And then of course when hubby dear was stationed in the Kashmir Valley, and I was visiting my taste buds would be indulged. However, what does one do in places where there are no Wazwaan or Kashmiri friends to treat your taste buds?
One cooks, that's what one does.So with some inputs from the Aunt in Jammu who is a store house of information of Dogri and Kashmiri cuisine. ..Rista, on the table.
The biggest challenge is the texture of the meat balls . The spicy gravy is always manageable.I almost got the texture and taste and the friends over for dinner were rightfully impressed. The best compliment came from Sweet Child who demanded that the next time I make Rista, there should be no friends, Romans or Country Men invited.
For the
Kashmir and Wazwaan- Rishta Meat Balls in a Spicy Red Gravy...
500 gms fresh lamb mince with 50 -100 gms fat3or 4 black cardamom2 tbsp gram flour or besan2 tbsp dry ginger powder2 tbsp saunf or fennel seed powderSalt to taste2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powderOptional spices-A few cloves, green cardamom and pepper corns, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cumin and a square of cheesecloth for the boquet garnis3 tbsp fried onions fried in mustard oil and cooled to be made into a paste150 mils mustard oil
Start with the mince and fat. Place in your food processor. Remember, these meatballs are better processed than sausage meat. The Wazas or cooks pound the meat for hours with a wooden mallet.
I liberally used the pulse button and the mince changed color after a while. One has to be careful else the fat will stick to the jar and the blades and not meld with the meat.
While the mince rests time to use the muscles. Peel the black cardamom and powder the seeds fine.
So fine ,they can be sieved.
The mince in a bowl with the gram flour, salt, black cardamom seed powder and about 50 mils of the mustard oil. . Mix well by squish, squish and squishing through your fingers. With wet hands form the balls, big balls ,I made 6 ,4 will be fine too.
They have to be halved or quartered to serve. Let them rest in the freezer.
Now bouquet garnis.Dried Methi leaves or kasoori methi, green cardamom, coriander seeds ,pepper corn, cumin seeds ,fennel seed and dry ginger powder and black cardamom tied in a thin Muslin cheese cloth.
Place a liter of water or plain meat stock to boil and add to the boiling water the bouquet garni and the meat balls.Let them simmer for about 15 minutes.
In another pan, smoke the mustard oil...heat till the smoke hurts your eyes ,turn off the heat and cover till it cools.When cool ,reheat, and add the green cardamom and pepper corns.
Add in the red chili powder and a few teaspoon of water or else the chili will burn.
To this add the boiling water and meat balls and some salt and simmer covered for at least one hour. Add the dry ginger and fennel seed powder and mix well. They flavor the gravy and act as thickeners. 
Fried onions can be stored in a bottle in the fridge and used whenever. Just grind them with some water .
This is the fried onion paste.
Add the paste to the Rista and check the seasoning and thickness. If possible, cool and you will see the oil floating on top.Let the flavours rest and heat just before serving.
The gravy should be thick and not napping the meat ball. Before you serve , halve the meat balls and serve with plain boiled rice or naan to mop the flavours. Mint is the best garnish along with the Chinar Patta Kashidakari( Traditional Kashmiri Silk Embroidery in the shape of the Chinar Leaves).
I tried a variation in my standard Mutton Yakhni after my aunt's suggestions. Instead of using fried onions whole I used the paste and I used whole wheat flour instead of gram flour and mint for garnish.
This is the taste of my childhood and the memories of family outings and my maternal grandfather and various cousins and soft squishy rice. The aunt incharge of the kitchen could never get the rice right and it was always soft and joint-called bhathu.
Spicy or not , the aromas of the Rista and Yakhni were soul satisfying. And the compliments made the effort worth the while. As they say, anything that you make with love tastes awesome. Always.Chamge the tastes of your palette once in a while .Adventure is always good.Try the Wazwaan.So what are you experimenting with today???
