Friday, November 2, 2007

Mutton Curry (goat meat curry)


This recipe came about by throwing some randomly selected ingredients together. It turned out quite tasty and so i'm putting it up. The key to good mutton dishes is that the meat should easily fall off the bone (literally melt in your mouth). If you're chewing for a long time on the meat there are two things that could be wrong: your meat is not fresh or you did not cook the meat well. Goat meat takes a long time to cook, so if you're cooking it in a pot keep in mind that it might take up to 2 hours or more to cook well. Instead I pressure cook goat meat, either before mixing with the curry or after depending on the recipe. This recipe can also be made in the slow cooker or crockpot. Just transfer to a crockpot instead of cooking in the pressure cooker and slow cook for 6 to 8 hours.

Ingredients
Fresh goat meat (1.5 pounds)
Beaten yogurt 1/2 cup
1 tblsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste (less garlic)
Potatoes 2-diced into large cubes (you can also pre fry potatoes in oil for a better taste, for a health conscious option don't do this)
2 onions, sliced
whole spices: 5-6 cloves, 1 inch cinnamon, 1 star anise, 1 black cardamom, 2-3 green cardamoms, 1 bay leaf,7-8 pepper corns
2 tsp garam masala
3 tsp deggi (kashmiri) chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 packet shaan "white karahi"spice mix
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
lemon juice
salt to taste

Marinate meat with yogurt, salt, ginger-garlic pastes for at least 30n minutes. Heat oil in the pressure cooker pot. Add whole spices. Add onions and fry till golden brown. Add tomatoes and all other spices. Cook curry base well. Add chopped cilantro. Mix. Add mutton and potatoes. Fry on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes until mutton turns slightly brown. Then add water ( you can first add the water to the marinade pot so that all the left over yogurt paste also mixes with the water and adds more flavor). Let the meat come to a slow boil. Put pressure cooker lid on with the whistle and cook on medium high heat for 5 to 6 whistles. After that shut off heat and let the cooker sit until it cools. Do not force open the lid of the pressure cooker by rapid cooling. Serve hot garnished with chopped cilantro. Works well with bread, paranthas or rice.