LAMB AND MOREL YAKHNI

LAMB AND MOREL YAKHNI WITH MISO RICE

BY PRATEEK SADHU

This is one of my favourite recipes at Masque: for one, it reminds me of home and my mother’s cooking—but it’s also a good representation of the restaurant’s journey since 2016, and where we found our stride. We usually serve it with cured egg yolks, celeriac XO and a fiery, fermented habanero chutney, which we make in-house, and cook the rice with a morel miso we developed at the Masque Lab. While you may not have these ingredients in a home kitchen, you can easily omit them and still end up with a dish full of comfort and soul—and really, what more can you ask for?

INGREDIENTS Lamb and morel yakhni

500g lamb 50g + 1 tbsp ghee 20g mustard oil 2 bay leaves 4 to 5 green cardamom pods 2 to 3 black cardamom pods 4 to 5 whole black peppercorns 5g fennel seeds 1 red onion, finely chopped 250g yogurt 15g ginger powder 40g fennel powder 100 g dried morels or dried mushrooms 350 ml water or stock, if omitting mushrooms Salt for seasoning

Method

Soak 100g dried morels in at least 300ml water or more, if needed – morels should be submerged for about 1 hour, until soft. Reserve 200ml soaking water for the rice, and 150ml of the water to use for the yakhni – this will be whisked into the yoghurt mixture later. In a pressure cooker, heat 50g ghee and mustard oil. Add the whole, dry spices - bay leaves, cardamom, peppercorns and fennel seeds; and toast lightly till fragrant. Add the finely chopped red onion and sauté. Season with salt. Add the lamb and sear lightly. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yoghurt, fennel powder, ginger powder, and 100ml of the reserved morel soaking liquid until smooth. Slowly add the yogurt mixture to the lamb, whisking continuously until evenly combined. Pressure cook for 2 to 3 whistles, until lamb is cooked through and tender. When cooked, remove the lid from the pressure cooker and add the whole, soaked morels to the yakhni. Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt as needed. To finish, stir 1 tbsp ghee into the yakhni. Serve hot with miso rice.

Miso rice

100g ambemohar rice or a short-grain varietal 200ml water reserved from soaking morels 15g morel miso 3 tbsp ghee, separated 2 bay leaves 2 green cardamom pods

Method

Rinse rice thoroughly in cold water; soak for 1 hour. In a pot, heat 1 tbsp ghee. Drain rice and add to pot with ghee. Toast the rice for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly; season with salt. In a separate bowl, mix 200ml of reserved morel water with the miso until fully dissolved. Add the water-miso mixture, bay leaves, and green cardamom pods to the rice. Cover and cook on a simmer for 15 to 18 minutes. Once cooked, fold in 2 tbsp ghee. Rest the rice for 5 minutes before serving.

Note

We cook the rice with a house-made morel miso, but any red (aka) miso would work just as well; if you can’t find any, simply omit the miso altogether. Same for the morels—they can be substituted with any dried mushroom, or left out, in which case proceed with the same quantity of vegetable/chicken stock or water.