Kabargah: Scrumptious Fried Mutton Ribs

Kabargah is a Kashmiri delicacy which is a part of the Kashmiri Pandit cuisine. This post has been lying in my draft for a long long time - and it was totally unfair of me not to share this scrumptiousness with you all before.  I am a person who does not like elaborate or time consuming recipes when it comes to cooking. But this particular recipe was totally worth it. Of course I skipped a step or two - but the end results were awesome, I promise!

 Ingredients:

•  Mutton Ribs with fat and skin on, each piece with one or two rib bones - 13-14 pieces
• Ghee - enough for frying
• Hung curd/ yogurt - 1 Cup (just use a cheesecloth/strainer to drain off the excess liquid.)
•  Kashmiri Chili Powder - 2 tsps 
• Dried Ginger Powder or Saunth - 1 tsp
• Star Anise - roughly ground - 2 to 3 (I used a mortar pestle)
•  Asafoetida - A pinch
• Garam Masala - 1.5 tsp (Combination of 2 inch cinnamon, 4 green cardamoms, 4 cloves - I used a mortar pestle to make a coarse powder.)
• Cloves - 3
• Bay leaf - 1
• Salt to taste
•  Milk - 1/2 Cup
• Water - 1/2 litre

 

In a vessel, heat water and milk along with the cloves, asafoetida powder, dried ginger powder, star anise powder, bay leaf and salt (to taste). Give it a stir and add the ribs and cook for 1/2 hour on medium heat. At this point I transferred it to a pressure cooker then and pressure cooked till tender - you can continue cooking it in the vessel. The original recipe required the mutton to be slow cooked in a vessel till tender. But pressure cooking it saved me a lot of time. Once tender, take the pieces out from the liquid. The liquid itself was so tasty that I strained it and had it as a soup.

Now in a separate bowl, whisk the yogurt, chili powder, garam masala and salt (to taste) and make a smooth batter. In a pan heat the ghee. Dip the mutton pieces in the batter and fry in the ghee till they turn a rich brown. Serve hot. These were an instant hit with the family.

Original recipe