Kulfa Aur Kofte Ka Salan - Hyderabadi Meatball & Purslane Curry

After cooking only vegetarian food for five weeks, I am ready to move on to some meat-centric ones. Since Hyderabad (the city in India where I'm from) is known for it's meat dishes, I felt it was high time I visited my hometown cuisine again.

I think the reason I keep away from cooking Hyderabadi food is because it's pretty involved and dirties up a ton of dishes and is usually pretty dense in calories from all the nuts and oils used. BUT, having said all that, I think it might still have a place in my regular cooking as long as I pair it with salads and keep the quantity of Hyderabadi salan(stew/curry) to a minimum on my plate :)

This is asking a lot from Hyderabadi folks though since we tend to ignore vegetables and go straight to the meat ;) I remember my Hyderabadi friends jokingly inquiring about REAL food after I fed them salad and some stir fried noodles and vegetables one time.

For my first foray into meat, I tried to bring some vegetables into the salan/curry by adding almost 1.5 pounds of purslane. Purslane is considered a weed in most countries but has found its place on the dining table in Hyderabadi cuisine (and some middle-eastern foods as well). If you've never had it before, it's a slightly sour green that has a bit of a slime factor when eaten raw. Cooked this way into a salan though, it only imparts its sourness and all the sliminess is gone. This recipe is a multi-step process, so take it up only when you have about 3 hours spare time to make the salan/curry along with some rice and salad. One thing of note before I move on to the recipe is that meatballs in Hyderabadi cuisine are not supposed to be fall apart tender. They should be springy and chewy, almost like a sausage. So make sure to mix the meatballs very well before adding them to the sauce to cook.

Recipe adapted from Mona's blog, Zaiqa

Makes 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw peanuts

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp coriander seeds

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

8 tbsp refined coconut oil, divided use

12 oz shallots, thinly sliced

5 tsp salt, divided use

8 garlic cloves

3 inch piece fresh ginger

10 red chilis, divided use

4 medium yellow onions (just under 2 lbs), diced

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/2 cup greek yogurt (if using plain yogurt, use 1 cup)

6 sprigs cilantro, stems included

6 sprigs mint, only leaves

2 lbs ground beef

1.5 lbs purslane, leaves and stems all thinly sliced

Procedure:

Put a large 5-6 quart wide pan on medium high heat and roast peanuts, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and coconut one by one removing to a plate after they're done individually. By the time you get to coconut, you don't even need the pan on a stovetop to toast it. The remnant heat in the pan should do the trick. Wipe the pan clean with paper towels. Once the spices are cool, grind to a smooth paste in a spice/coffee grinder (the paste kinda looks like peanut butter) and set aside. 

In the same pan, heat 3 tbsp oil on medium high heat and sauce shallots, stirring almost constantly for 7-8 minutes till nice and brown. Add 2 tsp salt and make sure the remaining water from the shallots gets evaporated so they can get crispy. Remove to a large bowl and set aside. Grind together garlic, ginger and 5 of the red chilis in a small food processor till a smooth paste forms and set aside. 

In the same pan that you cooked shallots in, heat the rest of the oil on medium high and add onions. Cook for 12-15 minutes, stirring almost constantly till they're nicely browned. Add 3 tsp sea salt and the ground ginger-garlic-red chili paste. Cook for 30-60 seconds till the garlic has browned and add the peanut paste and mix it in. Add the yogurt and cook on medium heat till the water gets completely evaporated and the oil leaves the sides. Add 2-4 cups water very slowly while mixing the sauce constantly so it forms a thick loose paste. Remove the pan from heat and let cool for a bit.
In the meantime, grind together the fried crispy shallots, 5 red chilis, cilantro and mint leaves to a smooth paste. Add this to the ground beef and mix well. To make the meatballs, pinch off about 2-3 tbsp and roll them into balls and set aside.
 Using a stick blender, blend the cooled sauce to a very smooth consistency. Put the pan back on medium heat and when hot and simmering, add the purslane. Cook on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes and then add more water if needed to make a not too thick but not too runny sauce. Add the meatballs carefully and cook uncovered on medium low to medium heat for about 30 minutes till the meatballs are cooked and the oil forms a slick on the surface. Taste for salt and add more if needed, but 5 tsp sea salt should be good for this quantity of food. Serve hot with rice/naan and a side salad of tomatoes & cucumbers.