Kolhapuri Pandhra Rassa

Kolhapuri Pandhra Rassa

Ingredients
Serves 4
5 cups Mutton stock
2 medium sized Onions
1 inch piece Ginger
6-8 cloves Garlic
Fresh coriander leaves a few sprigs
4 tbsps Oil
1 inch stick Cinnamon
4-5 Green cardamoms
2-3 Black cardamoms
5-6 Cloves
1 blade Mace
2 Bay leaves
Salt to taste
Nutmeg (grated)a pinch
2 tsps White pepper powder
For paste
1 tbsp Sesame seeds
2 tbsps Poppy seeds (khus khus)
3/4 cup Coconut (scraped)


Method
To prepare paste, dry roast sesame seeds in a pan. Soak poppy seeds in a quarter cup of warm water for fifteen to twenty minutes. Boil sesame seeds and poppy seeds together in half a cup of water and let it cool. Drain and grind with scraped coconut to a fine paste, adding a little water, if required. Keep aside. Peel, wash and cut onions into quarters. Boil in one cup of water for three to four minutes. Drain, cool and grind to a fine paste. Peel and wash ginger. Peel garlic and grind it with ginger to a fine paste. Clean, wash and finely chop coriander leaves. Heat oil in a thick-bottomed pan, add cinnamon, green cardamoms, black cardamoms, cloves, mace and bay leaves. Stir-fry for a minute. Add boiled onion paste, cook on medium heat for five to six minutes, stirring continuously. Ensure that most of the moisture is evaporated but do not brown the onion paste. Add ginger-garlic paste and continue to cook on medium heat for fifteen seconds. Add sesame, poppy and coconut paste and continue to cook on medium heat for three to four minutes, stirring continuously. Add mutton stock and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for three to four minutes. Add salt, nutmeg, and white pepper powder dissolved in quarter cup water and mix well. Simmer for another ten to fifteen minutes and serve hot garnished with chopped coriander leaves.


Tips
Mutton stock can be prepared by boiling half a kilo of mutton with bones with one and a half liters of water till mutton is cooked. Use the stock for Pandhara Rassa and mutton pieces to make other mutton dishes. In Kolhapur, apart from Pandhara Rassa (white mutton gravy), Tambada Rassa (red mutton gravy) is also equally popular.