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Shahi Paya Masala

Shahi Paya Masala

Mutton Paya Curry is a slow-cooked spicy and delicious curry made with lamb trotters served hot with tandoori naan, roti, or rice. Paya is an Urdu word that means mutton trotter or foot. Paya curry is not something that is included in our daily curries. It is considered as traditional food, cooked especially during festivals and huge gatherings. Special care is taken while cleaning the trotters in order to eliminate any unpleasant smell. A special blend of spices is also added to make the curry extremely flavorful and delicious. Paya are trotters/ feet of goat or lamb. Soups, stews & curries made from paya are usually consumed in India during winter months. With Persian influences this dish was adapted to what it is known today by Mughlai cooks all over the country primarily in Delhi, Lucknow & Hyderabad. They also believed it to have medicinal properties and are regularly recommended for nutritional purposes. Mughlai restaurants and small age old cafes serve this dish regularly but depending on where you visit there are quite a few preparations for Paya. A must do if your ever visiting India is to get to these café as early as possible. Once it is cooked & served; they are sold out in no time! Traditional paya cooking is a long and slow process, letting the meat cook through; fall off the bone and almost melt in your mouth. Enhancing the flavours further is the gelatinous fat, juicy bones and marrow melting through to form the base for a delicious stock giving a distinct taste and rich meaty gravy to the dish. Cooking paya is a lot quicker if you have a pressure cooker. The recipe below has been cooked with cooking timings based on using a sauce pan. The main thing to remember is how you clean it. If it is cooked with the skin, make sure to roast the trotters over a fire to burn off any loose hair (of course do be careful whilst doing this!). If you prefer you can ask your butcher to take the skin off and leave the little meat on with the bone.

Ingredients for Shahi Paya Masala

  • Steps for Shahi Paya Masala

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