Mutton Burger Grilled/Steamed

Ingredients
Mutton steak 200 gms
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Ginger Paste 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste 1/2 tsp
Curd 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice 1/2 tsp
Egg 1 nos
Breadcrumbs 1 tbsp
Onions  1 no chopped
Rock Salt  for taste

Preparation
Ensure that the mutton slab is devoid of any fat tissues, remove them. Score the mutton with a sharp knife and rub rock salt thoroughly. Mix chilli, coriander powder, garam masala, ginger-garlic paste, curd and lemon juice and massage it onto the mutton piece. Let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.
Cut the mutton into pieces and place it in a food processor along with onion and grind them.
Into this add egg and mix well, then add breadcrumbs. Make patties out of it and place it in the freezer.

Grilled Patty
Remove the patties from the freezer after an hour or two, heat a griddle and place the patty on it and cook by turning it over every one minute.

Steamed Patty
In a steamer, steam the frozen patty for about 15-20 min till its cooked thoroughly.

Ingredients for Burger
Burger Buns 2 nos (4 slices of bread)
Sliced Onion rings 7-8 nos
Tomato Slices 4 nos

Tomato ketchup 1 tsp
Mayonnaise 2 tsp
English Mustard 1 tsp
Cheese Slices 2 nos


Preparing the Burger
Toast the burger buns or the bread,  spread mayonnaise on the crown of the bun (bread slice), add tomato ketchup and mustard on top of the mayonaisse. Place two tomato slices on top of the sauces. Now place the grilled patty on the other half of the bun/or the other slice of bread, place a slice of cheese  and microwave for 10 secs. Add onion rings on top of it, one could also place the onion rings over the griddle on which the patty was cooked to soften it. Now place the crown on top of the base and serve it with some fries. Prepare the other burger with steamed patty and enjoy.

Pan Fried Mutton Steak

I have always wanted to try cooking a mutton steak on a pan, and the experiment did end in a juicy medallion of mutton.

Ingredients
Mutton steak 200 gms
Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp
Coriander Powder 1/2 tsp
Garam Masala 1/2 tsp
Ginger Paste 1/2 tsp
Garlic Paste 1/2 tsp
Curd 1/2 tsp
Lemon Juice 1/2 tsp
Garlic Cloves 2 Chopped finely
Olive oil 1 tsp
Rock Salt  for taste

Preparing the Steak
Ensure that the mutton slab is devoid of any fat tissues, remove them. Score the mutton with a sharp knife and rub rock salt throtoughly. Mix chilli, coriander powder, garam masla, ginger-garlic paste, curd and lemon juice and massage it onto the mutton piece.  Let it sit in the refrigerator for a good 30 minutes atleast.
In a thick bottomed pan heat the oil and spread it well, add the finely chopped garlic saute to infuse the garlic flavor, then add the  mutton steak. Keep turning it every minute to avoid burning the meat. I prefer the meat to be medium done, so check by poking the meat so that its giving in just a bit. Take the steak off the pan and rest it, so that the juices are all soaked in.
Deglaze the pan with water  add a bit of flour and make a sauce out of it. Cook further to reduce the sauce and add it on top of the steak.
Serve it with boiled vegetables

Quick and Easy Tomato Soup

Tomato soup is a definite no-no for me at restaurants, mainly because till date I have had tomato soup so divine only twice, one was at the restaurant in Lemon Tree - Allepey and the other one at Dine - Escape Cinemas.  Most of the places serve a ketchupy soup, or to thin and runny tomato water, and I have been to a fair share of restaurants.

This recipe is drawn from Sanjeev Kapoor’s show,the difference being the use of Maggi veg stock cubes that I have incorporated and lack of celery and bayleaf.

Ingredients (Serves 4-6)

Tomatoes (ofcourse) 4-6 nos

Onions 1 nos (medium  size or 2 small ones)

Carrot  ½  sliced

Maggi soup cube 1 nos

Bayleaf 1 no

Pepper Corns  6-8

Ground Pepper  ½ tsp

Garlic chopped 3 cloves

Water  1 ltr

Rice 2 tbsp (for thick soup)

Oil 1-2 tbsp

Salt to Taste

Making the Soup

Heat the oil on a pan and add garlic, bayleaf. Sauté,then add onions and carrots  to the pan. Now add tomatoes, pepper corns and cook further. Now add about ½ litre of water along with the maggi stock cube. Let it cook for about 10 - 15 mins, then strain it through a sieve, collect the stock and set aside. Now put the contents in the strainer into a food processor add the rest of the water to cool it and grind. Now add the contents back into the pan, add the stock, pepper powder and salt. Bring it to boil and again strain the contents through the sieve, ensure the sieve is pressed well to extract all the liquid. Again bring it to boil and serve hot with Croutons.

To thicken the soup you could add rice while cooking the vegetables or add cream just before serving the soup.

One could add more water to thin down the soup a bit.

Preparing the Croutons

Slice the bread into small pieces, heat a pan with olive oil and add the bread pieces. Keep tossing them till they turn golden brown.

Add Ons : You could also add pumpkin pieces (skinned and deseeded) while cooking to add more flavor