Most of us gravitate toward our positive childhood memories, customs, and ways of life as we get older. And we long for our elders who are no longer with us, holding them nearer to our hearts. The aroma of spices fills the air in our kitchen as the dishes simmer, each one prepared with love and tradition. Families gather around the table, sharing stories and laughter, making the meal not just about sustenance but also about connection and heritage.
Eating ma gos (with meat) at dinner every day is a popular practice; a different seasonal vegetable is cooked together with meat, and this one-pot dish is served with fresh warm rotlis. Ma gos is a customary way to cook and eat in most Parsi homes. However, as a young adult I do remember resisting the concept as it appeared dull and uninteresting. My argument led to a change in the cooking process, as I preferred certain vegetables to be crisper over mushy ones. In my own home, I decided not to continue with this practice until a decade ago when I discovered how simple it was to adapt the technique to suit my own preferences. I knew then that not only had we missed out on eating many of the vegetables like bottle gourd, eggplant, and okra, but my young self had completely overlooked the reason behind this ingenious way of making family meals, which is both monetarily and nutritionally clever. I guess I was incorrect to judge it harshly and be stubborn enough to keep it out of my kitchen for the longest time. Now that I’ve reintroduced it to my family, there is a newfound love for relishing them.
The concept of ma gos originates from the Persians, who slow-cooked their meat with warm spices, dried fruits, and nuts in fruit juice and stock or broth; these were thick, rich, hearty gravies served with mounds of rice. This is a tradition that has relied on one-pot cooking dating back centuries, long before it gained popularity on social media.
To simplify it, the general rule to follow is 1:2 – 1 part meat to 2 parts vegetable. It is also a dish that is often made with lentils besides seasonal vegetables and is served with crispy bread or fresh warmrotli. This familial style of slowly cooking your bone-in meat is typical of many cultures in the East and serves as a hearty evening meal. Tamota ma gos and masoor ma gos (brown lentils) are my favourites, but there are endlessly different kinds.
Tamota Ma Gos (Parsi Tomato and Meat Stew)
Tamota Ma Gos, Parsi tomato and meat stew, is one of the most popular ma gos. The tomatoes soften, absorbing the meaty aromas and creating a lovely broth from the bones. The tikkhu-khattu-mitthu (spicy-sour-sweet) has an excellent balance, and potatoes add to the flavor and thicken the gravy. The sauce is rich, and the fresh tomato chunks are soft and lightly sweetened with jaggery* to cut the acidity.
Tamota ma gos is the Parsi version of macaroni ma gos, a traditional Persian ground meat and macaroni dish regarded as comfort food. The Persian version is cooked in a pot that transforms it into a characteristic upturned tahdig dish with a crusty bottom! Parsis substitute potato for the pasta, allowing the stew to be served with a thick gravy. It is eaten with or without bread, but roti is a delicious accompaniment.
*Editor’s note: You can find top-quality jaggery, a new poduct at Burlap & Barrel. The jaggery starts with fresh cane, juiced and boiled down to a syrup in traditional iron pots, clarified using wild okra, and then whipped by hand to produce light, crunchy crystals. (We may occasionally endorse selected products that we use in our own kitchens, but we may earn some coffee money from your purchase.)
Ingredients
- •1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- •1 kg (2.2 lbs) bone-in lamb, mutton, or goat
- •2 teaspoons crushed fresh ginger
- •2 teaspoons crushed garlic
- •1½ teaspoons salt
- •1½ teaspoons ground cumin
- •1 teaspoon red chili powder
- •2 green chillies, finely chopped
- •1 kg (2.2 lbs) fresh tomatoes, blanched, peeled, and chopped
- •355 ml (1½ cups) fried onions, crushed
- •500 g (1.1 lbs) potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
- •50 g (2 oz) jaggery or brown sugar*
- •Roti, for serving
Preparation
- Heat the oil, add the meat, and brown it all over. Add the ginger, garlic, salt, cumin, and chili powder. Stir until aromatic. Add the green chillies, tomatoes, and onions.
Stir in 237 ml (1 cup) water. Bring to a boil, cover, and lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, and then add the potatoes and jaggery.
Continue to cook, covered, until the potatoes are soft and tender and the gravy is thick and glossy, about 45 more minutes. Serve hot with warm, fresh, warm roti.
