Bhūṣikā
आमं मांसं च पेषण्यां हिङ्गुतोयेन सेचितम् ॥ ७८ ॥ लवणेन च चूर्णेन संहितं पेषयेद्बुधः । पिष्टवच्चिकणं कृत्वा गोलकानि प्रकल्पयेत् ॥ ७९ ॥ चूर्णीकृतं तु यन्मांसं गोलकैस्तद्विवेष्टयेत् । चूर्णगर्भांश्च वटकान्प्रक्षिपेदाणके शुभे ॥ १४८० ॥ ख्यातास्ते मांसवटका रुच्या दृश्या मनोहराः । त एव वटकास्तैले पक्वाः स्युर्भूषिकाभिधाः ॥ ८१ ॥
And raw meat, sprinkled with asafoetida water on the grinding stone and joined with salt and with spice powder, the learned man should grind. Having made it sticky like dough, he should form it into balls. But the meat that has been reduced to cūrṇa — that he should wrap up in the balls; and the vaṭakas so given cūrṇa bellies he should throw into a good pan. These are renowned as the māṃsa-vaṭakas: tasty, handsome to look at, delightful. Those same vaṭakas, cooked in oil, are the ones called bhūṣikās.
Meatballs stuffed with meat…
Ingredients
For the filling
- 300 g of the Roast-Meat Salad, made as in 1476–77
For the casing
- 500 g finely minced lamb, goat, or pork
- ¼ tsp asafoetida dissolved in 30 ml water
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
To cook
- Sesame oil or neutral oil, for frying
Method
- Work the mince by hand with the asafoetida-water, salt, cumin, and pepper until it is smooth, tacky, and holds together like a stiff dough.
- Divide the paste into 10, and the filling into 10 portions of about 30 g. Flatten each piece of paste in a wet palm, put a portion of filling in the middle, close the paste over it, seal the seam, and pat it down even.
- Shallow-fry over medium heat, in enough oil to come a third of the way up, turning every couple of minutes until browned all over and the casing reads 71°C — 10–12 minutes.