Cooking with Ma (Pt.2) - salans

Many Indian-Pakistani “curries”, or salans as they’re called, consist of a meat & vegetable in a rich, brown gravy, which isn’t exactly photogenic in the way that sushi is, but tasty nonetheless. While they all have a similar appearance, their tastes vary considerably, and so I asked my mom how these myriad of salans could taste so different from one another, when their method for cooking and basic spice makeup is pretty much the same. Turns out very subtle changes can make a world of differences (go figure). For example, aloo gosht (potato/meat) differs significantly in taste from shalgam gosht (turnip/meat), largely due to the vegetable, in that turnip has a slightly bitter quality (that’s offset by the addition a little sugar) which changes the overall flavour profile. A concept that I’m sure is familiar to all cuisines.

Our household’s approach to spicing is simplistic, in that we primarily utilize 4 main ones: coriander, cayenne, turmeric, salt (which don’t think is technically a spice). And then, of course, garlic and ginger, when appropriate. After that, it’s the same basic method – brown onions, then meat with garlic/ginger, add spices, and cook until the onions have basically dissolved and a thick, rich, brown paste is created. Other approaches involve using a dozen different spices, and I’ve noticed that these recipes are prevalent in cookbooks, as opposed to the minimalist approach. Mom tells me that the complex spicing is generally an Indian style, whereas using only a few spices is typical in Pakistan. Don’t get me wrong, both are good, just different.

A salan like nehari, on the other hand, has a complex blend of spices by default. I got a little 101 in both the simplisticly spiced salan (aloo gosht), and the complex (nehari). I have no idea how to use a camera, but I do know that these pictures came out far more bright than the actual appearance.

Here's the beginnings of aloo gosht. The term for this is to bhoon, and browning isn't exactly the English equivalent -- I've been told there really isn't an equivalent.


Addition of taters:


And the final product (terrible photo, I realize):


And the nehari (no process photos, unfortunately):


Unfortunately, I don't have the listing of spices, which Mom had already prepared a stash of, but she'll dig it up when she has a free moment. She also told me that I could use the commercially available spice preparations (ie. Shan, National, Laziza), but that I should be leery of their recipes, as adjustments are often necessary.

regards,
Nab

They both look delicious. I'd love to see the list of spices when your mom has time. What were the main ingredients in the nehari? It certainly looks quite different from the other dish, and it's interesting to know about the different spicing techniques for the two salans. (ie., complex vs. simple)

Thanks for the post!

Another score for the Home Team! Keep em commin' Nabber!