SPICY SLOW-COOKED MUTTON CURRY | MUTTON CURRY RECIPE

If you are looking for that ultimate mutton curry with all awesomeness of Indian flavours, then you are at the right place. This mutton curry is truly one of my favorite Indian meat recipes of all time and it rightfully deserves special attention. The rich brown gravy of this Indian dish is simply to die for!

The cooking time may vary a little. I love this slow-cooking process of meat as it infuses the meat cubes with all amazing flavors more intricately. If you are more habituated to pressure cooking of meat, I would suggest you to give this slow-cooking a try; trust me it’s worth the time you invest in this process. This mutton curry is one of my all-time favorite dishes and I love it best served with plain hot Basmati rice on a Sunday lunch.

Read - PUNJABI MUTTON CURRY RECIPE

INGREDIENTS –

• Mutton – 1 kg, curry cut
• Onion – 600 gms, thinly sliced
• Raw papaya – 200 gms, skinned & grated
• Ginger paste – 4 tbsp
• Garlic paste – 4 tbsp
• Yogurt/curd – ¼ cup
• Green cardamom – 8 to 10
• Black cardamom – 2
• Cinnamon – 1-inch stick
• Clove – 8 to 10
• Bay leaf – 2
• Dry red chili – 4 to 6
• Sugar – ½ tsp
• Tomato – 2, finely chopped
• Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
• Coriander powder – 2 & ½ tbsp
• Cumin powder – 2 tsp
• Red chili powder – 2 tbsp
• Garam masala – 2 tbsp
• Mustard oil – ½ cup
• Ghee – 2 tbsp
• Salt to taste

Read - TASTY CHICKEN WINGS CURRY |

INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE –

1. Wash and drain all the excess water from mutton. Add 2 tablespoons each of ginger paste & garlic paste, grated papaya, curd and 1 teaspoon of salt to the mutton.
2. Massage all the aromatics into the mutton pieces thoroughly. Leave the marinated mutton for 2-3 hours allowing it to soak up the flavors of all the aromatics. Additionally, the grated raw papaya will help soften the meat.
3. Once mutton is nicely marinated, keep it at room temperature for 30 mins, it is time to brown them which is also called ‘searing’. Heat ¼ cup of mustard oil in a heavy bottom pan. Once the oil is hot, add half of the mutton pieces to the pan arranging them in single layer. 
4. You may need to do it in batches as if you add the whole mutton at one go, it may ooze out lot of water and instead of browning they will start getting boiled in its own liquid. Then you will never arrive at the rich brown color of the final dish. Hence, it’s important to do this searing step correctly.
5. Once one side of the mutton pieces are nicely browned, which would take about 6-8 minutes on medium-high heat, turn them over and sear the other side. After 5 minutes take them out on a plate and repeat the searing of remaining mutton pieces.
6. Pour the remaining mustard oil into the same pan. Once the oil is hot, temper it with whole spices – green & black cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and dry red chilies. Also add the sugar which will caramelize and lend a beautiful brown color to the gravy.
7. Once the whole spices are fragrant, add the sliced onions. Sauté the onions on medium flame until they soften and become translucent.
8. Then add remaining ginger paste and garlic paste and continue sautéing them until the onions turn golden brown.
9. Make sure to stir the onions frequently and be careful that they do not burn as it will turn bitter if burned. You need to reach a point where onions are brown but not burnt. It would take about 20 minutes on medium-low flame.
10. Then add the chopped tomatoes and salt to taste. Cover and cook on lowest flame until the tomatoes turn soft and mushy and disintegrate completely.
11. Next add the powdered spices – turmeric, coriander, cumin and half of the garam masala. Drizzle ¼ cup of water and sauté the spices on high until oil starts to separate.
12. Now add the seared mutton pieces. Stir thoroughly to mix the spices well with the mutton cubes. Drizzle few tablespoons of water around the pot to prevent sticking. Cover and simmer the mutton on low flame.
    
13. It’s time to slow cook the mutton. You will have to cover and cook the mutton on low heat stirring occasionally and drizzling water whenever the spices tend to stick to the bottom of the pan and then scrapping all the flavorful goodness into the pot.
14. Mutton should take about an hour & a half to cook completely but it would also depend on the freshness and quality of the meat. Continue the slow cooking process until the mutton pieces are cooked according to your liking. Also check and adjust the seasoning if needed.
15. When the mutton is thoroughly cooked, add about 2 cups of hot water. Give a good stir and bring it to boil. Then cover the pot and simmer for final 10 minutes.
16. After about 10 minutes, uncover the pot and check the consistency of the gravy. You may boil off any excess water or add few splashes if it’s too thick.
17. Sprinkle the remaining garam masala, drizzle the ghee on top and put off the flame. 
18. Cover the pot and let it rest for at least 30 minutes before serving. This resting time will allow the mutton pieces to soak up more flavor and become more delicious.

Serve the spicy mutton curry garnished with freshly chopped coriander leaves with plain warm Basmati rice and green salad. Enjoy!

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