This recipe is to preserve the huge amount of meat. The dish gets its name from the earthen pot called 'Teyluin'; you may use commercially available earthen pots to get similar results. Teyluin Khabab is usually cooked with the sacrificial meat from the cattle slaughtered during the 'Bakri Eid' festival. A man of substantial means traditionally slays, more than the mandatory quantity sanctioned in Islam, as the number of cattle sacrificed is a yardstick of social status and fiscal might. The homemaker, swamped with a huge quantity of meat, has evolved many such dishes as Teyluin Khabab to hoard the meat for future consumption.
The meat in the earthen pot is simmered over a low flame, to encourage the fat to rise to the top, once the fat rises to the top; the pot is then taken off the flame and set in a cool place. When the content cools, the top-fat solidifies into a thick impenetrable airtight layer. This solid mass of fat acts as a seal and protects the meat from bacteria and other spores. Micro organisms cannot survive in the clarified fat, which also acts as a seal and prevents the liquid in the pot to evaporate.
The cut chosen for this recipe is the brisket and shank that lie beneath the shoulder and encompass the breast and foreleg of the animal. The brisket is tough and fatty and lends itself well to slow cooking in liquid. This cooking method also works well for the shank, a flavourful cut. Since shanks are full of collagen, which when cooked turns to gelatine and adds to the sealing capacity of the fat.
The recipe is indigenous to Chittagong.
Ingredients:
5 kg brisket and shank, cut into large chunks
1 kg beef fat
1 cup mustard oil
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp radhuni
1 tbsp red chilli powder
½ cup ginger, grated
1 cup garlic paste
2 cups onion paste
3 tbsp salt
Method:
Heat oil in a 'teyluin' (or any earthen pot). Lob in the onion and sauté until translucent. Stir in ginger sauté stirring vigorously for a minute. Add: garlic , cumin, coriander, red chilli, turmeric, radhuni and two tbsp water.
Sauté stirring all the time until mosla releases its aroma.
Chuck in: meat and salt. Stir to mix well, cook until meat releases its juice.
Lower the flame, cover with a lid and cook until meat is tender and the oil floats to the top.
Store the pot in a cool place, once cool enough the fat on top will congeal.
Reheat the pot, once every week, until you require the meat. The meat can be used as an ingredient for other beef recipes or eaten by itself with rice.