PAYA (Bone Broth)… Trotters in Action

It is winters and if you’ve missed the warmth of PAYA’S BROTH, then it’s time to give yourself a treat of tasty and nutritious food. It’s a very popular dish of Lahore, also called a LAHORI KHABA. A true Lahori tradition served in brunch in a PAYA PARTY of friends and family. It helps to cope with the frigid winter mornings, recharges energy levels and renews joints and bones. It provides protein rich broth loaded with benefits of vitamins and minerals.

Why is it so? Bones and connective tissue have nutrients, vitamins and minerals like calcium, magnesium, phosphorous whereas cartilage provides collagen, which when cooked turns into gelatin, a building block of proteins. Bone marrow also provides iron, zinc, vitamin A and K and fatty acids. All these help improve bone and joint health, reduce inflammation and improve joint mobility. High protein content increases immunity and helps in treating cold, cough and flu.

The following quick and easy recipe will be a change for your taste buds.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

• Cut trotters meat into small pieces.
• Warm cooking oil in a clay pot.
• Fry chopped onion till golden brown.
• Add ginger garlic paste, tomatoes and all spices.
• Mix and fry for 10 minutes on low flame, until gravy is thick and ready.
• Now add trotter meat, fry for 10 min on low flame.
• Add 3 liters of water to it, close the lid and boil for 4 to 6 hours on low flame.
• Garnish it with freshly chopped garlic and coriander.
• Serve it with hot and crispy bread or Naan.

Important Note: The traditional taste of paya broth gets enhanced by cooking in a clay pot on low flame. If you want to save time then prepare this dish in a pressure cooker. All the steps are same except after adding water; give pressure for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Enjoy this LAHORI heartwarming broth with friends and family in this cold season.

Dr. Ayesha Azam Khan