Bihari Prepare The Delicious Champaran Meat With These Easy Steps
Champaran Meat is spicy, rich, and fragrant dish, with mutton that has soaked in all the flavour of the spices and mustard oil.
Champaran Meat, also referred to as Ahuna Meat, Handi Meat, or Batlohi, is a rustic and classic dish that originates in the Champaran district of the state of Bihar, India. The dish has found its place as a local symbol of food in the region, loved for its rich, smoky flavours and unusual preparation process of slow-cooking sealed in earthen pots. With time, it has crossed regional boundaries and is now well-liked in urban cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Pune, where food enthusiasts are keen to relish its earthy authenticity.
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Essentially, Champaran meat is a slow-cooked one-pot dish prepared mainly with mutton, although chicken versions can also be tried. The meat is marinated in a strong mix of mustard oil, ghee, ginger-garlic paste, onions, green chillies, and an assortment of freshly ground spices. This mixture gives the meat a pungent, aromatic flavour that intensifies during cooking. It is the special method of cooking that makes Champaran meat different from other Indian meat preparations. The marinated meat is put into a handi or clay pot, and a dough made from wheat flour is used to seal the mouth of the pot. Sealing the pot traps all the moisture and aroma inside and creates a pressure-cooking situation that gently breaks down the meat into tender, juicy goodness.
Another highlight of the dish is the cooking process over a wood fire. The handi is heated over a low fire, and the meat is left to cook for more than an hour. As it cooks, the handi is gently shaken at regular intervals without opening the seal so that the ingredients blend evenly. This process is what imparted the unique smokiness and intensity of flavour to the dish.
This dish is spicy, rich, and fragrant, with soft mutton that has soaked in all the flavour of the spices and mustard oil. It goes extremely well with plain rice, chapatis, or litti (another Bihari delicacy).
Ingredients
- 1 Kilogram Mutton
- 2 Cup Mustard Oil
- 2 Teaspoon Spicy Red Chilli Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 2 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- 4 Piece Whole Red Chillies
- 1 Inch Cinnamon
- 5 Piece Black Pepper Corns
- 4 Piece Green Cardamom
- 1 Piece Black Cardamom
- 2 Piece Bay Leaf
- 3 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 4 Piece Green Chillies (Slit)
- 500 Gram Onions
- Salt To Taste
- 1.5 Tablespoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 2 Piece Whole Garlic
- Fresh Coriander (For Garnish)
Cooking Instructions
Prepare The Mustard Oil: Heat the mustard oil in a pan until it begins to smoke. Once smoke appears, turn off the flame and cool the oil to room temperature. After cooling, divide the oil and put 60% for marinating the mutton and the remaining for cooking the handi.
Prepare The Handi: Using the remainder of 40% mustard oil, coat the inside base and sides of an earthen pot, or handi.
Add Ingredients: Add powdered spices, whole spices, ginger garlic paste, green chillies, and onions into the handi. Mix everything thoroughly with the mutton marinated in the mustard oil.
Seal The Handi: Place the lid over the handi and seal the edges with dough. Poke a tiny hole in the dough seal with a toothpick so the excess steam can escape during cooking.
Cook On Low Heat: Place the handi on the stove, and cook the mutton on low heat for at least an hour.
Shake Periodically: Every 15 minutes, carefully shake the handi to mix the contents. Always use a cloth to handle the hot handi during this process.
Rest After Cooking: After one hour of slow cooking, remove the handi from the stove and let it depressurise naturally for about 10–15 minutes.
Check And Final Cook (if needed): Open the lid carefully and check if the mutton is fully cooked and tender. If it’s not, simply reseal and cook again on low heat until done.
Garnish And Serve: Once the mutton is cooked to perfection, garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati or rice.
Summary
Prepare The Delicious Champaran Meat With These Easy Steps
Champaran Meat is spicy, rich, and fragrant dish, with mutton that has soaked in all the flavour of the spices and mustard oil.
Ingredients
- 1 Kilogram Mutton
- 2 Cup Mustard Oil
- 2 Teaspoon Spicy Red Chilli Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Powder
- 2 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- 4 Piece Whole Red Chillies
- 1 Inch Cinnamon
- 5 Piece Black Pepper Corns
- 4 Piece Green Cardamom
- 1 Piece Black Cardamom
- 2 Piece Bay Leaf
- 3 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 4 Piece Green Chillies (Slit)
- 500 Gram Onions
- Salt To Taste
- 1.5 Tablespoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 2 Piece Whole Garlic
- Fresh Coriander (For Garnish)
Main Procedure
Prepare The Mustard Oil: Heat the mustard oil in a pan until it begins to smoke. Once smoke appears, turn off the flame and cool the oil to room temperature. After cooling, divide the oil and put 60% for marinating the mutton and the remaining for cooking the handi.
Prepare The Handi: Using the remainder of 40% mustard oil, coat the inside base and sides of an earthen pot, or handi.
Add Ingredients: Add powdered spices, whole spices, ginger garlic paste, green chillies, and onions into the handi. Mix everything thoroughly with the mutton marinated in the mustard oil.
Seal The Handi: Place the lid over the handi and seal the edges with dough. Poke a tiny hole in the dough seal with a toothpick so the excess steam can escape during cooking.
Cook On Low Heat: Place the handi on the stove, and cook the mutton on low heat for at least an hour.
Shake Periodically: Every 15 minutes, carefully shake the handi to mix the contents. Always use a cloth to handle the hot handi during this process.
Rest After Cooking: After one hour of slow cooking, remove the handi from the stove and let it depressurise naturally for about 10–15 minutes.
Check And Final Cook (if needed): Open the lid carefully and check if the mutton is fully cooked and tender. If it’s not, simply reseal and cook again on low heat until done.
Garnish And Serve: Once the mutton is cooked to perfection, garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with chapati or rice.
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