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benazir's blog

Batung Aur Gosht (Asian Pear With Meat)

Actually I want to apologize for the flash being to bright on my camera. I think photgraphy has come a long way though. I used to have a blue electric zip camera by poloroid I think. My dad got it for me for a Christmas present and someone stole it. I was furious. I remember the earliest pics I have taken with my dad by the window and it was a shadow and I was told I made a shadow picture without knowing it. However this present camera I have now is great that I use for blogging and it is helping me a lot because I do not have to monopolize my phone space. Great thing it has an sd card built right in too. This camera is amazing.

Also now we are getting down to business. This a strictly a Peshawar area dish that is very much unknown to any other region in Pakistan. My Lala was Peshawri. Lala was my father in law. Yes the batung is available here in Chicago at at Cermac grocery store. At first I thought I had posted this very recipe I am writing about now but I seen I had actually posted along with my batung aur chana ki dal recipe but I seen I hadn’t and now I am writing about this right now. Before you get started you will need to make Garam Masala. This lovely dish also got cooked in my instant pot which is a huge timesaver.

First of all take a look at the cooker and make sure there is the condinsation collector in the back which is attached. Check your pressure cook lid to make sure that everything is in order and the gasket and everything else is in place before using and when in dought check your owners manual. When everything looks right you can use your cooker.

When this dish is done the meat and the Asian pear which the batung is called in English is soft. Now you can start cooking and this can be done on stovetop pressure cooker too as well but the instant pot in my opinion is very safe. Add 1/4 cup of either corn canola vegetable or olive oil with 2 tbs of butter ghee with the sautè function on high and add 1 onion or shallot with 4 garlic cloves chopped. Cook until brown and add 1 pinch of pink salt the garam masala you made in advance. In same mortar and pestle add 1 pinch each of black cumin, shai zeera which are caraway seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, 3 kabab chini, 1 kashmiri chili to grind in to a coarse powder and add this too the spicy onion mix.

Add 1 pinch each of paprika, turmeric, red chili powder, 2 aloo bukhara and stir. Add 1 chopped green chili, stir and chop 1 tomato and keep stirring until the tomato becomes mushy. Add 1lb or 1 kg of either lamb, goat, beef, oxtails or even beef shortribs. Wash and chop 3 Asian pears. Cut in the half first then cut in to quarters and slice it to expose the core and just remove the seeds in the middle of the Asian pear slices like you would do an apple like I described better to avoid wasting this lovely fruit. Add 2 liters or 1/2 gallon of water to the meat and Asian pears mix to almost like makeing a soup. Keep in mind this is more like a stew. Press cancel to turn your cooker off if still on sautè function, Stir and place your pressure cooker lid on the cooker itself. You will hear a jingle as it is locking in to position and make sure it is on sealing. Select pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. From here you can either do natural release or press the quick release button depending on how hungry you are.

Do not forget to place the steam diverter on the cooker before doing this step. However if using a stovetop pressure cooker on high heat and add the kind of oil you prefer which I used vegetable and add your required amount of butter ghee and proceed with the onion or shallot with the garlic along with the steps in the instant pot method. Add everything else like the masala and tomato and cooking until it gets mushy the aloo bukhara then the batung meat and water and make sure the pressure cooker lid from the stovetop is in good working order and if everything is ok then go ahead and place the lid on the cooker while it is still on high heat let the float button pop up and set the timer for 30 minutes while reducing heat to medium high which is enough to maintain pressure. When time is up turn the heat off and let the cooker release pressure on its own. After pressure is released then you can safely open the cooker. I checked it and the meat and Asian pear was nice and soft. Also it was extremely inviting and Mr. Riaz’s favorite dish. Enjoy this with lassi and naan.

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