Covid was in full swing and it was recently proven that the Covid virus only spread through air.

This piece of news meant that we could have non-vegetarian food again without the fear of getting the virus.  It ain’t swine-flu but still deadly.

So I decided to try my hand at non-vegetarian food although I have traditionally being poor at cooking it.

But Momma did not raise a quitter.

So I conceived of cooking the traditional Awadhi mutton keema for my blog. In the Awadh region, we relish masala keema, keema kaleji and kebabs with paranthas and onion rings. So the accompaniments to the mutton masala keema were also visualized. 

I ordered minced mutton as we were refraining from visiting the sweatshops during the Covid time. They are usually crowded during early morning hours on weekends and I was extremely paranoid about getting Covid at that time, so I avoided that option.

Being the epitome of innocence that I am (🤓), I had honestly assumed that the keema/minced mutton that comes will be washed a 1-2 times and then proceeded for cooking.

And as usual, how wrong I was!

My Mom, in her typical hands-on-the-waist pose told me that the keema/mince is not that clean and it had to be washed 5-6 times using the squeezing motion of your hands. Because the old meat residue from the cleaver/chopping accessories, blood and other things that I would not like to imagine are kind of mixed with the keema/mince. So we have to ensure that the keema is spotless as much as possible with no colour or residue.

The funny part is that you have to wash each handful 5-6 times and the larger the quantity, the more exhausting it is to wash the whole batch.

And by the time I was finished with cleaning the mince, it felt that I had surpassed 7 births! 😅

And how innocently I had assumed that cooking the mince will be easier as it was already broken down into small bits.

But, at the end of the day it is animal protein that requires the labour of thy hands and the sweat of thy brow to cook. 

In the Awadh region, we cook non-vegetarian dishes in either mustard oil or home made ghee. The mustard oil adds the necessary spice to the garam masala mixture that is added to the dish.

So in a deep kadahi/pan, went the mustard oil, bay leaf, onion-ginger-garlic mixture that was sautéed till water started leaving the mixture. Then I added the spice mixture that was sautéed till it had mixed well with the onion mixture – it should be difficult to tell both the mixtures apart. This whole process is very stingy to one’s eyes so beware!

Then the mince is added and slow cooked for 1-2 hours because it has to mix well with the spices and the sticky curry. The only thing that should be a bit runny in this mixture is the oil. 

Me and my mom disagreed on the roast or the bhunnapan quality of the masala keema. But it tasted good and went well with crispy paranthas. 

Although this was made under supervision of my mom, it turned out well. The testament is that my whole family are it with relish without pinching their nose or passing a sarcastic comment! 🙈