Roast-Meat Salad with Citron and Ginger
अङ्गारभृष्टकं मांसं शुद्धे पट्टे निधापयेत् । कर्तर्या तिलशः कृत्वा मातुलिङ्गस्य केसरैः ॥ ७६ ॥ आर्द्रकैः केसराम्लैश्च गृञ्जनैस्तत्प्रमाणकैः । जीरकैर्मरिचैः पिष्टैर्हिङ्गुसैन्धवचूर्णकैः ॥ ७७ ॥ मिश्रयित्वा तु तन्मांसं हिङ्गुधूपेन वासयेत् ।
He should set ember-roasted meat down on a clean board and cut it with a knife to the fineness of sesame seeds. Then, having mixed that meat with the kesara of the citron, with fresh ginger, with kesarāmla, with gṛñjana cut to that same size, with ground cumin and pepper, and with powdered asafoetida and rock salt, he should scent it with asafoetida smoke.
This is a meat salad. It’s unclear what the kesarāmla or the gṛñjana are. The former, perhaps, is related to the citron, the latter some form of allium. I’ve used spring onions here.
Ingredients
- 500 g cooked grilled lean meat: pork loin, lamb leg or loin, or goat
- 1 lemon, peeled — juice squeezed out and the pulp finely chopped
- 15 g fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp rock salt
- 15 g ghee
- ¼ tsp asafoetida
Method
- Chop the meat by hand until the pieces are about the size of sesame seeds. Cut the ginger and spring onion to match.
- Mix with the lemon pulp and juice, ginger, spring onion, cumin, pepper, and salt.
- Heat the ghee until hot, stir in the asafoetida and let it bloom for a few seconds, then pour it over the meat. Toss and serve.
Notes
- The text calls for asafoetida twice, in two forms: powdered and mixed into the meat along with the rock salt (1477), and then again as smoke — hiṅgu-dhūpa, asafoetida incense — to perfume the finished dish (1478). I have not yet worked out how to practically achieve the latter effect in my kitchen.