste as that works as a meat tenderiser. I didn't and still the mutton cooked beautifully.