Good ol' meat

My mother brought over several little tupperware containers of
frozen food a couple weeks back. She doesn't usually do this, and if
she does she tends to bring kebabs or chicken. Anyhow, my belly was
gratefully filled with delicious goodness as I went through each
container. mmm. Everything she brought had meat in it...lamb,chicken
or beef. Some of them were also dishes that are not usually
popular in Indian restaurants, I've noticed...I wonder, is it
because they are solely Pakistani in origin, or is it because they
don't seem as marketable? 

I was also thinking about possibly (*gasp*) trying my hand at
cooking some of this stuff...I just have this feeling of missing out
on something (good food, childhood nostalgia etc)...even though my
early attempts at cooking meat as a kid were mildly traumatizing
(not to mention: how do you buy and select 'good' meat? how do you
store it? how do you prevent it from becoming toxic?).

At the risk of grossing out all of you veggie-eaters, here's what she
brought for me:

Shaami kebab: ground beef and lentil patties. The mixture is cooked
first, then made into patties and fried.

Qeema: spiced ground beef. (when I was a kid, I used to melt cheddar
cheese on top of qeema sometimes. It was good)

Okra & lamb curry

Kofta: spicy beef meatballs in a curry

Nehari: another lamb curry- I think. There's something special about
the way this dish is prepared, or the spices used, which I don't
really know - but it's really good. People will always rave about it.
It tastes best with naan & fresh cilantro leaves. Sometimes also
topped with chopped ginger.

+Something my mom labelled "chicken cacciatore", but which tasted a
lot more liked lamb. It was another curry, with bell peppers and
yogurt (I think).

Oh, meat.

So anyhow, I will keep you posted re: thoughts on cooking meat.