There are many ways in which mutton or chicken can be cooked with green leafy vegetables of choice, each coating the dish in an emerald sauce-like gravy. The most celebrated is the ‘saag gosht’. Prepared with mustard greens, it is a seasonal favourite in Punjab during winter. Nothing stops you from adding other greens like spinach, coriander, fresh mint and green chillies to impart a chutney-like tang to the recipe. Some might legitimately ask what is ‘shahi’ about this robust, rustic home-style dish? The ‘shahi’ gravies indicate incorporation of nuts like cashews and almonds, besides being enriched by seeds like sesame and poppy. This is exactly what is replicated here. The idea, we must admit, is not original, but purloined from the royal repertoire of princely kitchens. Dear reader

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