Me, Shahid Afridi and Brother-in-Law's Bhunna Gosht

The sun is out, the birds are singing and everybody's happy.  Except for poor Kenya.  They certainly got a thrashing at the hands of Pakistan in yesterday's World Cup match!  However, at the start it looked like my lovely lads were doomed when they began their innings with a dismal 12/2.  I was on the verge of tears, I tell you!  TEARS!!!  But Younis Khan came to the rescue with a handy half-ton and Kamran Akmal scored a big fat number of runs, too.  Right on Kamran!  (Now that's something you don't hear me saying often!)

Then Misbah ul Haq scored a great 65 and Man of the Match Umar Akmal scored a massive 71 in 52 balls.  How flipping awesome is that? 
And then there's even more!  I could only stay awake to watch Pakistan's innings last night (I need my beauty sleep or else I look like Dame Edna, see pic of a tired me out on a date with ShaneWarne recently),　

Warnie doesn't mind so much when I look tired, but I'd rather look "fresh" with a good night's sleep.

but my jaw dropped this morning when I saw Shahid Afridi's bowling stats!!!  5 Kenya scalps for 16!  Whoa pilgrim!  I wish I'd been able to stay awake for that and I can't believe I missed it!  Shahid Afridi is The Man....The Good Man!  Pakistan Zindabaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!


And now for the cooking part of my post.  After a victory like that, Pakistan is going to need their strength and a little spice to secure a win against their next opponent, the sweet Sri Lanka team.  Hence, today I'm going to show you my Brother -in-Law's Bhunna Gosht, complete with pictures and instructions from the Boss of Bhunna, the Sultan of Salans, my Brother-in-Law.


Bhunna


My brother-in-law is a fiercely private person, so I'm not going to name him.  He was incredibly nice enough to write this bhunna gosht instruction manual for my blog today, so a big shout out goes to him.  Thanks!  And now, go get ready my kitchen commandoes, we've got a job to do.


BHUNNA GHOOSHT RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
1) 1 pound –Beef/Lamb or Goat Meat
  


2)½ Onion –Thinly Sliced
3)3 to 4 Roma Tomatoes –Blended or Thinly Sliced
4)1 Tablespoon –Garlic (paste)
5)1 Tablespoon –Ginger (paste)
6)Green Chili as many as desired
7)1 Teaspoon –Red Chili Powder
8)1 Teaspoon –Salt (or suit to taste)9)½ Teaspoon –Turmeric Powder

10)Oil –Enough to cover bottom of pan
USE MEDIUM HEAT UNLESS OTHERWISE SUGGESTED


Notes:  If The Onion Is On The Large Side,Use 1/3 Of The Onion Instead Of Half.  Lamb Or Goat Meat  With Some Bones Is Preferred. Beef Without Any Bones Will Not Taste As Good.  In The Picture Above, Use The Tablespoon As A Reference Of Onion And Tomato Portions.


COOKING


1.Place the garlic and ginger paste in a glass or container.
2.Add a little water to just cover the tops of the garlic and ginger paste, see picture below.
3.Slice the onions thinly.  Adding more onions may result in poor results.
4.Blend the tomatoes to a puree or thinly slice them
5.Add oil to the pan along with the onions, no need to heat the oil first. It is highly recommended that enough oil is added so that the onions can sufficiently fry.  Excess oil can be drained easily once the dish is done.  Adding a little oil will cause the oil to be absorbed into the curry and proper formation of the curry (known as bhunna) will not happen.


6.Fry the onions in medium heat till golden brown.


7.Once the onions are golden brown:
     A.Tilt the pan to pool the oil on one side
     B.Separate the fried onions from the oil.
     C.Carefully squeeze or push the onions along the wall of the pan to remove any   excess oil.
8.Removethe onions from the pan and place them with the tomatoes in a blender.
     A.This step can be skipped of no blender is available, however for a more consistent sauce this step is crucial.

9.Place the cooking pan away from the burner or turn off the fire meanwhile.
　
10.Blend the tomato and fried onion mixture until smooth.

11.Place the cooking panback on the burner and let the oil reheat, 1 minute or so.
12.Add all the powdered spices (chili, salt and turmeric) into the oil and fry for 1 minute or so, or till you slightly see smoke rising.

13.Next add the garlic and ginger paste from step 1 into the cookingpan.

14.Fry the garlic and ginger paste till all the moisture is gone. You can tell this when you no longer see steam rising from the mixture. At this point you will clearly see the oil separating from the garlic, ginger and spice mix, which is a good sign.

　
15.When all the moisture has gone from step 12, add the blended tomato and fried onions into the cooking pan.

16.As with previous step, cook the mix till most of the water in the cooking pan has disappeared. Approximate time for this is around 10 minutes or so.



17.As the watercontent in the cooking pan reduces, the separation of oil from the sauce will once again become apparent (assuming sufficient oil is used).See pictures below.

 18.  Add the meat into the cooking pan and cook for 5 minutes or so.

19.After frying, the separation of oil will be apparent.

20.Add 1 ½ cups of water to the mixture.
21.Add the wholegreen chilies.
　
REGULAR COOKING PAN –SEE FOLLOWING STEPS


22.After adding 1 ½ cups of water, cover and bring the mixture to a full boil.
23.Once boiling, reduce the heat and cook till the meat is tender. Depending on the type of meat it may take from 1 to 1.5 hours to be fully tender.
24.DONE



PRESSURE COOKER –SEE FOLLOWING STEPS


22.After adding 1 ½ cups of water, cover and bring the mixture to pressure
23.Once brought to pressure, reduce the heat to low and cook for approximately 30 minutes.
24.DONE


A Beautiful Bhunna is Now Yours!

NOTE:
Consistency of the sauce can be adjusted by adding more water if too thick or cooking uncovered till enough moisture has evaporated.


So there you have it, a lovely Bhunna Gosht to help our lovely lads beat the cr*pnitz out of the Sri Lankans!  Have a good one, and good luck, let me know how it goes!  Thanks again to my bro-in-law!


Happy Cricket, and Happy Cooking!