Kerala Appam with Kashmiri Mutton Rogan Josh- South meets North

Appam is a staple breakfast of Kerala. Appam is a laced rice pancake, which is made with a combination of rice and coconut. This is fermented by using yeast. In this the soaked rice is ground along with fresh grated coconut and cooked rice to a dosa type batter. Later yeast is added to ferment and the next day, these are made into appams on a “appa chatti”, utensil used to make appams. These appams usually are thin at the edges and thick at the center. They are served with vegetable stew, kadala curry or any meat dish.

I always make these appams for breakfast as everybody in my house loves it along with egg curry.

Mutton Rogan Josh is one of the signature dishes of the wonderful state Kashmir. This dish does not require any onion, garlic or tomatoes. This is completely made of yogurt which is well blended in spices.

I tasted this Rogan Josh in  a restaurant in India, but never thought that one day I would make this  at the comfort of my home. The gravy will be red in colour as a spice called “ratanjot” or “kashmiri red chillies” are used. As ratanjot is very rare, we can use kashmiri red chillies or any edible red food colour. All the spices which I used are a must for this as this is what makes rogan josh a perfect classical dish.

Traditional Rogan josh is a layer of mutton blended in yogurt and spices which is covered with a slick of oil on top. I have made this along with Kerala appam, which is a perfect breakfast dish for iftar and it was an overwhelming combination.

Just try this out and let me know.

Ingredients for Appam:

1. Rice- 2 Cups
2. Grated Coconut- 1 Cup
3. Cooked rice- ½ Cup
4. Yeast 1 tsp
5. Warm water- 1 cup
6. Sugar- 2 tbsp
7. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Wash and soak the rice for 5- 6 hours. Grind this drained raw rice, grated coconut and cooked rice with a little amount of water to a smooth paste.
2. In the remaining water add yeast and sugar. Mix to dissolve. Add this yeast dissolved water to the above made batter and let this ferment for about 7- 8 hours or overnight.
3. When the batter doubles up, like light and fluffy add salt, mix meanwhile heat a appachatti on medium flame.
4. When it is hot, pour a ladleful of batter into the pan, immediately swirl the pan to spread the batter in a circle.
5. Cover and cook for a minute or till the edges are golden brown in color.
6. Carefully remove the appam from the pan and serve it.

Ingredients for Mutton Rogan josh

1. Mutton- 500 gms
2. Lemon juice- 1 tsp
3. Garam Masala Powder- 1 tsp
4. Salt- as required
5. Curd- 1 Cup
6. Red Chilli Powder- 2 tbsp
7. Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
8. Fennel seed Powder- 1 tbsp
9. Pepper powder- 1 tbsp
10. Dry ginger Powder- 1 tbsp
11. Oil- 2 tbsp
12. Cloves- 5-6 nos
13. Cinnamon- 1 “ stick
14. Cardamom- 3 nos
15. Bay Leaf- 1 no
16. Asafoetida Powder- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Marinate the mutton using lemon juice, garam masala and salt. Keep this for about 1 hr.
2. In a bowl mix curd, along with red chilli powder, fennel powder, dry ginger powder, pepper powder and cardamom powder.
3. Heat a pressure cooker, pour oil, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and atlast bay leaf. When it infuses all its flavors, add the asafoetida powder, mix.
4. In the above oil add the marinated mutton and stir for few minutes till all the flavors of the spices gets incorporated well with the mutton pieces.
5. After about 15 minutes, add the curd mixture and stir on low flame. Adjust the salt accordingly.
6. Add enough water for the gravy, close the lid of the cooker and cook for about 6- 7 whistles or till the mutton pieces gets cooked well.
7. Serve warm along with ghee rice/ appam/ idiappam/ roti of your choice.