There are few things to love about a Mumbai summer. Most days it is stiflingly hot and/or humid and I spend a majority of my days sitting under the fan huffing and grumbling about the heat. But, the one thing I do love about this time of the year is the mangoes that flood the market. From the tart raw mango’s at the start of summer to the sweet Hapus to the king size Rajapuri’s and even the smaller ones that grow at my friend’s orchard – I love them all.
Usually I hate doing anything to my mango, be it a milkshake or an ice-cream. It’s just more fun sitting with a giant mango in front of me, juice dribbling down the chin as I suck the middle ‘gotla’ or seed dry of all its pulp. But, then I can’t run a Parsi blog where I don’t write about the mango all summer! It’s just not done.
I went through a ton of options of what I could make with my beloved mango. Perhaps a spiced mango jam? Or a Bafenu (a pickle made with whole ripe mango) ? But then I came across an old Facebook post of Kurush from Katy’s Kitchen who made a Pakki Keri ma Gos for a food festival last summer and my curiosity was piqued. Weird as it sounds, only a Parsi would think of combining mutton with mango!
You can always just mop up the gravy by itself instead of in a pie
When I mentioned trying to make the dish to #BawaGroom though he turned up his not so delicate Parsi nose at me. Who combines mango with mutton? I was determined to make it and change his mind so I thought why not give a twist to this Parsi classic and make a Keri and Gosht Pie!
I use store bought puff pastry for the pie but you’re free to make a shortcrust pie pastry for this as well. And, while I made a giant pie because I had a dish that was begging to be used, you can also make smaller puffs for tea-time as well.
First, you need to make the pie mix. Before you get started with this, marinate your mutton in some salt and ginger-garlic paste and cook it in the pressure cooker until tender. Set aside the stock. You also need to peel the mango and cut into big chunks.
Now, fry the onion until translucent and add in the cumin seeds, ginger-garlic paste and cloves. Stir for a minute and then add in the turmeric, chilli powder and sambhar masala and cook it until you get the aroma of the spices.
Shred the mutton you just cooked and add it into the spice mix along with mango (cubes as well as gotla) and about two big serving spoons of the mutton stock.
Also, add in the pepper, cardamom powder, jaggery and salt and let this mix cook on slow heat until the mango breaks down and all the moisture has evaporated – you want a spicy yet sweet filling.
While the mixture cooks, rub your pie tin with butter and roll out two big circles of the pastry.
Line the pie tin with the puff pastry and then fill it to the top with the mango and mutton mixture.
Top it with the second circle of pastry making sure you seal the edges well – you don’t want the heat escaping.
Top it with the second circle of pastry making sure you seal the edges well – you don’t want the heat escaping. Bake the pie at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden.
Cut into slices and serve hot!
To make an 8″ mango & mutton pie you will need:
250gm mutton cooked
2 serving spoons mutton stock
3 ripe mangoes peeled and cut into big chunks
2 onions chopped
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp black pepper powder
2 cloves
Pinch of cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Parsee Sambhar masala
1 tbsp chopped jaggery
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
200gm ready to roll puff pastry
Fasinating. What won’t we cook with gos? I heard recently of a recipe for kera ma gos (using tarvana kera), so keri ma gos is not a great leap.
Looks so yumm!