Lamb & Pork

The most common variety of red meat on the Indian table is goat meat, more commonly known as mutton in India. Various parts of India, however, enjoy pork and beef as well. I have used lamb as a substitute for mutton in this book, as this is more readily available in our local grocery stores. In this chapter, I offer a selection of a few classic recipes which are in line with the prominence of red meat on the Indian table. Due to the complexity of cooking it, meat is more of a celebratory food in India, served for festive occasions. In Indian cooking, the preference is to use meat on the bone with most fat trimmed off. In cooler parts of the country such as the Kashmiri highlands, however, the fat is often incorporated in the cooking as an additional fortification against the cold.