Garam Masala Tuesdays: Mutton Curry

My parents’ cook made this amazing lamb curry the other day. Like lip smacking good. Even my sister-in-law who is technically a vegetarian but being married to a strictly non-vegetarian family sometimes eats the occasional chicken, fish and meat, loved it.

The mutton was perfectly cooked, the flavors spot on. So I asked my cook to teach me how to make the dish. He said its Mutton Rogan Josh but when I saw him prepare and read about the dish online I realized his recipe wasn’t traditional of rogan josh. But it was great to taste, so I had to share the recipe with you all.

Traditional Rogan Josh does not use onions or garlic, nor does it use tomatoes, although there are various versions online and various restaurants across India that serve mutton made with the above mentioned ingredients and serve it as Mutton Rogan Josh. But since I do not want to face the wrath of Kashmiri Pandits who made famous this dish in India, I will just name today’s recipe Mutton Curry. A very delicious mutton curry.

If you are fond of lamb/mutton based recipes, you should also check out my mom’s Mutton Patiala recipe. My mom made it for V when she had come to US to visit us, and to date he still talks about how good it was.

And since we are talking about lamb and mutton, I have always been confused about the difference between the two. But then some time with my good friend Google helped clear the confusion.

Lamb is a sheep that is slaughtered between the ages of 4 months to 12 months. The meat from an older sheep that is slaughtered is called mutton. It is more tough and intense in flavor and requires an acquired taste. Probably thats why it is not so popular in the States. And thats why I hardly cook it there, since its more difficult to find in grocery stores. But since I am in India these days, am able to share this recipe with you today. If you are a mutton fan, I recommend you try this recipe out.

Garam Masala Tuesdays: Mutton Curry

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Serves: 5

Ingredients

• 900 gm mutton, cut into pieces (You can marinate the mutton in a little yogurt, salt, red chilli powder and ginger-garlic paste. Even if you forget its ok, you just might need to cook a little more).
• ¼ cup oil
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 2-3 tbsp rogan josh masala ( the cook use this brand called R-pure and a small packet costs Rs.5. In the US you will be able to find this masala in Indian stores. If not, you can leave it out and still get satisfactory results.)
• 1 tsp red color powder (for traditional rogan josh you use ratanjot, but red food color powder can be used since this is mutton curry. or you could just skip it)
• 5 medium onions, sliced
• 3 small tomatoes, chopped and pureed
• 1 star anise
• 1 piece mace
• 1 inch piece cinnamon
• 1 green cardamom
• 1 black cardamom
• salt, to taste
• 1 cup water (If you want it to have more gravy, you might need to add a little more water)

For paste:

• 2 inches ginger
• 15 cloves garlic
• 1 green chilli (depending how spicy your chillies are you can increase the amount)
• 4-5 cloves
• 10-15 whole black peppercorn
• 1 star anise
• 1-2 inch piece cinnamon
• 1 black cardamom
• 2-3 pieces mace
• 3 tbsp yogurt

Instructions

1. Make a paste of all the ingredients listed under paste, using 3 tbsp yogurt in a blender. Set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, with the lid off. Once the oil is hot, add the whole spices. let sizzle.
3. Add in the sliced onions and cook till brown. Add a little salt.
4. Add in the mutton and cook with the onions on high flame. Brown the mutton. The longer you cook the mutton with the onions (bhunno) the better the end result will be.
5. Add the red chilli powder and the paste. Add a little water to the blender to make sure you get all the paste out. Add it to the mutton.
6. Add the pureed tomatoes. Add in a cup of water.
7. Mix in the red food colour and rogan josh masala. Put the pressure cooker lid on and give 5-6 whistles. It might take more whistles, depending on the quality of the mutton.
8. Remove from heat. Let the pressure release and then open the lid. Add in fresh cilantro/coriander. Serve hot with chappatis or rice. My personal preference is a nice crispy parantha.

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 If you enjoyed this recipe, you can also try my Mom’s Mutton Patial recipe