Aurangabadi Naan Qaliya
Aurangabadi Naan Qaliya is a traditional Indian recipe for a classic stew of mutton cooked in yoghurt that's finished in a spicy red curry gravy thickened with ground chironji seeds and served with saffron naan breads. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Aurangabadi Naan Qaliya.
prep time
35 minutes
cook time
75 minutes
Total Time:
120 minutes
Serves:
4–6
Rating: 
Tags : CurryChilli RecipesSpice RecipesHerb RecipesMutton RecipesVegetable RecipesMilk RecipesIndian Recipes
Naan Qalia is a dish that originated from Aurangabad in India. It is a concoction of mutton and a variety of spices. Naan is the bread made in tandoor (Hot furnace) while Qalia is a mixture of mutton and various spices. It is commonly served during the month of Ramadan. These days naan qalia is also popular as the primary food served in marriage banquets in Aurangabad and neighboring towns, specially Khuldabad and Jalna.
Ingredients:
For the Dry Masala:
45g dried coconut
45g couscous
40g
chironji (charoli) nuts
2 bayleaves (Indian bay preferred)
3 pieces Patthar Ka Phool (this is a kind of lichen and a hard to find spice)
2 tsp ground coriander seeds
For the Main Masala:
1kg mutton, cubed
2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
salt, to taste
200ml yoghurt
1 tsp ground caraway seeds
5 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
3 medium onions, chopped
200ml coriander (cilantro) leaves
200ml mint leaves
120ml oil
6 green chillies, slit lengthways
4 tsp hot chilli powder
Method:
Begin with the dry masala. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the dried coconut and dry roast until golden brown and aromatic. Tip out of the pan and set aside.
Soak the couscous in cold water or 12 minutes then drain in a fine-meshed sieve. Add the soaked couscous to a pan over medium heat and toast gently until it becomes translucent and begins to change colour. Turn into a bowl and set aside. Toast the chironji nuts in the same pan until golden and aromatic then turn out onto a plate. Dry roast the bay leaves and patthar ka phool together over medium heat until they change colour.
Put the toasted chrionji nuts in a spice or coffee grinder and grind to a powder. Set aside. Crush the bayleaves and patthar ka phool. Combine the toasted coconut, couscous and ground coriander seeds in a blender. Process to a fine powder then add the crushed bayleaves and lichen. Add just enough water to form a thick paste.
Place the mutton pieces in a pressure cooker along with the ginger-garlic paste, salt, ground turmeric, yoghurt, ground caraway seeds, cloves, cinnamon sticks and onions. Scatter over half the coriander and mint leaves then close the pressure cooker, bring up to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Take the pressure cooker off the heat, place under cold running water to reduce the pressure quickly then open the pressure cooker.
Heat the oil in a wide saucepan, and when hot add the chillies. Fry for a few seconds then stir in the coconut masala paste. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes then stir in the hot chilli powder. Now work in the remaining coriander leaves and mint leaves.
Continue frying until the oil separates out then add the mutton mixture from the pressure cooker. Increase the heat to high and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the oil separates out again.
Add water to bring the sauce to your preferred consistency (traditionally it's quite thin). Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the mutton is done through. At this point, add a little water to the ground chironji nuts and work to a smooth paste. Stir this into the meat curry and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
Bring to a boil, turn into a warmed serving dish and serve accompanied by Aurangabadi special Naan (essentially an ordinary naan bread that is made sweet with jeera and brushed with saffron water before cooking).
