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If you have ever been to Mumbai’s famous Mohammed Ali Road during the holy month of Ramadan, then you would be familiar with a plethora of Iftari dishes served there. From kebabs of a wide varieties to celebratory dishes like haleem and biryani, the popular vendors on the street sell all the favourites you can eat. One of the rarest of culinary gems offered here and on other such centres of delicious food during Ramadan is Mutton Taka Tak.
Sounds like a delicious dish made of mutton and spices, doesn’t it? While that’s precisely what Mutton Taka Tak is, there is a lot more to the dish too. Legend has it that the dish originally comes from the streets of Lahore and Karachi, now in Pakistan but previously a part of India. Mutton Taka Tak is a no-waste, nutritious and sustainable dish that utilizes offal as well as the fleshy bits of mutton. Usually, mutton brains or bheja, kidney or gurda, testicles or sweet breads or kapoora, liver or kaleji, heart or dil and keema from the chops are used to prepare Mutton Taka Tak.
Here’s another interesting detail about Mutton Taka Tak that you might not have known. The name Taka Tak is a play on the words Kata Kat, which resembles the sound that spatulas or blades make while the mutton offal and meat pieces are being chopped up. This refers to the signature style used to make Mutton Taka Tak—on a wide, flat tawa with spatulas and blades used to chop up the ingredients as they are cooking, which induces a sense of frying and mincing at the same time.
Despite sounding rather complicated, making Mutton Taka Tak at home is quite easy. The recipe does not call for any spices that are difficult to source. All you need are fresh mutton offal—brains, kidneys, sweet breads, liver, heart and mince—to prepare the dish. Adding butter to the dish always makes it richer and tastier, so it is definitely an ingredient you shouldn’t miss. Once cooked, you should serve the Mutton Taka Tak hot with a side of pav bread.
This recipe is clearly a must-have during Ramadan. Here’s the Mutton Taka Tak recipe you need to make the dish at home for Iftar today.
Image courtesy: Facebook/Mughal Mahal Hotel
Ingredients:
150 g mutton mince or keema
1 mutton brain
3 mutton kidneys or gurda
2 mutton sweet breads or kapoora
3 onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp garam masala powder
½ tsp allspice powder
½ tsp aniseed powder
Salt, to taste
1 cup water
1 tbsp ginger, julienned
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 green chilli, slit
2 tbsp oil or ghee
1 tbsp butter
Method:
1. Clean the mutton brain, kidneys and sweet breads.
2. Heat oil or ghee in a wok, then add the onions and ginger garlic paste.
3. Mix well and cook until the onions are brown.
4. Now, add the mutton mince, brains, kidneys and sweet breads and mix well.
5. Add coriander powder, cumin powder, red chilli powder, garam masala powder, allspice powder and aniseed powder.
6. Mix and continue to saute, then add the salt.
7. Add the water now and cover and cook until the mutton is done.
8. Now, add the butter and continue frying the Mutton Taka Tak until it is rich and ready.
9. While frying the meat, use one or two spatulas to chop up the pieces, making the signature kata kat sound.
10. Serve with a garnish of ginger, green chillies and coriander leaves.
