This is yet another one of those fabulous dishes that travelled with the immigrants from Pakistan during the partition days. Credited with originating in the NWFP areas, it has remained a popular dish amongst the old school Punjabi families. I have come across many versions of this, especially in the old Delhi eateries. Our household has remained faithful to the version carried down, and even there we have two versions of the same recipe… 😊
This one is a little sharp, based upon red chilly powder (can be toned down as per taste!) …while the other one doesn’t use red chillies at all, but uses coarsely grounded black paper. That gives a totally new dimension to the dish.
I’ll try to present the other version soon, too.
Method
(Using a Pressure Cooker)
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in the pot. Add peppercorns, fry till the float to the top.
Add coarsly grounded ginger, fry on sim for a couple of minutes.
Add whole red chillies, fry for a minute.
Add mutton to the pot. Fry on high flame till the mutton has browned nicely.
Add chilly powders and salt to the pot. Stir.
Add hot water, just enough to cover the mix.
Pressure cook. For 15 minutes after full steam whistle. After this take the cooker off the stove, allow the pressure to release naturally.
Open the lid, put on high flame, keep stirring occasionally till all the moisture has evaporated and the oil is released completely.
Take off the stove. Add juice of one lemon. Stir thoroughly.
It is ready to be served. Burrah can be consumed as finger food (with cocktails), as a snack, with meals as a main dish & even as a picnic/travelling tiffin food.
Take care not to make pieces too tender so that they start falling off the bone. That spoils the whole texture of the dish. The pressure-cooking time indicated above are for mutton obtained from a full-grown goat. If using a younger animal, reduce the cooking time accordingly.
