Mutton Masala - My father's recipe

My father cooks some of the best non-veg dishes and here is one such awesome recipe. I have been asking him to cooking this for me, but he kept postponing. Finally, he made it this weeked and it was simply delicious.The speciality is that this dish doesnot have much masalas in it, but it is still flavourful and yum.

Ingredients:

For Marination
Mutton: 500 gms
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Curd/youghurt -  3 tbsp
Salt to taste

For grinding
Ginger - 2 inch piece
Garlic - 7-8 cloves
Green chillies - 2 or 3

For masala

Oil - 2 tbsp
Coconut cuts/sliced (thengakothu) - 1/4 cup
Cumin seeds - 1/4 tsp
Cinnamon stick - 2 inch piece broken to pieces
Green cardamom - 2 or 3
Onion - 2 large, sliced finely
Coriander powder - 1.5 tbsp
Curry leaves - a sprig
Tomato - 2, chopped
Crushed pepper - as required
Chopped coriander leaves - to garnish

Preparation:

1. Wash and clean the mutton and add all the marination ingredients in the bowl. Mix well and marinate for half an hour or more.
2. Cook the mutton till tender. I usually cook it in a pressure cooker without adding water. After the first whistle, lower the heat and cook for 10-15 mins. Switch off and wait till pressure is released. Note that cooking time may vary depending on the tenderness of meat.
3. Grind together ginger, garlic and green chillies to  a smooth paste and keep aside.
4. Heat oil in a pan and fry the coconut cuts/thengakothu till brown. Drain and keep aside.
5. In the same oil, add cumin seeds followed by cinnamon and cardamom.
6. Add onions and saute till soft. Add coriander powder and saute till you get the aroma. Add the ginger-garlic-chilly paste and curry leaves and saute well.
7. Add tomatoes and saute till mushy. Now add the cooked mutton and the fried coconut cuts.
8. Combine well and simmer for 10-15 mins.
9. Do a taste check and add crushed pepper if required.
10. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.

The curry tastes best after a few hours. Best served with rice/ghee rice/roti/appam/porotta/pathiri etc.

Events:

Kerala Kitchen - Feb 2012 hosted by Roshan, a series of event started by Ria and Rose
 Hot & Spicy treats  hosted by Amy

Mutton Biriyani

Mutton Biriyani is a very rare entry in our kitchen. So this time when I made it, I noted down the ingredients so that I can share with you. This is a spicy and yummy biriyani recipe which is worth giving a try. The recipe looks quite lengthy, but trust me it takes just less than 45 minutes to prepare...


Ingredients:

For marination
Mutton/Lamb pieces - 500 gms
Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Yoghurt/Curd - 2 tbsp
Salt


For masala
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 4-5 cloves (adjust as per size)
Green chillies - 3 or 4 (adjust as per spice level and size)

Oil - 2 tbsp
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Green cardamom - 2
Cloves - 3 or 4
Cinnamon sticks - a small piece
Bay leaf - 1
Onion chopped - 2 big
Tomato chopped - 2
Biriyani Masala* - 2 tbsp
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp (optional)
Coriander leaves - a few, chopped
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
I usually use Eastern biriyani masala which is available in almost all cities in India and abroad. If you do not have biriyani masala use meat masala and garam masala

For the Biriyani Rice
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Green cardamom -4
Cloves -4
Cinnamon - 2 inch piece
Star anise - 1 small broken to pieces
Onion sliced finely - 1 small
Basmati Rice - 2 cups
Lemon juice - 2 tsp
Salt

For garnishing
Coriander and mint leaves chopped - a handful
Cashew nuts and raisins - as you like :-)
Deep fried onions - a handful

Preparation:

1. Marinate the mutton in turmeric,chilly, coriander powders, ginger garlic paste, yoghurt and salt for a minimum of 2 hours.
2. Grind ginger, garlic and green chillies into a smooth paste with a little water and keep aside.
3. Heat Oil in a pan or pressure cooker. I use pressure cooker to cook mutton. The time to cook varies on the tenderness of the meat. Add fennel, cloves,cardamom, cinnamon and bay leaf and saute for a minute.Saute the onions till they are soft.Add the grounded GGG paste and saute well for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and cook till they are soft.
5. Now add marinated mutton and 1/4 cup of warm water. Pressure cook or Cover and cook till mutton is done.
6. Open the pan/pressure cooker and add biriyani masala and pepper powder(add after doing a spice check) and cook for a few more minutes till the gravy becomes thick.
7. Add lemon juice  and coriander leaves and mix well.Now the masala is ready, keep it aside.

Cooking the Rice
1. Heat Ghee in a vessel and add the cardamoms, cloves, cinnamon and star anise. Saute for a minute and add the onions. Saute for few minutes.
2. Add the basmati rice and mix well. When the rice starts crackling, add 4 cups of hot water, lemon juice and salt. Note that the salt is only for the rice. We have used salt separately for the masala.
3. Cook till rice is done and the water is dried up.

Layering the Biriyani
1. Grease the bottom of a non stick/thick bottom vessel with some ghee.
2. Make a layer of biriyani rice. After that make a layer of mutton masala. Repeat this process till the rice and masala is layered completely. The top layer must be of rice.
4. Deep fry sliced onion in oil/ghee and keep aside. Fry cashew nuts and raisins in ghee. Spread the fried onions, cashews and raisins on the layered biriyani.
5. Also add the chopped coriander and mint leaves.
6. Place the vessel on top of stove and lower the flame. Keep it for 5-10 mins.
7. You may also place a pan of boiling water on top of the biriyani vessel so that the heat is from both the sides.

Microwave option: Do the layering in a large microwave safe dish and cover with  lid. Microwave it for 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with raitha.

Linking this to Kerala Kitchen July 2011 hosted by Magpie,

Sending to Signature Recipes hosted by Saras

Also sending to Iftar moments at Taste of Pearl City

Also linking to Rice Recipes

Mutton Roast

This is my 23rd recipe and I'm wondering why I didn't post any mutton recipes so far. So, here I'm with a traditional kerala style mutton roast. Other mutton dishes I like are mutton fry and mutton stew that my father makes. There is something very special in the way he cooks,  as I couldn't recreate the same taste even after following his exact recipe...A dad's special touch, may be...

Coming back to my mutton roast, here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

For stage 1, cooking the mutton
Mutton - 1/2 kg, cut into small pieces
Onion - 2, chopped
Tomato - 1 big
Ginger Garlic paste - 2 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Chilly powder - 2 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
Salt

For stage 2, roasting
Oil - If you like coconut oil, I would recommend that
Fennel seeds - 1/2 tsp
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Curry leaves - a sprig
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp (Check cooking tips for the recipe)
Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or more

Preparation:

1. Mix all the ingredients listed under stage 1 in a pressure cooker and cook till the mutton is done.    The number of whistles vary with the tenderness of the meat. I did not add any water to cook, but if you feel that it would stick to the bottom of the cooker, you may add just 1-2 tbsp of water.
2. Heat oil in a pan and splutter fennel seeds. Fry the onion till they are brown, take care not to burn the onions. Add curry leaves.
3. Add the cooked mutton masala from the cooker and mix well. Keep roasting till the water evaporates, add the garam masala and pepper powder when it is almost done. Mix well and roast till it gets a dark brown colour.

Serve hot along with red/brown rice. My personal preference is to have it with rice and moru curry.