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Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Mutton Chaap

IMG_9450The other day some of us were discussing the best compliment we got as a cook. One of my biggest appreciator is my husband, however, each time I made his favorite chaap, he’d say he loved it, but would always trail that sentence with a “…but”. He would still head to his favorite chaap restaurant in Kolkata when we went there, as if it’s something he really doesn’t get at home.

This has always been a challenge to me, a challenge that was hard for me to break  because the “healthy eating” person in me would never allow me to pour all the oil and simmer in it for 3 hours.

However, that “healthy eating” person one day relented to the challenge and went full force into making the original chaap. Let’s me say I did win the challenge :)

Ingredients

  1. 2 lbs. mutton chops
  2. 1/2 cup raw papaya paste
  3. 1 cup plain yogurt (curd)
  4. 1 tbsp. ginger paste
  5. 1 tbsp. garlic paste
  6. 1 tsp. dry red chili paste
  7. 1 tsp. turmeric powder
  8. 1 tsp. shahi garam masala powder
  9. 2 tbsp. poppy seed paste (posto bata)
  10. 2 tbsp. cashew paste
  11. 200 gm. clarified butter (Ghee)
  12. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  13. 1 tsp. rose water
  14. 1 tbsp. sugar
  15. Salt

Procedure

You need to get mutton (goat meat) chop pieces to make chaap. In Kolkata you can just let the butcher know and he will make the chops ready for you. Outside your homeland, you need to specifically instruct the butcher to break the chops with the broad side of their flat knife. Otherwise use your metal meat tenderizer to flatten the chops.

IMG_3946

In a wide dish marinate the meat with raw papaya  paste and a spoonful of yogurt. Papaya paste acts as a natural meat tenderizer. Leave it for 3-4 hrs.

Now wash the chops and pat them dry.In a mixing bowl mix yogurt with all the wet(ginger+garlic+ red chili+cashew+poppy seed) and dry (turmeric+garam masala) spices. Season the mixture with salt and sugar.

Rub this spice mixture well on both sides of the chops. Allow it to rest for half an hour.

Heat oil and ghee in a wide frying pan till it melts. Now reduce the heat and arrange the mutton chops in a single layer. Cook it covered on very low heat for about 3hrs.  Frequently remove the cover and mix the spices. Fry the chops till both sides turn golden brown.

Sprinkle rose water over it and keep it covered till you serve. Enjoy with Biryani or laccha paratha.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love Chaap from Kolkata (Sabir, Aminiya). On seeing your recipe I tried. It came out really really well. Never thought I could make and have chaap thousands of miles from home. Thanks a ton!!!!!

Unknown said...

Í really liked this recipe...instead of rose water i added mitha attar which is used for biriyani ...outcome was superb

Somtapa Brahmachari said...

@Sonali , thanks for the feedback. In US we don't get mitha attar, so used rose water instead.

Ushnish Ghosh said...

Awesome, must make this

Somtapa Brahmachari said...

@Ushnish Ghosh, thanks for your feedback. It really meant a lot to me.

Danish said...

Superb!
In place of rose water mitha attar worked perfectly

Baisakhi said...

I made this recipe last week and goodness, I could not even imagine that I would ever be able to recreate the taste of the Shiraaz chaap at home but that's exactly what it turned out like! Vow! The secret ingredient that I realized was the ghee, that gave it the specific flavor that mutton chaap from the shops have!
Also, I could not get raw papaya here(I asked my husband and he brought back home a ripe papaya :sigh) so, I used meat tenderizer powder with a lot of apprehension. It worked like magic.

Somtapa Brahmachari said...

@Baisakhi, thanks a lot for your feedback... Happy cooking..

rony said...

Thank you for this receipe. I have tried and its delicious...
Can u tell me how to prepare mutton chaap like Royal Indian Hotel.(Kolkata)
I love its taste.

Somtapa Brahmachari said...

Thank you, rony. I don't know the exact recipe of the Royal Indian Hotel.But once i saw them adding Dalda/ banaspati on the griddle they use to make chap.That definitely adds a different dimension to the dish.