My Mom was a very good cook. Anything she cooked was amazing. We all loved to eat. We seldom asked how she turned out these delicious meals. I watched when she cooked. It looked so easy. I thought I can do this too. The ingredients she used were, slices of beef ,same size potatoes, onions were sliced thin,the tomatoes were thin slices too. In addition she used whole dry peppers,peppercorn and cinnamon sticks,there were whole cloves,salt,yoghurt and oil or clarified butter.
She used a round pot for this amazing dish. She had the ingredients in separate bowls. The layering of these ingredients was carefully done. she put a tablespoon of oil or clarified butter in the pot and spread it evenly. She carefully laid the beef ,followed by three or four dry red peppers, a few peppercorns, some cloves,salt, and one or two half inch cinnamon sticks. Then potatoes were layered on top making sure they covered the meat, onions went on top and tomatoes on the top layer. On each layer the oil and the yoghurt mixed with ground ginger,garlic ground cumin and ground coriander was spread as well. If she had some ingredients left, she’d repeat the layering. When everything was neatly in the pot, she put the cover on.
It was put on a charcoal stove, to give it the effect of an oven,she put hot charcoal on the cover. It took about an hour. When the lid was taken off,the aroma made us rush to the dining room. We didn’t need any bells!