Monday, February 21, 2011

Aattu Kudal Kuzhambu (Lamb Intestine Gravy )


Since this is a chettinad food cookery blog and many searches for the traditional chettinad non veg in this blog ,I want to blog almost all traditional non veg items even though we don’t cook them often or never at home. This recipe is one of that sort.
In chettinad there is a practice of group prayer to the ancestors once in a year .This is known as padappu in this region. In some family group there is a practice of offering goat to the ancestors. Then the meat is cooked and served to the members. So they use each and every part of the goat using special recipes for each part.
I come to know that aattu kudal has much medicinal value. But I always have wondered how to clean it. In the mutton shops in our town, I have seen people waiting for the goat to be ready to get the kudal.
Once in Kairali TV, I saw a show called Magic Oven conducted Dr.Lakshmi Nair about this recipe. She interviewed a cook in Nagerkovil about this recipe and showed a demo of this by the cook. From that day I thought of trying out this recipe.
In a small hotel (mess) run by Nagerkovil people in our town we get this curry known as Boati. We used to get that from there and is very good in taste.
I enquired my servant whether she knows to clean it and she said that her grand mom who is 75 year old only know that. I asked her to bring her Grand mom one Sunday and went to the mutton shop .You don’t believe, I saw 6 people waiting there for this. The butcher told me that if I wait for 2 hours I may get a chance to get one. I gave the money in advance and told him that I will come in an hour to get it. Somehow I managed to get it that day. Seeing that I was really worried about how we are going to clean it.
The old lady was pretty sure of cleaning it. Kudal was like a bag. Inside that the tubular structures were there. The butchers will clean the tubes once and put inside that bag (big intestine).
Cleaning lamb intestine
The lady asked me to keep water in a vessel and boil. I boiled the water and she put the whole bag inside that water and closed it for 10 minutes .After 10 minutes she removed it from water and took out the tubular structure and kept aside. She brushed the surface of the outer bag with a brush and the thick small thorn like surface layer peeled off from the bag and it became skin like. She washed it nicely and kept aside. Now she took the tubular structure.
She took each tube and showed under running water till the tubes are completely clean. The water from the tap came through the tubes clearly. She too took nearly 20 minutes to clean the tubes. I don’t think that I will have that much patience.
Next was the cutting part. I knew that I have to make the pieces very small. I tried to cut the bag first. It was very slippery. The lady turned the bag inside out and now it was easy to cut. The tubes also had to be patiently cut into small pieces. After cutting the tubes she washed it again nicely and they became very very clean. Now only I was sure that the whole thing is clean and started my hand in making the gravy.
Ingredients
Kudal (Cleaned and cut 1)
Small onion- 20
Big onion chopped -1
Chili powder -1 table spoon
Coriander powder -1 tablespoon
Turmeric powder-1 teaspoon
Thick coconut milk-100 Gms (1/2 cup)
Roasted cumin powdered -2 teaspoons
Curry leaf –little
Procedure
Pressure cook the cut kudal pieces for 10 minutes with 1 ½ cups of water and a teaspoon of turmeric powder. After cooking remove the cooked water. This will help to get rid of the excess non veg smell. If you like the smell you can use that water while making the gravy. I discarded that water.
Keep a kadai in the stove. In two tablespoons of oil season the curry with a teaspoon of cumin seed and curry leaf. Sauté the onions nicely .Add turmeric powder and sauté. Keep the stove in medium flame and add chili powder and coriander powder. Now add the cooked kudal pieces. Mix everything nicely. Add a cup of water and the salt needed. Close the kadai and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes add coconut milk and cook for 2 minutes. Before switching off the stove add the roasted cumin powder. Garnish with coriander leaves if desired.

Some tips of buying and storing lamb meat which I browsed from the net.
Buying & Storing Facts
The quality of lamb should be ensured before buying. You need to make sure that the tender flesh is pink in color, firm and with a fine texture.
The fat surrounding the lamb should be white in color. Don’t purchase it if the fat is crumbling, yellow or tough, as these are the characteristics of old meat.
A younger lamb can be identified with a blue tinge on the knuckle. A pale color, ranging from pink to light red, is also one of the traits of a young lamb.
Some lambs are also available in different grades, like prime, select and choice. The prime and choice grades of lamb are both flavorful and tender; however they possess a higher fat content.
Like most of the other meats, lamb too is highly perishable and needs to be refrigerated as soon as possible, in the original store packaging.
It is preferred to store and use lamb as per the ‘Use by’ date mentioned on the pack, to avoid its unhealthy intake. If dates are not mentioned on the pack, the different parts of the lamb like lamb roasts and chops can be kept for 3 to 5 days in refrigerator, while ground lamb can stay for not more than 2 days.
If you have bought more than one lamb, the best way to save it is by wrapping it tightly with aluminum foil or freezer paper. This will allow storage of ground lamb for 3 to 4 months and roasts and chops for about 6 to 9 months.

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