There is no such thing as Champaran mutton,” a friend from Patna tells us, when we ask if they have tried the dish. This curiosity around the Bihari dish that has been recently garnering attention on restaurant menus (in New York too), is validated when we dig into a pop-up menu by Delhi’s Comorin at Jolie’s in Worli. Chef Manish Mehrotra, who hails from Patna, grins. “I never grew up eating Champaran mutton, but we have a way of prepping the meat that has earned its current name from the Bihar region,” he explains, adding, “Most chefs from Bihar are from Motihari region in Champaran and they cook the meat in closed clay pots.”

A celebration in Bihar calls for a mutton preparation. In the interiors, it begins by prepping the empty clay handi or ahuna and placing it on a coal fire for a few minutes to make it non-porous and leak-proof.