Indian cuisine · Meat & Kebab

Kashmiri Gushtaba

Large pounded lamb dumplings, gently cooked in a white yogurt sauce with cardamom and fennel.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 700 g very lean lamb (leg, day-fresh)
• 80 g ghee
• 600 g yogurt (10%)
• 2 tsp fennel seeds (ground)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 5 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick and 4 cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp rice flour
• 1 tbsp dried mint
• Salt

Instructions

1. Remove all sinew from the lamb, chop it very finely and pound it on a board with 40 g ghee, 1 tsp salt and the ground ginger for 15–20 min using the back of a heavy knife, until it becomes a smooth, sticky mass.
2. Chill the mixture well and shape into eight fist-sized, very smooth balls, then keep them cold until cooking so they don't break apart.
3. Whisk the yogurt with the rice flour until completely smooth so it doesn't curdle when heated.
4. Heat the remaining ghee in a wide pot, let the cardamom, cinnamon stick, cloves and cumin sizzle for 30 sec, add the yogurt and slowly bring to a simmer, stirring constantly in one direction.
5. Carefully add the dumplings and let them poach uncovered over the lowest heat for 45–50 min, swirling the pot rather than stirring, until the sauce thickens and turns pale.
6. Season with ground fennel, salt and the mint crushed between your fingers, and serve two dumplings per portion with plenty of sauce over rice.