Travelling through a bazaar is not only an experience in life, but also a survival lesson – how to manoeuvre between floods of people, rickshaws, wandering cows and mad dogs.
My maternal grandfather had a small silver shop at the Chandni Chowk market in Dariba Kalan, part of Old Delhi. I used to spend my weekends at it, as I just loved being in the hustle and bustle. I learned many valuable lessons that no formal education can teach. Like in the movie Slumdog Millionaire , I believe some of the answers of my life have came from that bazaar and seeing my grandfather struggle to survive with a huge family.
My Bauji (maternal grandfather) was a god-fearing vegetarian who never got angry. He would take me to the shop on a rickshaw, and on the way we would buy vegetables for the next day. Then I would sit in the shop watching him haggle with the customers, displaying his sense of humour.
Since I loved street food, I would often wander over to the jalaebi stand for deep-fried doughnut rings in sugar syrup. Or to the savoury stand of chaat (fried dough), or even deeper into the Muslim area for some goat biryani at Karim's. (If I ate meat, I would be sure not to tell Bauji.) Once back at the shop, I would curl up on the floor of the overflowing back room and nap for half an hour – a habit I still cherish.
After 25 years, I went back to the Dariba Kalan Bazaar recently. Of course, some things had changed drastically. Instead of my grandfather being at the counter, his portrait was hanging in the upper corner of a wall, an old garland wrapped around it. In his place were my younger cousins, with whom I used to play cricket. But the bazaar was just as busy and bustling as I remembered – and I was still able to walk by myself to Karim's.
I ordered biryani and reminisced as I ate, realizing that I am a product of this community, part of this history and the opportunities that presented in my life. So this article is dedicated to my Bauji and to all the strangers who have made me who I am – and, of course, the goat biryani.
GOAT/LAMB BIRYANI
Ingredients
1 kilogram goat meat or lamb (a mix of chops, marrow bones with meat and medium pieces from the shoulder)
2/3 cup oil
4 onions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon ginger paste
1 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 bunch fresh green coriander, choppped
1 small bunch green mint, chopped
4 green chilies, chopped
Juice of 2 lemons
Group A
4 cardamoms
6 cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
Other ingredients
1/2 kilogram long-grain rice
1/2 cup milk
1 large pinch saffron
6 green cardamoms
8 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
2 tablespoons ghee
Salt to taste
Method
Wash the meat and drain all the water.
Heat oil, fry the onions till golden brown. When the onions become cool, crush or grind them. Set aside.
Rub ginger and garlic well into the meat, then add salt, red chili powder, half the coriander, mint and green chilies, the lemon juice, the ground spices of Group A, the crushed onions and the oil in which the onions were fried. Leave to marinate for about two hours.
Soak saffron in milk and set aside. Take a heavy-bottomed pan, put in the marinated meat with the marinade. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cover and cook over medium slow heat till the meat is tender and liquids are not fully dried up.
Wash rice.
Boil about 8 glasses of water. Add the whole cardamoms, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon stick to the water with a little salt and the rice. Parboil rice. Drain all the water and spread the rice in a flat dish.
Brush the bottom of another heavy-bottomed pan liberally with ghee. Place half the parboiled rice in a layer at the bottom. Cover with the cooked meat. Cover the meat with rest of the rice.
Sprinkle the saffron milk over the rice. Also sprinkle the remaining coriander, mint and green chilies. Dot with ghee, cover tightly and cook over slow fire till the rice is fully cooked and the fragrances blended. Serve steaming hot.
Serves 8
Editor's note: Incorrect information appeared in the original version of this repice. This version has been corrected.
