Paya Broth

Broth made with Goat Trotters - Pressure Cooker Recipe

Nourishing, gelatinous, healing bone broth is a staple in my diet. There are always two jars of broth in my fridge - one rich gelatinous first batch soup and another mineral rich runny broth made with leftover materials. I will provide recipes of both these versions today. First version can be used as a soup or base for ramen etc. and the second one can be used to make rice, pulao, sauces or glazing your pan where you don’t want the broth flavor to overpower the dish. This recipe makes 5 liters of broth. Monsoon is almost here, enjoy Spicy Garlic Ramen made with Paya Broth on a rainy day.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ghee
Two pairs paya/trotters, cleaned and chopped
4-5 chicken necks(optional)
2 large onions
10-15 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
15 pepper corns
10 cloves
1 tbsp turmeric powder or fresh turmeric, grated
1 green chilli, chopped
3 liters water
2 cups carrots and/or celery, chopped(optional)
salt to taste

Method:

Batch 1:

1. Wash trotters and chicken necks and any other leftover bones you might have saved.

   

2. Roughly crush peppers, cloves and garlic. I don’t peel garlic or onions for my broth. You can peel them if you like.

   

3. Roughly chop onions and other vegetables, if using.

4. In pressure cooker of minimum 8 liters capacity, add ghee, trotters and bones. Sauté for 2mins.

5. Add bay leaves, crushed pepper, cloves and garlic, onion and vegetables to the cooker and mix everything well.

   

   I recently made some cardamom powder at home so I added the pod shells to the broth.

6. Add turmeric and green chili and sauté for a minute.

   

7. In a separate container, take 3 liters of water and add salt to taste. Once the salt is dissolved in water, add 2 liters of seasoned water to the cooker.

8. Cook on high flame.

9. Once the water starts boiling, fasten the lid of the pressure cooker and pressure cook for at least 15-17 whistles.

10. Once the whistles are done and remaining steam has escaped, open the cooker carefully and add the remaining 1 liter of water to the broth and bring it to a simmer.

11. Let it cool for at least 2 hours, sieve it using a thick strainer.

12. Serve with freshly chopped cilantro and scallions or use as needed.

Batch 2:

1. Transfer the bones and veggies which were sieved out from batch 1, back into the cooker and add 2 more liters of water to the cooker.

2. Pressure cook this for 10 more whistles.

3. Strain once cooled and store in a separate jar.

   

Notes:

1. All the seasonings are filtered out in batch 1, so batch 2 will be pretty bland and that is by design. This is so your broth doesn’t overpower your dish. Unlike chicken broth, paya has it’s strong flavor which you may not want in your other recipes.

2. Be careful when using a pressure cooker. If you have a smaller cooker, you may have to make this in smaller quantity. I only use 2L of water in my 8L cooker, because the max liquid capacity line is just above 3L.

3. If you want to make this in traditional slow cooked way, follow the same method but add all the water at once, lower the flame to simmer once the broth starts boiling, cover and cook for 12-24 hours.

4. You can store this for about 3 weeks in your fridge. Make sure to re-heat this gently on a low flame to preserve the nutrients.

5. Quick-tip - save all the smaller garlic cloves which are harder to peel for your broth.

6. Keep 20% space free in your jar when freezing because broth expands when frozen. I knew this, but also regret experimenting to find out if it was true. Luckily it was frozen and didn’t cause any cleaning overhead, but about 2 liters of broth was wasted and cost me a mason jar. These are some ideas on freezing it in portions for long term storage.

7. Broth will gel and become jelly-like thick when stored in fridge, this is normal and actually a sign that we have extracted all the goodness out of the ingredients.