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If you relish your meat, chances are your taste buds are already acquainted with this delectable Punjabi mutton curry, all the way from the royal kitchens of Lahore. The Ghost Beliram – also called the Mutton Beliram in contemporary kitchens – dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly concocted by the head royal chef of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th-century ruler of the Sikh Empire. The story goes that the royal court’s khansama, who went by the name of Beli Ram, cooked rich and elaborate meals for the king everyday. After all the royal dishes had been served, Beli Ram would routinely gather the leftover meat trimmings and bones to whip up a simpler meal for himself. On a particular night, one of Beli Ram’s experiments whipped up such a delectable aroma, that it went wafting from the royal kitchen right to the Maharaja himself. He was immediately drawn in and demanded to taste this Beli Ram’s latest concoction. The khansama was rather reluctant to serve this dish – after all, he couldn’t feed leftovers to the king! – but eventually conceded. What awaited the Maharaja’s taste buds was utter bliss. The spice, the tang and the deeply layered flavours enthralled him so much that he, as per many, ordered Beli Ram to continue to make this dish. As a matter of fact, he liked it so much that he declared the dish be named after his khansama, which is where the name ‘Gosht Beliram’ came from.