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Tusu, a harvest festival, is one of the three major festivals of the Kurmi community in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. Tusu is a harvest festival; and the main components of this festival are paddy and rice. The sun is also worshipped in this festival because without the presence of the sun no germination could take place. Makar is just another name of the sun. In the day of Makar Sankranti or Poush Sankranti, which is the last day of the Bengali month Poush, people of various communities throughout India celebrate Makar festival or the festival of Sun God, which is mostly a bathing festival.

Kosha Mangsho Recipe Ingredients for marination Mutton- 1 kg (medium-sized pieces with bone) Thick yoghurt- 2 tbsp Turmeric powder- ½ tsp Ginger paste- 2 tbsp Garlic paste- 2 tbsp Mustard oil- 2 tsp Raw papaya- ¼ cup (grated) Ingredients for tempering Whole dry red chilli- 2 Black cardamom- 2 (lightly crushed) Green cardamom- 3 (lightly crushed) Cloves-3 Cinnamon- 1” (3 pieces) Ingredients for cooking Onion- 5 medium-sized (thinly sliced) Cumin powder- 2 tbsp Green chillies- 7-8 slit (adjust as per your tolerance) Sugar- ¼ tsp 2 tbsp yogurt Gawa Ghee (Special variant of cow ghee from Bengal) Bengali Garam Masala Red chilli powder/Kashmiri Mirch powder- ½ tsp 4-5 cups hot water Method Marinate the mutton pieces with all the ingredients mentioned for marinating the Mutton. Keep aside for 3-4 hours. Heat oil in a kadhai. (Preferably iron kadhai) Temper with all the ingredients mentioned for tempering. Now add sliced onions, and fry over medium heat until brown. Add ginger-garlic paste, mix and sauté for a few seconds. Keep frying the onions until they turn dark brown. Next, add Cumin powder, mix and fry for a few seconds again. Add yoghurt. Braise till oil separates. Now add marinated mutton into this. Keep the flame high for 5 mins and keep stirring so that the extra moisture evaporates. Mix and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes uncovered on medium heat. Keep stirring in between to prevent burning from the bottom of the pan. The mutton will start to change its colour. It will turn darker and this happens due to the iron kadhai only. At this point add salt according to taste. After cooking the first 20 minutes uncovered, add 3/4 cup of hot water to the mutton. Mix well, cover and cook over low heat and cook. Repeat the process 7-8 times to cook thoroughly. Check the colour as it turns brown and darker. Add a big spoon of Gawa Ghee.

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