Oh Kolkata Team
West Bengal is particularly popular for its own version of spicy meat recipes around the globe. Whether it is a Mughlai food or a European one, with the very own touch of its own spices and techniques Bengal has redefined many recipes and created a new genre in the history of food. If fish can be defined as the heart of bong cuisine then the meat is the emotion! With ages of cooking practice and experiments, all the meat recipes only touch the zenith of delicious perfection.
With different cultural and religious preferences, Bengal carries a great diverse yet wide cooking style that only enriched the Bengali cuisine with its savory flavors and taste. If we analyze the history and cultural changes that happened in bong cuisine, then age-old Muslim invasions along with the Nawabi rule and 200 years of British colonialism will play a vital and integral part. Meats are one of the most popular foods for the Bengali people, a true food lover bong knows without having mouth-watering bong meat recipes it’s totally unjustified to judge and understand the real taste of Bengal. Today we are sharing much-celebrated 3 bong meat recipes that are able to create an instant craving in your heart. Enjoy the delicious recipes and taste the core of bong ecstasy with these savory meat recipes.
Mutton is the evergreen and all-time favorite of all the bong foods that ever existed. In many classic Bengali writings and cookbooks, the mutton kosha recipe is widely celebrated throughout the ages. In one of the most famous recipe book writers, Pragya Sundari Devi’s writing mutton kosha is mentioned as the bearer of Bengal’s great taste. Even Purnima Tagore, in her book Thakur Barir Ranna, mentioned that the great Tagore family was very fond of mutton recipes along with mutton kosha. For our recipe, we looked for a reference to Pragya Sundari Devi, and perhaps got the most intricate and classic reference to mutton kosha, which bears the homely touch of every bong mom’s kitchen. We modernized the recipe as per contemporary needs. To make mutton kosha, buy pieces especially from the leg and rib area, which have the perfect balance of meat, fat, and bones. Before making mutton kosha you have to marinate the mutton with a blended mixture of onion, garlic, beaten yogurt, turmeric powder, salt, and sahi garam masala. Massage the pieces well with the mixture and then cover the bowl with an air-tight lid and refrigerate the marinated mutton at least for 8 hours. The long marinating process will bring an unexplainable tenderness and flavor to your recipe. Now it’s time to make the Kosha! There are no special ingredients to make delicious mutton kosha. You just have to be patient for the right blend! Firstly take a thick cauldron and pour mustard oil in it. Temper the oil with bay leaves, dried red chilies, cardamom, clove, cinnamon, and black cardamom on medium heat. Chop and slice onions and crush well before pouring into the oil. Sliced onions will give your mutton kosha such a texture that can be acquired through using diced or puréed onion. Fry the onion well for at least 15 minutes and then add ginger-garlic and green chili paste and then fry again for 5 minutes. While frying the mix, create a liquid mixture of cumin powder, coriander powder, and Kashmiri Mirch powder and pour it into the cauldron. Cook for 15 more minutes and when the mixture will turn brown and rich in color add the marinated mutton now. Stir constantly as if mutton gets burns then the kosha will taste bitter. But always remember, a little browning is always good for mutton kosha! Now add lump-free and beaten yogurt to your mutton and keep frying, after 10 minutes add salt and sugar in the proper amount and apply some amount of hot water and keep frying for at least 2 hours. (Use hot water particularly) The color of your mutton kosha will turn magically in front of your eyes, with a lingering and fabulous flavor that will work as a constant appetizer! Tou have to give a stir to your mutton kosha every 2-3 minutes and then you will acquire perfection in making the recipe successful! When you are happy with the color of your mutton kosha, apply some more hot water as per your need and cook for five more minutes! Now give a final stir and pour a 2-3 spoon of ‘gaoa ghee’ into the recipe. Your mutton kosha is quite ready to serve. The delicious and mouth-watering recipe can be best enjoyed with Bengali mishti polao or luchi. Taste bong style mutton kosha by following our recipe, we can guarantee you will taste the best bong cuisine ever.
Korma is originated from central Asia and Persia and was widely celebrated in entire north India when the Mughals popularize the mouth-watering charm of this delicacy with their Indian fusion to the Persian mastery. Bong chicken korma is the fusion of all these flavors with the spicy bong tadka of emotion and flavors. The Bengali cooking process is quite different from the cooking process of all the world and this version of korma became popular when Nawab Wazed Ali Sah came to stay at Metiaburuz during the time of his exile. The Bengali cooks of the then time applied such bong spices to korma that were never used before and gave the world-famous cuisine a very homely and bong taste, which is perhaps the most delicious one around the world. To make chicken korma do buy big and stout leg pieces, divide those into 2 halves firstly. Wash the pieces well and make shallow gashes in them. Apply salt to the pieces and rub well then set aside for at least one hour. Now make a mixture of coriander powder and Kashmiri Mirch powder and beat some yogurt to make it completely lump-free. Crush a few black peppers along with toasted nutmeg and mace and crush all these until powdered. Make a paste of ginger and garlic and add proportionate salt to it. Now add cashew nuts powder, thick creamed mil, and sliced almonds to your ingredients list and start your cooking! Add vegetable oil to your cauldron and make a delicious barista of cornflour coated onion firstly. Add a pinch of sugar, it will give a bright and brown color to the onion (corn flour will give a crisp texture to the onion). After the onions turn brown spread them on blotting paper and let it cool at normal temperature. Don’t forget to preserve the access oil for later. After the barista turns cold crush those with bare hands. Heat a pan thoroughly on medium heat and add ‘gaoa ghee’ into it. Fry the pieces of chicken in ghee for 4 minutes (2minutes each side) and set aside. Now use the same vegetable oil used to make barista before, add a little amount of ghee to evoke a mouth-watering flavor to your korma. Temper the oil with cardamom, cinnamon and clove, and bay leaves and add the mixture of coriander and Kashmiri red chili powder and fry directly in the tempered oil. Add the ginger-garlic paste to it after 3-4 minutes and stir well until the raw smell goes away. Add the black pepper, nutmeg, and mace powder now, and add one teaspoon of Kewra water. Stir well for 3 more minutes and add the beaten yogurt now! Give quick stirs until oil is separated from the mixture! After 10 minutes add the fried pieces of chicken to the spices, and braise for 20 minutes while covering the pan on low heat. You will get a hint of the aroma already this time! Do not forget to stir frequently! If your pan is dried out then add a 2-3 spoon of beaten yogurt to enhance the taste! Once the chicken is tender add the cashew powder and crushed barista to your chicken also apply the excess nutmeg and mace powder to it. Give a quick and tender stir to your chicken and turn off the heat after applying almond flakes and fresh cream! Serve the savory dish with white sahi Bengali pulao or enjoy it with paratha! Bong korma is cooked without using any turmeric powder, tomatoes, and coriander leaves and that does somehow differentiate the bong chicken korma from the rest! The unique taste is so delicious and mouth-watering that any other type of korma cannot even come to mind after you taste this bong delicacy once!
Duck vindaloo is a Portuguese food that became popular firstly in Goa and then in West Bengal with the Portuguese colonization during the 16th century. The Goan recipe is quite different from the bong delicacy and the basic difference comes from the usage of different oils in the two places. The unique name of the recipe derived from Crane de Vinho e Alhos or meat cooked in wine vinegar and garlic! The bong version of vindaloo is quite popular among the Anglo Indian families of Kolkata and is widely acclaimed as one of the most delicious Anglo Indian recipes of all-time. Our recipe of bong version of duck vindaloo is loosely based on Lizzie Collingham’s recipe she shared in her widely acclaimed historical cookbook, Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. To make duck vindaloo you have to prepare a mixture of roasted spices at first! Take dried red chilies, whole cumins, cloves, poppy seeds, fresh black peppers, and whole mustard in a thick pan and toast on low heat. Crush the mixture in a blender until powdered. Always remember vindaloo is a hot and spicy pickle like sour, and to make it rightly, never miss any of these ingredients. Slice ginger, garlic, and fresh green chilies and prepare a tamarind pulp in hot water! Now make a paste of these and use palm/wine vinegar instead of water. Apply salt and prepare the paste well. Now take the duck meat, (widely liked among the British) buy duck breast, as the rib side meat, as well as leg pieces, are perfect for this Anglo Indian recipe. Divide the meat into 3-4 cm pieces and marinate with the grounded spices and the previously prepared tamarind slurry. Massage the meat well and marinate for 8 hours. Now for the curry, you will need sliced onions, jaggery, a mixture of turmeric, and Kashmiri red chili powder. Now pour mustard oil and temper with whole mustard seed and cinnamon. The mustard oil is the magician, which gives a mouth-watering and pungent flavor to the bong version of duck vindaloo that is missing in the Goan version. Add sliced onions to the hot mustard oil and fry until light brown. (It will take at least 10 minutes) Now add turmeric and Kashmiri red chili powder mix directly to the oil and fry for 10-15 seconds. Be careful as the spices must not burn at all. Mix the spices well with the onion and fry for another 3 minutes. Now add the marinated duck to the cauldron and fry for 10 minutes on high heat and give constant stirs. Turn the heat to medium and continue cooking now! Duck meat will start releasing juice after 10 minutes of cooking, cook for another 20 minutes covering it on medium heat, and do give frequent stirs. Now chop the jaggery into thin pieces and add them to your duck meat. Mix the meat well so that jaggery can create its magic! Once you are happy with the color to apply hot water as per your need and cook until the duck meat is tender. Add fresh curry leaves to the vindaloo and give a final stir! You will enjoy duck vindaloo mostly with white steamed rice. Taste the Anglo-Indian bong delicacy once and you will understand the cuisine bears a fantastic blend of the eastern and western ways of cooking within it. And the bong version of duck vindaloo will taste as unique as it’s intricate name!
