The heavenly smells that suffuse the streets as the sun sets during the holy month of Ramzaan is enough to drive bystanders crazy. While from one kitchen emanates the smoky ghee-tinged smells of kebabs frying, from another wafts the rich, heady aroma of milk being thickened with a hint of saffron. Sitting down together for a meal after the day’s fasting leaves a warm glow and though most people break their fast with fruits and dates, some serious eating usually follows later in the evening.
Sarhad Paar Masaledaar Raan
This is a great delicacy during Iftar and Eid feasts in Pakistan and as is usual for the region, lamb is used instead of goat though the meat can get a bit fatty sometimes.
Ingredients
1 leg of lamb or raan (roughly 2 kg)
3 tbsps blanched almonds
300 gm onions, chopped
4 green chillies, finely chopped
8 cloves garlic
2 tbsps ginger, chopped
½ tsp cloves
16 green cardamom pods
1 (2 inch piece) of cinnamon
10 black peppercorns
2 tbsps cumin powder
4 tsps coriander powder
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
1 ½ cup yoghurt
6 tbsps vegetable oil
Salt, to taste
Method
Trim all the fat and the parchment-like skin from the raan and make slits in the meat with a sharp knife and keep aside. In a food processor, blend the almonds, onions, garlic, ginger, green chillies, and 3 tbsp of the yoghurt and to a smooth paste. Mix the remaining yoghurt and the masala paste in a bowl and whisk lightly till it is uniformly mixed. Add the cumin, coriander, red chilli powder, salt and garam masala and mix. Push a part of the masala paste into the slits made earlier in the raan and spread the rest of the paste liberally over the raan. Cover with cling film and marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Before cooking, bring it to room temperature. Heat the oil in a small frying pan and add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns. Stir till the cardamom swell and pour the entire contents of the pan on the raan. Preheat an oven to 200°C. Cover the baking tray tightly with aluminium foil and bake for 1½ hours. Remove the foil and bake for another 45 minutes, basting the raan a couple of times with the sauce during this period. Remove the baking dish and set aside to cool. Place the raan on a serving plate and spoon the gravy over and around it, taking care to discard the whole spices. Serve with rumali roti or hot rice or pulao.
Sewiyan
Be it Purani Dilli, Kolkata, Mumbai or the Old City in Hyderabad, during Ramzan, the bylanes are thronged with vendors selling mountains of vermicelli that often resemble huge birds’ nests. The sewiyan traditionally prepared is fried in ghee.
Ingredients
1 cup vermicelli noodles (sewiyan)
1 tbsp ghee
1 can condensed milk
1 tbsp custard powder, dissolved in 3 tbsps warm milk
3-4 cups of whole milk, diluted with 12 cups of water.
1 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp halved cashewnuts or pistas
1 tsp crushed cardamom
Method
Heat the ghee in a pan and add the vermicelli. Fry till the vermicelli turns brown.
In a separate pan, bring the milk to a boil and add the vermicelli. Turn the heat down to medium and cook till the vermicelli is soft (around 20 minutes). Add the custard powder and keep stirring.
Bring the heat down to its lowest point, add the condensed milk, raisins and the nuts and stir till the mixture thickens to about half of the original quantity. Add the cardamom and serve hot. Some prefer to have it as a cold dessert. In that case, pour into separate bowls and refrigerate.