Rajasthani Laal Maas

Rajasthani Laal Maas is a meat curry cooked in yoghurt and few of the whole spice paste. As the name says "Laal Maas", it has a bright red color due to lots of red chilies used in it. Its prepared with few of the ingredients but it taste delicious. It has a very nice aromatic flavor of desi ghee. It can be prepared with any meat - goat, lamb, deer etc. In Rajasthan it is well served with Bajra rotis. This dish basically comes from Rajputana families, where the warriors were very fond of hunting and due to the conditions the preparations were very rustic with very few spices. I tried out this recipe on one fine Sunday with lamb and was superlyked by my family. Sharing with you all the recipe. I did a little bit changes like I added onions to it (original recipe has no onion addition). Rajasthani food is quite spicy, but I changed the chili quantity as per our taste buds and the same thing you all can do :)))

Ingredients for marination :

• Baby Lamb leg - 400 gm
• Thick Yoghurt/hung curd - 3/4 cup
• Crushed Ginger/garlic - 1 1/2 tbsps
• Kashmiri red chili powder - 1 tbsp (for bright red color)
• Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
• Salt - 1/2 tsp

Ingredients for the Masala :

• Whole red chilies (hot) - 4 to 5 (or as per the taste)
• Coriander seeds - 2 tbsps 
  
• Bay Leaves - 2 to 3
• Cinnamon Stick - 2" long stick
• Green Cardamoms - 4 to 5
• Black Cardamoms - 2 (small)
• Cloves - 4 to 5
• Mace flower - 1

Ingredients for the curry :

• Finely sliced Onions - 3 (medium sized)
• Crushed Ginger/garlic - 1 1/2 tbsps
• Kashmiri red chili powder - 1 1/2 tbsps
• Fresh coriander - Handful
• Salt - As per the taste (some already added to the marination)
• Ghee - 3 tbsps (you can also add half - half oil & ghee)
• Boiling water - 2 to 3 cups

Method :

• In a bowl add yoghurt and all the masala ingredients except lamb. Mix well and now add the lamb pieces and coat well. Cover and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour. (If possible keep it for 4-5 hrs)
• Grind all the dry spices for making masala. Soak the dry masala in 1/4 cup of water and keep aside for 1/2 hour.
• In a large pan heat ghee, add ginger/garlic, saute for a while and then add sliced onions. Fry till golden brown. 
• Add the marinated lamb and fry for sometime, unless the moisture is completely dried.
• Add the soaked masala and fry again unless the oil oozes out.
• Now add boiling water (adjust the quantity as per the consistency you want).
• Cover it and cook on medium to flame for 25-30 minutes. I used baby lamb which cooked faster than a full grownup lamb. The cooking time varies, full grownup lamb might take 50-60 minutes.
• Also if you see that water is getting dried then you can add some more water to it.
• Check it after the stipulated time, if done add chopped coriander and serve hot with chapattis and steamed rice. 

Note : The quantity of chilies can be adjusted as per the taste. Usually it is very spicy. You can also add 1/2 tsp of ground garam masala at the end for more spicy gravy.

Thank you n Happy cooking
Priyanka