Mutton Dakbanglow

It was the Bengali new year or 'Poila Baishakh' and for bengalis, it is the beginning of new business activities, to start new account known as 'Haalkhata' and so and so. However, for modern bengalis, it is to wear new cloths and of course enjoying good food is a vital part followed by a long afternoon siesta. 
This 'Poila Baishakh', I have tried the famous Mutton Dakbanglow, a near forgotten culinary treasure served by the khanshamas of the dakbanglows or guesthouses spread across bengal dating back to British times in India.   

Ingredients

• Mutton - 1 kg, I prefer the baby mutton, not the fatty or rewazi pieces
• Curd - 100 gm
• Ginger paste - 2 tbsp
• Garlic paste - 2 tbsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
• Mustard oil - 4 tbsp
• Eggs - 4, hard boiled
• Baby potatoes - 8-10, peeled
• Ghee / clarified butter - 1 tbsp
• Methi / Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
• Bayleaf - 3-4
• Onion - 4, sliced
• Tomato - 2, sliced
• Salt
• Cinnamon, green cardamom, Cloves, Nutmeg powder
• Cumin powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
• Green chillis - as per taste
• Whole red chilli - 2

Marinate the mutton with curd, 1 tbsp each of ginger garlic paste, salt, mustard oil,  kashmiri chilli powder and turmeric. Keep aside for 2 hours.

In a karai, add mustard oil and fry the potatoes and boiled eggs with a pinch of salt and turmeric. Remove and keep aside.

In the same pan, add some more oil and ghee, then add the bayleaf, whole red chilli and methi. Be careful not to burn the mathi. I usually discard the methi once it turns color to prevent further burning. Next add sliced onion with a pinch of salt and sugar and fry well.

Brown them thoroughly then add ginger garlic paste and sliced green chilli.

When the raw smell is gone, add the tomatoes and fry till it is mashed.

Next goes the marinated meat along with ground Cinnamon, green cardamom, Cloves, Nutmeg powder, Cumin powder and Coriander powder. Mix thoroughly. Continue cooking till the water released by the meat is absorbed completely and oil is coming out of it. Then put it in a pressure cooker and cook for 4-5 whistles. Check for doneness, since I have used tender mutton, I didnot go overboard. Add the potatoes and wait for one more whistle. Release the pressure completely, then add the fried eggs and cook for 5 more minutes. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve with plain rice.

Mutton with Tomato

One of my mutton recipe which I have cooked without marination. Since childhood I have seen my mom marinating the mutton with spices and I have this feeling that the longer the marination the better taste of the mutton dish. 
However, there was a sudden guest last week end and Hubby brought mutton for a quick lunch. Now I was in a kind of trauma, I have no time for marination, how will I cook. Then I calmed myself and cooked it in a completely different way with lots of tomatoes and a new dish is born.

Ingredients

• Mutton - 1 kg
• Potatoes - 3-4, halved
• Onion - 5, chopped
• Ginger Garlic Paste - 3 tbsp
• Green chilli, chopped - as per taste
• Tomato - 4-5, chopped
• Salt, Turmeric
• Bayleaf, whole garam masala

Smear some salt and turmeric to the mutton, then pressure cook for 5-6 whistles with a spoonful of ginger garlic paste. Keep aside. Don't through away the water.

In a pan, heat mustard oil, then add byleaf and whole garam masala. I have added a pinch of cumin seeds too.

In a separate pan, fry the potatoes with salt and turmeric till golden brown. Keep aside.

Add onions and fry well.

When onions turn brown, add ginger garlic paste and chopped green chilli and fry well.

Next goes the tomatoes. Fry well till the mixture is mushy.

Add salt, turmeric and kashmiri chilli powder and incorporate well.

Now add the boiled mutton and mix well till the mutton pieces are coated with masalas. Continue frying with the sprinkle of mutton stock. Add the potatoes too. When all the stocks are incorporated, add 1-2 cups of hot water and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

When oils are coming out of the surfaces, the dish is ready. Adjust the seasoning.

Serve hot with plain rice.

Mutton Kofta Curry

This is the first time I have tried kofta or meatball with mutton keema and it was delicious. I already have some chicken meatball recipe in my blog like this 'Chicken Kofta Curry' or 'Mexican Meatball Soup' but the taste of a mutton meatball is completely different. The original recipe has asked for cooking the meatballs in the gravy for some 30-40 minutes, but I have pressure cooked the keema first and then made the balls. You may try it if you have patience and time to cook the meatball in the gravy.

Ingredients

• Mutton Keema - 300 gms
• Onion - 2, chopped
• Garlic Paste - 2 tsp
• Ginger Paste - 2 tsp
• Pinch of ground cardamom
• Green Chilli - as per taste
• Kasuri Methi
• Tomato - 1 , chopped
• All purpose flour - to bind
• Corn Flour - 2 tbsp
• Egg - 1
• Whole garam masala, bay leaf

Pressure cook the minced meat with pinch of salt and half tsp of garlic paste. Strain and keep aside. Reserve the liquid.
When the meat is cool, add half of the chopped onion, garlic paste, ginger paste, chopped green chilli, kasuri methi, green cardamom powder, egg and salt.

Mix well using a spatula. Then add the all purpose flour enough to bind the whole thing together. Keep it in the refrigerator for some time.

Add oil in a non stick pan. When it is hot, take small amount of the mixture and shape it in the form of a ball and release in the oil. 

Fry in batches till golden brown. 

To prepare the gravy, heat some oil in the pan and when it is hot, add ba leaf, whole garam masala and cumin to the oil. After 30 seconds, add chopped onion and fry till golden brown.

Add the remaining ginger garlic paste and saute well. Then add the chopped tomato and chopped green chilli and fry the masala till the tomato is smashed. Now add turmeric powder, coriander powder, kashmiri chilli powder, salt and pinch of sugar with a splash of water. Fry the masala till oil comes out of it.
Scrape the fat from the top of the reserved liquid and add it to the pan. Add one more cup of hot water to the pan and let it boil.

Carefully release the fried kofta into the pan and let it boil.

When the kofta are cooked and soaked the liquid, adjust the seasoning. Add 1 tsp of cornflour dissolved in water and boil for 1 more minute. Then spinkle some kasuri methi and keep covered.

Serve hot.

Kosha mangsho

Kosha Mangsho is an almost dry spicy mutton curry cooked the Bengali Way. Almost all Bengalis have grown up licking their fingers to Kosha Mangsho's velvety gravy and biting into the juicy pieces of the meat. All families have their secret Kosha Mangsho recipe and each one is unique in a way but every dish tastes heavenly. Here is my version of this dish, which I have discovered accidentally. When I was cooking a mutton preparation, my pressure cooker didnot whistle properly and I end up with succulent pieces of soft mutton wrapped up in a spicy gravy.

Ingredients:

• Mutton - 1.5 kg 
• potatoes - 3 big (cut into querters)
• Onion - 500 gms
• Garlic - 100 gms
• ginger - 100 gms
• green chilli - 4-5 pieces
• red chilli - 4-5pieces
• raw papaya paste - 1 tbsp
• Tomato Puree - 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 1.5 tbsp
• Curd - 200gm
• Maida - 1 tbsp
• sugar - 1 tbsp (for caramelisation)
• salt - as per taste
• Jeera powder - 1.5 tbsp
• Dhania powder - 1.5 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 1.5 tbsp
• kashmiri mirch powder - 1.5 tbsp
• whole garam masala
• bay leaves - 4-5 small
• garam masala powder - 1 tsp
• Ghee - 1tbsp
• Mustard Oil

Beat the curd with 1 tbsp flour. Chop half of the onion and keep aside. Make paste of rest of the onions, ginger, garlic, green and red chilli.

Massage the mutton with all the paste with Lemon juice, Pinch of salt and turmeric. Keep it refrigerated for 3-4 hours, preferably over night.

Rub the potatoes with pinch of turmeric powder and salt. Fry the potatoes till golden. strain and keep aside.

Add the sliced onion and fry them brown. Strain from oil, cool down and make a paste.
Heat mustard oil in a pan.Add bay leaves and whole garam masala and sugar. Fry till it start smelling and colour of the sugar changed. 

Add the marinated mutton pieces. and fry them nicely till they turned into light brown colour. 

Make a paste of the cumin, coriander, red chilli and turmeric powder with a little water. Add them and the chopped tomatoes and fry for some few more minutes.

Add the fried onion paste, some more mustard oil and Mix well. Reduce the flame to low. Pressure Cook till the mutton are almost done.
Add the fried potato pieces and get a final whistle. Sprinkle some water (this moisture will help the potatoes get cooked faster. Add a spoonful of ghee at the end. Serve immediately.

Corn Keema Lajawab

We had some friends coming over, so while deciding the menu I have given our regular mutton curry a miss and bought some mutton keema / minced mutton. Now when it comes to the keema recipes, keema matar or minced meat cooked with green peas is the obvious choice. Here again, to give it a twist, I have used sweet corn and the dish was marvelous. 

Ingredients

• Mutton Keema / Mince - 500 gms
• Potato -, 2, boiled
• Sweet Corn - 1 cup
• Onion - 3, chopped
• Garlic Paste - 1 tbsp
• Ginger Paste - 2 tbsp
• Green Chilli Paste - 2 tsp
• Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tsp
• Curd - 2 tbsp, whisked
• Whole cumin - 1 tsp
• Cumin and Coriander powder - 1 tsp each
• Salt, Turmeric
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Garam masala powder - 1 tsp

Pressure cook the minced mutton with 1 tbsp ginger paste, 1 tsp garlic paste and salt with very little water.

Roughly mash and keep aside.

Add oil in a pan and when it is hot, add whole cumin. Let it splutter.

Next add chopped onion and fry them a little with a pinch of salt and sugar till golden brown. Next add the remaining ginger garlic paste, green chilli paste and fry well.

 Mix all the powdered masalas, ( cumin, coriander, kashmiri chilli powder, turmeric and salt ) in 1/2 cup of water. It is better, if you soak the powdered masalas beforehand. Add this masala water to the fried onion mix.

When masalas are fried and oil comes out, add the beaten curd and mix well again. Let the oil float.

Add the boiled mince to the masala and mix well. Add any remaining liquid also. Let it boil for some time.

When keema is almost cooked, add the boiled potato cubes.

Add the sweet corn also and mix well.

Soak 1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder and 1 tsp garam masala powder in 2 tbsp of water. Add this water to the pan and incorporate well. Boil over very low heat till oil comes out. 

Remove from heat and serve with Roti / Indian flat bread!!