“Savour the rich taste of mutton.”

This dish is simple and incredibly tasty, can be made in an hour and as always all the ingredients are easily available in your kitchen. It’s Mutton magic in every bite!

At home, Sunday lunches are pre-planned and well thought of menus. It’s a meal, we as a family sit together and spend time over our food. After a long week, we usually unwind at lunchtime and catch up with all what’s happening.

As a family, we prefer mutton to chicken though chicken is the more versatile protein of the two. This recipe has been with me for quite a while. What I like is, once you have all the prep done, putting it together takes hardly any time and the end result is so satisfying. Some of our favourite mutton dishes are Mutton Biriyani, Galouti kabab, Mutton Sukka, Laal Maas and of course Rogan Josh. These are all mutton masterpieces. It’s like mutton done right.

Sharing this quick and simple recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• Mutton-1 kg (with bones)

Whole Spices:

• Cardamom-3-4
• Peppercorns-8-10
• Bayleaf 3-4

Paste-1

• Cashewnuts -1/2cup
• Red chillies -6
• Cardamom-2-3
• Cloves -6
• Cinnamon-4 1 inch pieces
• Tomato cubed -4 small or 2 big

Spice Mix:

• Turmeric pd -1 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder -2 tbsp
• Coriander powder-4 tsp
• Cumin powder-1 tsp

• Onions -4 sliced ( fried and crushed)
• Ginger-Garlic paste -2 tbsp
• Mustard oil
• Salt to taste

For the masala:

Method:

• In a pan, dry roast cashewnuts and the other ingredients under paste 1 except the tomatoes. Let it cool. Grind it coarsely without water, add the tomatoes and grind to a fine paste.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the whole spices.
• Add the cleaned and washed mutton and fry on high heat for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the ginger – garlic paste and fry well. Do not add water.
• Add the cashew- tomato paste and fry well. Cover with the lid loosely and let the masala cook well on a low flame for 2-3 minutes
• Next add the spice powder mix and the crushed fried onion paste and mix well. Cover again loosely and let the masala cook for 2-3 minutes.
• By this time there should be a nice aroma and the mutton pieces should be well coated.
• Add salt to taste and 1 and1/2 cups of water.
• Put the lid back on with the weight.
• After the first whistle, turn down the flame and let the mutton cook on a low flame for 15-20 minutes.
• Switch off, allow the pressure to release on its own and then open.
• Give it a mix, taste for salt.
• You could garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with a pulao or Indian bread of your choice.

Chef’s tips:

• Buy mutton that is red in colour. This indicates freshness and good quality.
• The meat should be of a fine and smooth texture with some marbling in between indicating the prescence of fat within the meat which only adds to the taste and flavour of the final product.
• To brown sliced onions faster, sprinkle a little salt and keep frying.
• If you do not have fresh tomatoes add a quarter cup of tomato purée.( tetra pack)
• If you have cardamom powder, you could add 1/4tsp while dry roasting the masala.
• The colour of the dish depends on the fried onion paste and Kashmiri chilli powder.
• If cooking mutton in an open vessel, cooking time could vary from 45 minutes to an hour. Should be covered during the cooking process, give it a stir once in a while, add water if necessary.
• This dish serves 6-8 adults.

Till my next post

Cheers,

Rose