Spicy Mutton Curry - a Sunday tradition relooked

Ingredients

Mutton (Baby Goat) - 2 lbs

Marinade ingredients:

Greek Yogurt - 3-4 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tbsp to marinade + 1 tsp during cooking
Salt - to marinade and cook, as per taste
Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp, or as per taste

Marinade the Mutton with the marinading ingredients. Keep aside for approx. 30 mins.

Cooking ingredient:

(2 medium Onion + 1 inch ginger + 5 cloves Garlic + 1 green Chilli) fine paste - Use 16-20 tbsps of this paste

Canola oil - 2 tbsp
Mustard oil - just a dash, for flavor
Dry Bay Leaf - 2-3
Sugar - a pinch to caramelize
Cumin seed - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon - 2 big pieces
Shan Meat Curry Masala (Spice) - 3-4 tbsp
Coriander Powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Potato - 5 small, chopped into halves
Water - 3-4 cups

Cooking method:


Heat Canola oil.
As it warms, add  Dry Bay Leaf, Sugar, Cumin seed and Cinnamon. Let the spices sizzle to flavor the oil and the sugar caramelize to impart the gorgeous golden color to the dish.
Add the Onion\Ginger\Garlic\Tomato paste. Mix well. Keep stirring intermittently for even cooking.
As the paste is half-cooked, add Mustard oil - just a dash, for flavor.
Add Shan Meat Curry Masala and mix well.
Add the marinated Mutton and mix well. Let it sit for 2-3 mins before stirring again. This is the most intensive part of this dish. You do develop a few of the hand muscles by cooking this dish. The Mutton slowly starts absorbing the rich flavors of the spices and changes color as it is being cooked.
Add Coriander Powder and Garam Masala as the Mutton is half cooked.
Continue stirring and cooking.
As the oil separates, add small Potatoes chopped into halves. Mix it with the Mutton.
Add Water and mix well.
If you are cooking in another vessel, time to move the dish to the Pressure cooker.
Put the lid on the Pressure cooker and cook till it is about to give the first whistle. Since we get baby Goats, they do not take too long to cook. If you are using older Goats, it will take more time to cook and more whistles in the Pressure cooker.
Let the lid open by itself. Don't force open the lib by flowing cold water on the lid, etc.
If the dish is thin in consistency, heat the dish and let it thicken, if required.

The meat will release fat, so you are more likely to see a layer of fat on top when you open the Pressure cooker lid. One thing to note is that cooking Mutton is labor and time-intensive. It takes about an hour to cook this properly. However, for Mutton-lovers, this is a one-pot meal with plain rice - so cooking actually gets easier per-meal-wise. In Odiya gatherings, people like it so much that they won't even hesitate to ask the host "Mutton acchi na?" (Is Mutton a part of the menu? :) ). I have even seen people not participate in picnics and outings just because their much coveted meat was not a part of the menu - this is a little too extreme, I suggest therapy for these people! :p

Personally, I was never a big fan of Mutton till I got married and started cooking. R loves Mutton and can have it for all three meals of the day, not that he should be allowed to! :) It is always amazing to see his content look when we have this in the menu. Thanks to him - I have an "acquired" taste for this meat after all these years. The other dish that I make well with Mutton is the Biryani - will definitely share it here someday. I make it once too often, but never remember to take a pic. Someday!

Enjoy this favorite Sunday lunch item of Odiya households with Rice \ Naan \ whatever suits you. Have a great day!

Another Mutton curry recipe is here.