Maghaz Masala

Maghaz Masala-
Maghaz means 'brain' and masala means 'spice'. This spicy brain fry is a famous lamb dish from Hyderabad. The thick, fiery gravy with juicy meat is a must try for every non-veg lover. The best way to enjoy this traditional Hyderabadi recipe is by eating it with your hands. And don't forget to lick your fingers in the end. 

Maghaz (Urdu: مغز‎; Bengali: মগজ; literally meaning brain) is an offal dish generally consisting of fried brain in spicy sauce found in the cuisines of India,Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The animal origin of the offal is usually dependent on the religion of those consuming it. While the Muslims of the subcontinent generally consume a diet rich in beef, lamb, and mutton; Hindus and Sikhsgenerally observe a diet without beef. Similar dishes made from pig's brain are also found in the Northeast of India and in Burma where pork is also consumed as part of the diet.

In Hyderabadi cuisine, Maghaz Masala (also known as Bheja Fry) is considered a delicacy. Maghaz Bhuna is a popular dish in Bangladeshi cuisine, which is cattle or sheep/goat brain sautéed in hot spices. Almonds and Pistachios are often added.

This dish is also called as Bheja fry in some places in hyderabad.

Just after the Qurbani on Eid-Ul-Adha, also called as Bakri Eid, muslims around the world, feast on red meat dishes, ranging from Biryanis, Nihari and many other kinds of its meat and organ meat preperations. Among them, Maghaz masala is one of the famous organ meat preperations, usually had as breakfast on Eid-ul-Adha after the Qurbani, which is easy to cook and most delicious. you will relish the excuisite and creamy flavor of the dish along with the sweet caramelized onions and spicy green chillies and fresh aromatic herbs.

Ingredients

Sheep’s brain – 2
Canola oil – 2 to 3 tbsp
Yellow Onion – 1, large, finely sliced
Ginger garlic paste – 1 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Green chillies – 4, finely chopped
Salt – to taste
Roasted coriander seeds powder – 1/2 tsp
Cilantro – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Lemon juice – 2 to 3 tsp

 

 Method:

• Bring about a litre of water to boil. Close the heat and dip the whole brains into the hot water for about 2-3 minutes. Remove the brains from the water gently using a slotted spoon, and throw away the water. Wear gloves, carefully remove the membrane adhering to the brain and as many nerves as possible. You can also ask your butcher to do this. Once the brain is clean (it wont matter if a few nerves are till attached to the brain), cut it into bite size pieces. Keep aside.
• Pour oil into a medium sized non-stick frying pan and as soon as it gets warm, add the sliced onions and salt and fry them on a medium high, with a careful eye so thet you do not burn them, until they are golden brown in color.
• Lower the heat to medium low and add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, coriander seed powder and green chillies, red chilli powder. Stir fry till a nice aroma comes, for about a minute or so, then add the cubed brain pieces and gently mix well. Add about half cup of water and mix it all gently with a rubber spatula. Cover the pan with a lid and let cook for around 5 minutes.
• Remove the lid, stir fry for a minute more, until no water is left and it is mostly dry and well cooked. Serve onto a platter and garnish with cilantro, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Enjoy it warm.

Hyderabadi Marag

Hyderabadi Marag:
Hyderabadi Marag or Marag is a spicy mutton soup served as a starter in Hyderabad, India and part of Hyderabadi cuisine. It is prepared from tender mutton with bone. It is thin soup. The soup has become one of the starters at Hyderabadi weddings.

I have never had Marag before. It is a hyderabadi soup / curry especially served during weddings as a soup or with sheermal and rumali roti. It is of Arabic origin and adapted to Indian taste by adding additional flavors.
My friend has been mentioning Marag on several occasions and now that I am on a cooking spree I thought I should give it a go. It was delicious and so filling. It was also very rich and heavy. I will keep this for special occasions or when requested by my husband again. It is worth making as it tastes really very good. I do not eat a lot of spice. I cut down the spice level than called for in the recipe but I will be posting the recipe as is. You can decide on the spice level accordingly.

Here is the recipe.

It is prepared in 2 stages.

Ingredients :

Step 1:
Mutton - 250 gms (with bone)
Ginger garlic Paste - 1.5 Tablespoons
Turmeric Powder a pinch
Black Peppercorns - 1 Teaspoon
Caraway seeds (Shahzeera) - 1/2 Teaspoon
Coriander Leaves - 6 Tablespoons chopped
Mint Leaves - 3 Tablespoons
Salt to Taste
Water - 4 cups

Step 2:
Onion - 1/2 medium size sliced finely and fried to golden brown then ground to a paste
Coconut - 2 Tablespoons desiccated or shredded and then roasted
Cashew nut - 5 ground to a paste
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 Tablespoon
Green Chilli - 3 ground to a paste (I used only 1)
Cinnamon - 1.2 inch
Cardamom - 2
Coriander Powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Cumin powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Garam Masala - 1/2 Teaspoon
Pepper Powder - 1/2 Teaspoon
Cooking Oil - 2 Tablespoons
Ghee (Clarified Butter) - 1 Teaspoon
Yogurt - 100 grams
coriander leaves - 2 Tablespoons chopped
Water as required
Salt to taste
Method :
1. Clean and wash the mutton pieces. Remove all the water and add it to a pressure cooker with all the ingredients under step 1. I first pressure cooked for 5 minutes (whistles for 5 minutes) with 2.5 cups of water. Then again pressure cooked for 5 minutes (whistles for 5 minutes) with 1.5 cups of water.
2. In a non-stick cooking vessel, heat oil (you can use oil in which you fried onions) and ghee.
3. Add the cinnamon and cardamon and fry for a minute
4. Add  the ginger garlic paste and the green chilli paste. Stir well and fry till the ginger garlic paste starts to turn brown.
5. Add the onion paste, cashew paste and the roasted coconut.
6. Fry till oil starts separating. At any stage if you suspect burning or sticking to the bottom then add water by tablespoons at a time.
7. Add coriander leaves and yogurt and start frying / stirring on low flame for about 30 minutes. The marag will be tastier as much as it is fried this way. Keep adding water little by little whenever there is any sticking or burning.
8. After about 15-20 minutes of frying, add the coriander powder, cumin powder and the garam masala powder and keep stirring.
9. After 5 minutes, add the pepper powder and salt.
10. Finally add the cooked meat along with all the soup which you had cooked using step 1 ingredients.
11. Adjust the water consistency according to requirement and boil for about 5 minutes.
12. Marag is ready. Serve as a soup or with any type of bread like rumali roti, naan etc.

                                     

Enjoy Marag!!