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Pasanda is a popular Indian curry dish made with boneless lamb marinated in yogurt and spices like coriander, turmeric, and ginger. It is sautéed with traditional spices like cardamom and cloves and served with bread or rice. The dish originated during the Mughal rulership of northern India and can also be made with shrimp or chicken. Vegetarian versions use eggplant or paneer.
Of the many curry dishes originating in India, pasanda is perhaps one of the most accessible to all palates. Meaning “pleasure” or “favourite” in Hindi, this dish has several iterations, but perhaps the most common is the version with boneless lamb, marinated in yoghurt and a complex blend of vegetables like onion and tomato and Indian spices like coriander, turmeric, ginger and even chilli for some heat. This is then sautéed with several more traditional spices such as cardamom, cumin, bay leaf, cloves and garam masala. When the meat is cooked, it is usually served with bread or rice.
The Mughal rulership of northern India and parts of modern Pakistan once revered pasanda as a way to elevate its best cuts of meat. Even in 2011, the tradition continues with this curry which is in the ranks of the same in the country. Lamb is the traditional protein in this dish, but recipes for shrimp or chicken pasanda are not uncommon.
The cooking process begins by doing justice to the meat. This often includes cutting them into thick strips and beating them with a meat mallet. Then, it gets a long marinade in the refrigerator — at least a few hours, but overnight — in a mixture that will help form the cooking sauce later. The marinade contains ingredients such as yogurt, salt, ginger, ground almonds, paprika, coriander, turmeric and fresh chiles, minced garlic and onion. Often, for a spicier dish, cooks add chili powder and some chopped fresh chilies.
It doesn’t take much to finish the pasanda after marriage. It involves sautéed butter, or Middle Eastern ghee called ghee, with more spices like bay leaf, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom and cloves, plus more chopped onion. In this caramelized mixture go the meat, the marinade and a little more water. The dish can be served once the meat is cooked through and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. Some also add coriander and the Indian spice blend of garam masala at the end of the cooking process – a complex blend of dried spices such as star anise, fennel, garlic, ginger, sesame, chilli, mustard, coriander and turmeric.
The vegetarian versions of pasanda leave out the meat, of course, in favor of more greens like eggplant or squash. Another style uses the Indian style of cottage cheese called paneer. All versions, vegetarian or not, are served with rice or picked on Indian bread called roti.
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