Amrita's Mutton Curry

I came back to the blog, and felt almost surprised to still find it around. I have several unpublished, unfinished posts lying around here and there. They've become like those scripts waiting to leave the comp and edits that need a final cut. But I did promise myself earlier this year that perhaps it is better to make raw work than not put anything out there.

This one needed a nudge, oh well, a push from my friend. I miss hanging out with her and lingering evenings with Rum and chatter ranging from politics to onions.

So here goes, Amrita's mutton recipe

Kosha Mangsho or Mangshor Jhol?

I had been planning to rustle up a Bengali meal for quite some time. Last week I finally took up the task.

A mutton dish had to be on the table. The first step to cooking a delicious mutton dish starts at buying the meat. Ideally one must have a regular butcher, a butcher whom you trust. I told mine that I was cooking for a gathering of 10 and needed meat that would become tender without pressure cooking. “Aap biryani bana rahe hain ya korma”, he enquired. I wanted to say “kosha mangsho”, but was unsure what reaction that might produce. I heard myself uttering korma.[1]

The goat came off a hook. I was then given a portion of pichla raan, and chaap, with a few pieces of liver thrown in.[2] These were dextrously cut into medium-sized pieces, the excess fat discarded: charbi hatao, the regular rant.

While washing the meat I discovered two blobs – about 50 grams of  fat. I kept it aside, and drained the meat of its excess water. I then marinated the cuts in a mix of mustard oil, pastes of ginger, garlic, and green chilli, as well as turmeric and red chilli powders, after which I kept the whole lot for overnight refrigeration. 

But I still wasn’t sure as to what exactly I was going to cook. Although I had looked up several recipes I was toying between mangshor jhol and kosha mangsho. I was certain I did not want a runny soupy jhol, nor a very ‘dry’ kosha mangsho. The dish HAD TO have potatoes, which standard kosha mangsho recipes do not have. But as I had never cooked kosha mangsho before, I decided to play it by ear.

The next day I brought the marinade out of the refrigerator and added raw papaya paste as well as onion paste to the mix. After an hour, by when the meat had come to room temperature, I also tossed in 3 large potatoes (peeled and cut into half).

For the actual cooking process, which is quite hassle-free, I used a heavy bottomed pot. On a high flame I first fried sliced onions in mustard oil. At this stage I also chopped up and added the previously set-aside mutton fat to the pot. As the onions went translucent, I threw in cinnamon, black and green cardamoms, peppercorn and sugar, and continued stirring. The sugar soon caramelised giving the onions a brownish tinge – heavenly.

I then added the mutton marinade (excepting the potatoes) and fried it on a high flame for a further 10 minutes. After this I covered the pot and let the mutton cook on a slow-medium flame for the following 2 hours. Initially, the meat released copious amounts of water; it continued to stew wonderfully in its own juices. As the water started drying up and oil was released, I added salt. In the second hour I had to make regular checks to ensure that that the meat did not stick to the bottom of the pan. When it did, I tried not to panic, and simply scraped the bits off the pan’s surface. When the meat was cooked, though as yet not falling off the bone I added in the potatoes along with 200 ml of warm water. I then again covered the lid and let everything cook for a final half hour on a slow flame.

And voila, there it was ready: a kosha-mango-manghshor jhol hybrid! 

PS In the end you could also add some ghee and garam masala (but I forgot to do this!)

PPS: I guess this entire cooking process could just as well be fast-forwarded in a pressure cooker.

PPPS: No, the dish has no yoghurt, no tomatoes, nor cumin and coriander. You do not miss it either. I must admit however that I had it on standby. Nevertheless I firmly believe that mutton is best cooked in its own juices and not in an overwrought tadka of masalas.

PPPPS: Here are the ingredients needed with approximate measurements.

I. Marinade 1 (overnight)

Mutton – 2 kg

One bulb of garlic (not the chinese variety), paste

50 gm ginger, paste

1 tsp turmeric powder

1.5 tsp red chilli powder

6 green chillies, paste

2 tbsp mustard oil

II. Marinade 2 (an hour before cooking)

3 tbsp raw papaya, paste

1 medium onion, paste

3 large potatoes, peeled and cut in half

III. Cooking

6 tbsp mustard oil

5 large onions, sliced

2 large bay leaves

2 cinnamon sticks

10 green cardamom

2 black cardamom

10 peppercorns

1 heaped tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

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[1] I went to my regular butcher at INA market. This place is not for the faint hearted.

[2] For me no mutton dish is complete without liver. I add it even to biryani.