Ansari Gosht (Serves 4-6)

This is our version of the wonderfully spiced, fiery Achari Gosht dish from the north of India. It’s based on my sister-in-law’s recipe with a little help from my brother and me; a family affair! The addition of lime pickle really adds a delicious zesty kick to the dish and a wonderful overall flavour. Delicious with chicken, it works just as well with lamb shoulder (my sister-in-law’s preference), chump chops or shanks….enjoy!

What you need

Onions                                               450g/1lb.,peeled and sliced

Ghee or butter                                 60g/2oz. (clarified butter or 4 tbsp. vegetable oil is perfectly fine)

Garlic                                                6 cloves/45g crushed, grated or blitzed

Ginger, fresh root                            50g/2 fat inches/2oz, grated or blitzed

Water                                               50ml/2floz

1 packet of GREEN SAFFRON Ansari Gosht Spice Mix

Chicken thigh meat, skinned         1kg/2lbs, diced into mouth-size chunks, or on the bone

Chillies, red                                     2 Finger Chillies, chopped into rough dice, seeds left in, OR cut in half and seeds scraped out if you’re worried about too much heat!

Lime pickle                                        3tbsp/60g, or more – depending on your taste, roughly chopped or blitzed in your food processor (our own GREEN SAFFRON brand is highly recommended for this recipe) WATCH OUT FOR THE YELLOW TURMERIC SLICK FLOWING OFF YOUR BOARD!!

Water, warm                                    400ml/14floz

Yoghurt, natural                              300ml/10floz

Lemon                                                ½, juice only

How to make it

  1. In a food processor or pestle and mortar, blitz the garlic, ginger, spices and the 50ml water into a smooth paste. Set aside for now.
  2. Next, pop a large casserole dish or saucepan onto your hob on a medium heat, add the ghee or butter, the onions and sweat them until they’re soft and translucent, about 7 to 8 minutes.
  3. Now, add the chillies and continue to cook until the onions are a very light golden brown colour.
  4. Add the spiced ginger garlic paste to the pot, turn the heat down to gentle heat, stir thoroughly, pop the lid of the pot ‘half-on’ and allow to cook for 10 minutes.
  5. Add the *chicken pieces, turn the heat back up to medium and cook for 5 minutes, lid off, stirring frequently .
  6. Then, add the pickle, warm water, stir well to combine all the ingredients, pop the lid on and allow to gently bubble for 10 minutes.
  7. Remove the lid and allow to cook for another 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked – we would serve it with the sauce still nice and thin so it combines beautifully with the rice, but you can leave it to thicken if you prefer
  8. Take off the heat, pour the yoghurt into the pot and stir thoroughly to combine all the yummy flavours.
  9. Squeeze the lemon juice liberally all over the chicken and serve immediately on mounds of Green Saffron’s Aged Basmati rice, a little smoked banana riata and fresh sliced cucumbers….enjoy!

Alternative Suggestions: If you’d prefer to use lamb, then dice up 1kg lamb shoulder, add it at stage 5, then follow stage 6 except leave the lid on and allow to bubble gently for about 90 minutes, adding a little more water if necessary to prevent the pot from drying, or until the meat is melt-in-the-mouth gorgeous, then go on to stage 8….beautiful!