Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear Soup.

“Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear Soup” … A spicy highly nutritious soup prepared from bone broth …it’s full of important nutrients, minerals that helps in protecting of joints and helps fight in issues of pain in legs … preparing this spicy healthy soup after decades ...… 

** Come Monsoon/Winter and there is always chill in air and the immunity levels begin to fall down a bit giving way to cough, cold, fever etc. It is very important to consume hot food through such seasons specially before retiring to bed in the nights or after coming home drenched wet. Steaming hot soups, rice porridge, flavored milks, Kashays, rasam, saar etc. all keep the body warm from within and induce good sleep through the night while keeping cough and cold at bay. Even if you catch that bouts of cough or cold it is good to sip on hot soups and drink hot lemon or honey water through the day, it is believed to thin out the phlegm and dispel it out of the body. Well, I try different types of soups at home both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, as hubby loves soups a lot, in fact he insists that I prepare them always for dinner immaterial of the season as we prefer to go light for Dinner now after having crossed our fifty’s, It’s necessary you see. 

** Mutton trotters (Paya/Legs) soup is something my Mom used to prepare during my childhood and I have lots of memories of the same. But after a few decades as Dad was diabetic it was somehow stopped and I real have no Idea as to why. Those days recipes were usually learnt from parents, aunts, relatives or from word of mouth from a friendly neighbor or from magazines. My mom just pressure cooked the cleaned trotters with pepper and onions, but the taste of this soup never appealed to any one of us, so she sieved it and mixed it with spiced tomato soup and served them, as I guess she did not come across any other soup recipes. Over years mutton soup almost came to a stop and it was only Tomato or Veg.Soup prepared in home, though I loved to relish sweet corn crab soup whenever we went out for Dinner. Those were indeed fantastic carefree days without any worries of cooking or other matters and I have loads of nostalgic memories of the same. 

** Well I never prepared mutton soup much even after marriage and I really have no Idea as to why. Maybe mutton was not liked much by me so I never gave it much thought, though hubby loved mutton curries and biryani, which I always preferred to have them outside as those days I was too busy to prepare them myself. Mutton trotters/paya soup has been making the rounds in my head for over 3 years now. I have been having some pain in the heels for some time now which stubbornly refuses to budge. My Dr. and friends suggested I drink this soup as it is good for such conditions. My maid help too always insisted I try it as they themselves prepare it at least once in month more so during winter for healthy bones. Somehow I never got round to preparing it, but now when my knees too started talking I decided to give it a try again, so here it is, a recipe I learnt to prepare from my friend that turned out fantastic. 

** The recipe credit for this soup goes to my dear friend Jyothi Patankar who is an excellent cook and runs a successful beauty parlour. 

** Here is the simple recipe for “Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear Soup” … My Style …. 

** Ingredients : 

Mutton Trotters/Paya : 6 pieces of 3 inch length. 

Fresh Ginger/Adrak/Alle’ : 1 inch piece finely chopped. 

Garlic/Losun/Lehsun : 8-10 peeled and finely chopped. 

Green Chillies/Tarni Mirsang/Hirvi Mirchi : 2-3 finely chopped spicy one’s. 

Fresh Turmeric Root/Amba Haldi/Haldi Mande : ½ inch finely chopped. 

OR 

Turmeric/Haldi Powder : ¼ tsp 

Whole Black Pepper/Kali Miri/Mire : About 15 

Green Cardamom/Ellaichi/Yellu : 5-6 split into two. 

Kashmiri Red Chilly Powder : 1 tsp 

Salt to taste 

** For Cleaning the Mutton Trotters/Paya : 

Wheat Flour : 2 tblsp 

Salt / Namak : 1 tsp 

** Do check out on the picture shared above for the list of ingredients for proper guidance on preparation of this delicious Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear soup .... 

** Cleaning the Mutton Trotters/Paya : Wash the mutton trotters/paya well. There should be no skin or hair attached to it. In Mumbai we get them well cleaned and ready for use in many stores where they sell them, so half the work is done. Now apply salt and wheat flour to it and mix well. Keep this covered aside for about 5-10 minutes. Then scrub the trotters/paya gently and remove the wheat flour. Rinse well under running water, drain and keep it ready aside. 

** Note : Again, this cleaning procedure was shared with me by my friend Jyoti. By following the above method, the trotters come out clean and do not smell which is slightly unpleasant. So do carry out this step even if you get the perfectly cleaned from stores. I did follow it, though they were very clean on purchase and trust me the smell was also lost when done. 

** Preparation of Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear Soup : Add the cleaned mutton trotters/paya in pressure cooker along with finely chopped ginger, garlic, green chillies, fresh turmeric root, pepper, cardamom, chilly powder and salt to taste. Mix well. Add about 4-5 cups of water and pressure cook on low heat for about 10-12 whistles. It is necessary to cook the trotters that much for the nutrients from the bones to get infused in the clear soup. 

** Remove and keep the pressure cooker aside untouched for at least 2-3 hours, it will help the bones release more of the nutrients and make the clear soup that much more tastier. Now strain the pressure cooked ingredients through a fine sieve into a stainless steel vessel. 

** Add back the trotters/paya bone type pieces to which a little bit of flesh is there only to the broth, while discarding the others as they are not edible. See to it that the soup is clear and that there are no other ingredients fallen back into it. Bring all to a boil, add more water if necessary, this is a thin clear soup and check salt if necessary and it is ready. 

** “Mutton Trotters (Paya) Clear Soup” is done and ready to be served. A very spicy soup that tastes great when served during winter for dinner. This soup is for those who want to build in stamina and have bone pain or leg pain etc. and are Non-Vegetarians. The same can be prepared with chicken too if you do not eat mutton. However, the same nutrients are not found in chicken that which are found in mutton. Having said that, I have always endorsed that, it is finally individual choice of relishing food of their choice.

** Always remember to serve soups steaming hot and relish them with your family and friends. I am sure they will love them especially during monsoon or winter provided they eat mutton. Do try out different types of soups and serve your family as they are healthier options to the once that we get in packets called instant. While they are OK once in a way, do not make it a habit of serving instant food to family, specially children as they are loaded with preservatives, salts and are really bad for health.