Kosha Mangsho

In my zeal to find out the exact recipe for kosha mangsho, I scoured the net for couple of hours. But all my labor bore little fruit as I find to my dismay that there is no such thing as an exact procedure for the item.

The 3 that appealed to me are those from Bawarchi (incidentally a subtle ad for Dhara mustard oil), Lokpriya, and Bardhaman. The first 2 resemble a lot and I suppose they are from the same source.

I set out on kosha mangsho not because it’s a typically Bengali preparation that is best cooked at home, but for the recent news of the fare to be offered through Koshe Kosha’s retail eateries. Now what is Koshe Kosha, you might wonder!

Koshe Kosha is the brainchild of Pradeep Paul, his wife Arunima, and their friends Kunal and Amita Banerjee. Their plot is something like this.

On Independence Day, Koshe Kosha will debut at Sandhya Tara, the food court at the Star Theater. On offer will be the famed kosha mangsho of the Giris’ of erstwhile New Punjabi Hotel (or Golbari of Shyambazar) along with ‘soft ghee-smeared’ chapatti (or ruti if you prefer).

After the first outlet Koshe Kosha has grand plans. Apart from opening about 6 outlets in the city, it will travel to the other metros, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi. And, if all goes well, the would-be retail eatery will open chains at London, Birmingham, New York, Los Angeles, Milan, Singapore and Hong Kong. A la Macdonald, that is. Read TT’s story.

With such a grand plan up its sleeve, I imagine Koshe Kosha will be able to build a loyal mass of partakers for its gastronomic delight. And I really wish Pradeep and his gang all the very best (after all how many blue-blooded Bengali ventures are there these days!).

But suppose you’re hell-bent on having kosha mangsho one fine Sunday afternoon and do not want to ride to Koshe Kosha (if and as it debuts) because the late afternoon nap is too precious to miss, what would you do!

Well, you can either try the recipes above or rely on my favorite preparation below. Okay here I go. It’s for 1 kg of goat or sheep’s meat pieced in medium sizes and washed for use. Since it is purely home cooking, I’ll suggest using a pressure cooker to make the preparation.

1. To start with, add about 4 onions (150 gm) sliced in small segments, 25 gm garlic and 75 gm ginger ground into a paste, 150 gm sour curd, 1 teaspoon full each of turmeric and red chili powder, salt as necessary, and 2 tablespoon full of mustard oil to the meat and mix thoroughly. Keep it aside for close to an hour to marinade the meat in the concoction.
2. Put a pressure cooker on burner and add 1 tablespoon of mustard oil. When hot with light smoke emanating, sprinkle 2 onions cut into small segments and 1 teaspoon of sugar onto it and fry the onion until it becomes golden brown.
3. Pour the marinated meat into the pressure cooker and sauté it on medium burner flame for nearly 10 minutes. Sprinkle half cup of water (about 4 tablespoon) and put the lid on the pressure cooker.
4. Cook the meat on low flame until the first whistle. Put off the flame and wait till the steam is let off.
5. Open the lid and now add half teaspoon of garam masala paste (1 small cardamom and a small piece of cinnamon) and half teaspoon of ghee. Close the lid again and keep that way for 15 minutes before serving.

Depending on whether the meat is fresh, time will vary for it to become soft for eating. If need be, close the pressure cooker lid and cook the meat on low flame for not more than 5 minutes.

Here is a picture of mouthwatering kosha mangsho taken from Ananda Utsav.