Dark-skinned like a moonless night, wreathed with a garland of severed heads, eyes afire with bloodlust and the fog of war, and a long, lolling tongue reddened with blood, Kali — the destroyer of demons — is the fierce and ferocious incarnation of the mother goddess worshipped by Bengalis. Kali Pujo, or the ritual worship of Kali, is one of Bengal's more ambiguous religious festivals, and historically involved the sacrificial offering of animals like goat, lamb, or buffalo.

Bengalis believe that these offerings please the goddess immensely, and bali, or ritual animal slaughter, continues to be an important part of Kali Pujo even today. Goats are now the most commonly used live animals sacrificed to the goddess, and the meat of the slaughtered animal is later cooked and offered to the goddess as part of her bhog or votive offering. This meat, traditionally cooked without onion and garlic, is oxymoronically known as 'niramish mangsho', or 'vegetarian meat'.

Here's how to make this Kali Pujo staple:

Ingredients:

For the meat:

1. 1 kg mutton. Meat from kochi patha or a small, young, male goat is ideal as these are the kind of goats traditionally sacrificed and offered to the goddess. Although if you are making this at home purely out of curiosity, rewaji or larger, fattier, and grain-fed mutton works too in a pinch.

2. salt and turmeric for marinating the meat.

For the spice mix:

1. 50 grams ginger.

2. 50 grams mustard oil.

3. 4 pieces of tender green chillies.

4. 2 pieces of dried red chillies.

5. 2 pieces of Kashmiri red chillies.

6. 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.

7. 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds.

8. 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds.

9. 4 pieces of cardamom.

10. 2 sticks of cinnamon.

11. 4 pieces of clove.

For cooking:

1. 200 grams of hung curd or yoghurt.

2. 50 grams of ghee or clarified butter.

3. 2 pieces of dried red chillies.

4. 2 bay leaves.

5. 2 pieces of cardamom.

6. 2 pieces of clove.

7. 1 stick of cinnamon.

8. 1/2 s teaspoon of hing or asafoetida.

9. Sugar to taste.

10. Salt to taste.

11. 3 pieces of tender green chillies. (for garnish)

12. Hot water.

Preparation:

1. Season the meat with salt and turmeric. Massage it well so the meat absorbs the seasoning well, then set aside.

2. Since there are no onions to create the base for the gravy, everything depends on how well you prepare the ginger and dry spices mix. To make it, you'll have to work cleverly, and first prepare four separate spice mixes:

i. For the first mix: soak the dry red chillies and Kashmiri red chillies in warm water in a bowl and grind them to a paste.

ii. For the second mix: roughly chop the ginger and the green chillies, then grind them into a paste in another bowl.

iii. For the third mix: soak the cumin and coriander seeds in a bowl and grind them to a smooth paste.

iv. For the fourth mix: soak all the gorom moshla or cardamom, cinnamon, clove, and fennel seeds in a bowl and grind them to a smooth paste.

3. When all the mixes are ready, heat mustard oil in a kadhai and temper with the dry red chillies, bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves once the oil is adequately hot. Pay attention so the spices do not burn.

4. Mix the hing and the sugar in some hot water and add it to the whole spices when you can smell them.

5. Add the first mix and cook until the raw smell goes away.

6. Then add the second mix and cook until the raw smell goes away.

7. Then add the third mix and cook until the raw smell goes away.

8. When all the spice mixes are added, mixed with each other, and cooked thoroughly, whisk the hung curd or yoghurt well until smooth, then add to the kadhai and stir continuously to prevent splitting.

9. When the curd/yoghurt is well-incorporated with the masala thus prepared and the oil separates, add half of the fourth and final spice mix, and stir well.

10. Add the seasoned and marinated mutton and cook with the masala for about fifteen minutes, stirring and scraping continuously to make sure nothing sticks to the surface of the kadhai.

11. Now add hot water for the gravy and let everything simmer under cover for about an hour or until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.

12. Garnish with the green chillies and season with the remaining gorom moshla mix. Cover and let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving. Additionally, you may add a drizzle of ghee on top when serving.

Serve with plain white rice on Basonti Polao.

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