If you like your desi ghee – and I have to confess that I am the general secretary of the All India Desi Ghee Lovers’ Association – then it’s time for you to visit Ashok & Ashok Meat Dhaba in Connaught Circus. They cook a delicious dish of mutton and chicken in desi ghee.
Ashok & Ashok is now like a brand name. Or you can even say that it is the name of a dish. I had my first meal at the original Ashok and Ashok in Sadar Bazar eons ago. It was a meal that I still recall with pleasure. I sat on a cot outside the small eatery. A plate of their rich mutton curry was placed in front of me, and a server kept up the supply of small, hot rotis garnished with coriander leaves.
Regular readers will remember the story of Ashok and Ashok. They were two friends, who were known in the locality as two strong men. Every evening, they would sit together and cook something – usually a meat dish – which was so mouth wateringly good that somebody suggested that they open an eatery. They did, and it became an instant success.
I remember people coming from far flung places to taste their meat curries. Once when I was there, some people told me that they had come all the way from Ambala for the food.
The two Ashoks are no more, but they have left their legacy – and a host of relatives – behind. I went to a restaurant in Gujranwala Town which was run by some of the relatives, and then to one in West Patel Nagar some years ago. This eatery in CP is a new one (they have outlets in Sarojini Nagar and Vasant Kunj), and the owners say they were related to the one of the late Ashoks.
Well, they have certainly picked up the recipe. I had their meat curry for dinner one evening, and found that it was almost as good as the original, though perhaps a bit hotter than what I ate at Sadar.
Juicy pieces
It’s the desi ghee that gives a delightful kick to the dish. That, and the fact that the gravy is cooked with minced meat. It’s not exactly like rara meat, where the gravy again consists of minced meat. This is different because the meat dish has the minced pieces in a runny gravy, which goes beautifully well with hot rotis. The colour of the gravy – a vivid red – is rather appealing, too. The meat pieces were substantially large – and nicely cooked and juicy.
The original Ashoks told me once that they used the best of ingredients for their meat curry, because of which the rates were high. The new restaurant in CP has a fixed rate for all its dishes – mutton curry, chicken curry and biryani. A quarter plate (with two pieces of meat) costs Rs. 300; a half plate with four pieces is for Rs.580 and a full plate with eight pieces is for Rs. 1100. If you eat in the restaurant, the rotis are free; if you pack them, they cost Rs.5 a piece.
Ashok & Ashok states that it opens at 11.30. But I went there one day at 1 p.m., and found that the curries hadn’t reached the shop. I think the food comes in only around 1.30 or so.
But the wait was worth it. I dipped a piece of a roti into my meat curry, and fondly remembered the two friends. I guess they are up there somewhere, standing by a celestial cauldron, and making all the denizens of the big sky happy.
