Pasanda

Meat flattened into strips, in a sauce of almonds ground in warm milk.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 900 g leg of lamb, in strips and flattened
• 250 ml plain yoghurt
• 3 tablespoons ginger and garlic paste
• 120 g blanched almonds
• 250 ml whole milk, warm
• 3 onions, sliced fine
• 6 green cardamom pods
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• 4 tablespoons ghee
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 150 ml double cream

Method

1. THE MEAT IS FLATTENED INTO STRIPS AND THE SAUCE IS ALMONDS GROUND IN WARM MILK. Its article gives the cut and the reason for the name together: pasanda WAS ORIGINALLY MADE WITH LEG OF LAMB OR GOAT FLATTENED INTO STRIPS, MARINATED, AND FRIED IN A DISH WITH SEASONING, and the word is from the Urdu PASANDE, 'FAVOURITE', INDICATING THE PRIME CUTS OF MEAT. Beaten thin, a prime cut cooks in minutes and stays tender, which is the whole point of treating it this way.
2. AND THE ORDER OF THE SAUCE IS SPELLED OUT, WHICH IS RARE. ALMONDS ARE SOAKED IN WARM MILK. SPICES SUCH AS CARDAMOM, CINNAMON AND CHILI ARE TEMPERED BY FRYING BRIEFLY IN OIL, THEN COOKED ON A LOW HEAT WITH ONIONS AND GARLIC. THE ALMONDS AND MILK ARE GROUND TO A PASTE AND ADDED TO THE ONIONS. THE MEAT IS ADDED TO THE MIXTURE AND SIMMERED. Then, AFTER COOKING, CREAM IS ADDED TO THE SAUCE.
3. BEAT THE STRIPS THIN BETWEEN TWO SHEETS, TO ABOUT FIVE MILLIMETRES. Cut across the grain into strips the width of two fingers first. A rolling pin or the flat of a cleaver.
4. MARINATE THEM IN THE YOGHURT WITH GINGER AND GARLIC FOR FOUR HOURS. Its article's first step is THE MEAT IS MARINATED IN YOGURT AND SPICES. The yoghurt tenderises and it is also most of the sauce, so none of it is thrown away.
5. TEMPER THE WHOLE SPICES, THEN COOK THE ONIONS SLOWLY AND DO NOT BROWN THEM. Fifteen minutes on a low heat until soft and golden. A browned onion base would make this a different, darker dish; pasanda is pale.
6. BLEND THE SOAKED ALMONDS AND MILK TO A PASTE AND STIR IT INTO THE ONIONS. It will look thin. It thickens as the meat cooks.
7. THE MEAT AND ALL ITS MARINADE GO IN, AND IT SIMMERS GENTLY. Forty minutes, barely bubbling. Flattened strips in a yoghurt sauce are tender early and tighten if boiled.
8. THE CREAM GOES IN AFTER THE COOKING, NOT DURING. Its article is specific about that order, and it matters: cream simmered in a yoghurt sauce separates. Off the heat, stirred through, served at once.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes