Galouti was invented for a man who could no longer chew. The aging Nawab of Lucknow — by most tellings Wajid Ali Shah — had lost his teeth but not his appetite for meat, so his cooks built him a kebab that needed none: galouti, from gala, ‘soft enough to swallow.’ The fineness comes twice over, from meat minced almost to a paste and from raw papaya, whose enzymes (the gilawat) break the fibres down until the kebab collapses on the tongue. A long blend of ground spices does the flavouring — the legend says a hundred or more — and a coal smoked under a lid (the dhungar) lays charcoal over it; the mix is then patted into soft patties and shallow-fried on a tawa in ghee, never skewered, which is what separates a galouti from its skewered cousin the kakori. The dish was carried into the streets by Tunday Kababi, the one-armed Haji Murad Ali’s shop, and is eaten with ulta tawa paratha or sheermal. This version follows Salony’s CookBook, whose Awadhi galouti keeps to the spice-blend method and leaves out the coriander, chilli and mint that belong to a shami, not a galouti — an English-language record of a Lucknawi original.
INGREDIENTS
- 500 g lean mutton or goat leg (minced twice (very fine))
- 1 tbsp raw (green papaya paste, with skin)
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 3 tbsp fried onions (birista, ground to a paste)
- 2 tbsp roasted gram flour (besan)
- 1 tsp white pepper (ground)
- 1 tsp ground coriander (roasted)
- ½ tsp ground green cardamom
- ½ tsp ground mace
- ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp salt
- a pinch of saffron (soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk)
- 4 tbsp ghee (for frying)
- 1 piece lump charcoal (for the dhungar)
- sliced onion (lemon and ulta tawa paratha, to serve)
METHOD
- Mix the fine mince with the papaya paste, ginger-garlic paste, ground browned onions, white pepper, roasted coriander, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, cloves, Kashmiri chilli, garam masala, saffron milk and salt, working just until smooth.
- Rest a small steel bowl on the mince, drop in a glowing coal, spoon over a little ghee, cover for 3–4 minutes to smoke it (the dhungar), then remove the bowl.
- Work in the roasted gram flour, cover, and chill for at least an hour so it firms enough to shape.
- With lightly oiled hands, form the mince into small, flat patties.
- Warm the ghee on a tawa or wide pan over medium-low heat and fry the patties gently, turning once, until golden and just set, about 3–4 minutes a side.
- Lift out carefully, as they are fragile.
- Serve hot with sliced onion, lemon and ulta tawa paratha or sheermal.
