There’s are two secrets to creating a stellar dish — precision and knowing your ingredients. Well, that’s what executive chef Bidhu Bhushan Das of ITC’s WelcomHotel Coimbatore would have you believe. But when you’re biting into a juicy mouthful of the chef’s Sikandari Raan, it’s hard to disagree with the man who has worked in the kitchens of ITC for 25 years. Spearheading the Kebabs and Curries festival in the city, the chef tells us that one can expect to find much-loved specials like Tandoori chicken, Paneer tikka and Seekh Kebab. “The only difference is the taste and quality of the food on your plate. Anyone can make a tandoori or grill menu. But the precision with which you know your ingredients, matters. Consider our famous Sikandari Raan that is a spiced leg of lamb. You’d think a larger lamb leg would be ideal, but to retain the succulent juices of the meat, a leg of lamb cannot be anything over a kilo.” Parting with his recipe, Chef Bidhu gives us all the precise deets for his Sikandari Raan.
Ingredients:
Lamb leg - 2 (1 kg each) | Rock salt - 8 tbsp | Red chili powder - 4 tbsp | Ginger paste - 1/2 cup | Garlic paste - 1/2 cup | Malt vinegar - 1 cup | Bay leaves - 8 | Cinnamon sticks - 3, 1-inch pieces | Black cumin seeds - 2 tbsp | Butter/ ghee - 2 tbsp | Lemon juice - 2 tbsp | Kebab masala - 1 tbsp |
For Kebab Masala:
Dried raw mango powder - 3 tsp | Cumin powder - 1/4 tsp | Rock salt - 1/4 tsp | Fenugreek powder - 2 tsp | Black salt - 1 tsp | Red chili powder - 1 1/4 tsp | Garam masala - 1 1/4 tsp
Method of preparation:
• Gently loosen the meat from the bone at the top of the leg to season.
• Rub salt and red chilli powder on the leg, then add ginger and garlic pastes.
• Arrange in a roasting tray; pour over malt vinegar and water till the lamb legs are almost covered.
• Add bay leaves and cinnamon sticks; sprinkle royal cumin on top.
• Cover and braise in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 2 to 2*1/2 hours.
• Turn off the oven, and let the lamb legs cool in the oven at 300 degrees. Remove legs from the liquid and let them air-dry for 10 minutes.
• Skewer the braised leg, and roast on charcoal or in the oven at 350°.
• While Roasting, baste with a little-clarified butter/ ghee. Continue roasting until the meat gets a nice roast-brown colour.
• Remove, drizzle with lemon juice and little butter and sprinkle kebab masala.
Kebabs and Curries is on until August 31. At ITC WelcomHotel.