Mutton and radio virus

Radio Mirchi's RJs Anant and Saurabh sing and cook a mean stew.

It’s late afternoon and Radio Mirchi’s marquee radio jockeys Anant and Saurabh are relaxing after spending three hours on air in the morning, as they do six days a week. Their show, Hi Delhi, according to RAM ratings, has the highest listenership across all radio stations in Delhi. It was a happy accident that bought them together on air. Says Anant (as per the station’s policy all RJs are known only by their first names), “”Saurabh was my promo producer and I was doing a show on Sunday.” Adds Saurabh, “I also wanted to do a show and we started with doing a three-to-six slot on Sundays. That slot is considered to be dead time as people don’t normally tune in to radio at that time.” The station was only too happy to let the two of them muck around.

Their uncensored and shooting-from-the-hip style won them listeners, and soon, when the morning RJ quit, they were upgraded to radio’s prime time, the morning slot. The two of them go on air without a written script — and say that it’s easy to do. Says Anant, “Writing a script would be too much hard work. We aren’t fully awake till 8.30 and we never know what we are going to say till the song gets over.” But behind this statement lies the fact that the two of them intuitively understand the pulse of the capital, which is what makes their show such a success. Says Anant, “We suffer like the rest of Delhi does, and that is why our listeners identify with us.” According to Saurabh, working together has a great advantage as they complement each other.

In the kitchen, however, it’s Saurabh who is king. Anant, at whose house this cooking session is happening, barely even does the job of a sous chef, instead keeps up a nice, steady strumming of the guitar as the three of us converse. Saurabh, after putting the mutton in the pressure cooker, keeps a strict vigil, so that the dish doesn’t suffer from the chatter that is flowing easily between the three of us.

Saurabh steers the conversation to the mutton and says, “This recipe doesn’t require too much masala. Normally when you eat mutton, you end up eating more masala than the meat.” Saurabh learnt this recipe from a Kashmiri friend and decided to try this today instead of rogan josh in deference to Anant’s tender palate. The recipe being cooked has hardly any red chillies unlike the rogan josh, which Anant is normally wary of consuming.

If, the duo work without a script, I wonder if Mausam Mausi, the weather aunty that Saurabh sings in falsetto every morning, is unscripted as well? Says Saurabh, “We just come up with it on the spot.” Anant, who plays the guitar (he learnt it entirely from the Net), says, “I basically play very badly and whatever chords I play, Saurabh, who is a trained singer just manages to sing to.” Mausam Mausi, now something of an institution, is willing to demonstrate that it is indeed all impromptu and Anand and Saurabh, “radio ke virus”, break into a ditty just for this column, which goes something like this: “Mausam Mausi, cooking wali Mausi / dekho aaj Mausi is cooking / bahar se puri duniya is looking / mausi is going to cook aaj mutton / akhein bhar ayengi jaise button / Mausam Mausi...”

FAVOURITE RECIPE

KALIA/MUTTON STEW
1 kg mutton
300 gm dahi
1 tsp haldi
1 tbsp ginger powder (saunth)
3 tbsp ground saunf
A pinch of hing
2 badi elachis
2 tej pattas
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 tbsp oil
6 cloves
6 elachis
Salt to taste

Put mutton in utensil, add two cups of water and let simmer for five minutes. Put haldi, saunth, saunf, hing, badi elaichi, tej patta and salt and let cook for 20 minutes. Keep utensil covered. Keep stirring from time to time. Take milk and curd and mix well together, and then add to mutton, and let cook another five minutes. Take small frying pan and saute elaichi and cloves, and garnish the still-cooking mutton. Let cook for another eight minutes. Serve hot with a rendition of Mausam Mausi.