Shab deg

Turnip and mutton left in the pot overnight, which is what the name says.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg mutton on the bone, in large pieces
• 800 g turnips, peeled and halved
• 4 tablespoons ghee
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 teaspoons ground fennel
• 2 teaspoons ground dried ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 6 green cardamom pods
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 500 ml water

Method

1. TURNIP AND MUTTON LEFT IN THE POT OVERNIGHT, WHICH IS WHAT THE NAME SAYS. Its article is 269 characters and all of them count: shab deg is SLOW-COOKED TURNIP AND MUTTON STEW, LEFT TO SIMMER OVERNIGHT, and SHAB MEANS 'NIGHT' AND DAIG MEANS 'COOKING POT' IN THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE. A dish whose name is the vessel and the hours is telling you that the hours are the recipe.
2. SO EVERYTHING EXCEPT THOSE TWO INGREDIENTS AND THAT ONE METHOD IS A CHOICE. The article adds only that the dish HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS MUGHLAI ORIGIN FROM THE KASHMIR VALLEY. The spicing below is built from that -- fennel, dried ginger and Kashmiri chilli are what a Kashmiri mutton pot is built on -- and it is mine, not its.
3. THE TURNIPS GO IN WHOLE OR HALVED, NOT DICED. Eight hours would reduce cubes to nothing. Halved, they hold their shape and come out sweet and translucent, which is the point of putting a root vegetable in a pot for that long.
4. BROWN THE MEAT AND THE ONIONS IN THE GHEE FIRST. Ten minutes, in batches, so the pieces colour rather than steam.
5. THE GROUND SPICES GO IN DRY, THEN THE WATER. Fennel and dried ginger are a Kashmiri pairing and they want a moment in the fat before any liquid arrives.
6. THEN IT GOES INTO THE LOWEST OVEN YOU HAVE, COVERED, AND IS LEFT. Overnight at 110C, or eight hours. A stovetop simmer works and needs watching; an oven does not, which is nearer to what a pot banked on embers actually did.
7. DO NOT STIR IT AND DO NOT LIFT THE LID. The meat will fall apart if moved and the turnips will break. This is a dish that is assembled once and opened at the end.
8. IN THE MORNING, LIFT THE FAT AND TASTE FOR SALT. Eight hours flattens salt. The gravy should be dark and thin -- it is not a thickened curry, and nothing in its article suggests it ever was.

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