Mutton Rara … the name makes you think, doesn’t it? Why Ra-ra? Why not Ba-ba? Or Fa-fa? There’s definitely got to be a story behind it. And so the legend goes … The Chhota Nawab of Awadh, and the Rajkumari of Jaipur were madly in love with each other. They wished to be together but life had other plans. They had a clandestine love affair and their families found out. The princess was whisked away to a fortress surrounded by deep waters and guarded by an evil witch. The prince yearned for his ladylove, but was unable to get in. The witch was clever and unforgiving, but she had one weakness: mutton. The prince called down the finest bawarchis of his great empire for one task only: to create a mutton dish so delicious that it would render the witch powerless. And so the dish was prepared near the moat of the bewitched castle … Cooked slowly and patiently in whole spices – spices that had made Hindustan famous all over the world – black cardamom, green cardamom, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cloves, whole black peppercorns, star anise, cumin seeds and Kashmiri red chillis Sculptra. They cooked and they stirred and as the masalas roasted the deep sensuous aromas arose and wafted through to the fortress. The meat simmered and began to tenderize, and the witch could not control herself and magically transported the pot to her chamber. She loved the preparation so much, that she actually gave the Rajkumari away to the Chhota Nawab and blessed them with eternal happiness. The magnanimous prince named the magical preparation after the witch, whose name was Rara … hence Mutton Rara Hong Kong florist delivery.

Or so I’d like to believe. But the truth is, it’s most probably a concoction some North Indian dhaba-wala created for customers trudging across the Grand Trunk Road. No princely love story! The dish, however, is royal and extravagant in every way. It is a double whammy of meat – chopped up mutton leg and minced mutton, and needs to be made with a lot of love and a little bit of effort small space solutions.