CO-ISO MUTTON CURRY AKA MEDICINE FOR GOOD HEALTH

 

As a Bengali, that too a proud one, I have never shied away from my love for red meat. Pork is pure orgasm for the senses, but Mutton is what this post is about. That too, cooked during home isolation, a tiny family of three needed it, more than anytime ever to cheer up their dwindling spirits. Mother dearest has been too feeble and weak to stand and cook hence the less experienced me had to take over. The trusted 1.5lt red pressure cooker did the rest of the job.

Mother makes her mutton this way on some days. the rest is decided by the quality of meat, father is n charge of that department. I visit my butcher on fewer days, only in case of special events or when it comes to entertaining some dear friends. Something tells me you would be rather more interested in emulating a sumptuous recipe, in your kitchen, without involving tons of hard work, than reading up the gibberish I have been typing out to fill up this space.

1. Mutton 800gms (the ratio of meat to fat to be 70:30). Please do not discard fat, not only will you be chided for that practise, more importantly you will be left with no flavour. Google is you are unaware of the golden rule.

2. Time for minimum manual labour now: Peel and quarter 300gm potatoes. Chop150gm onions into thick slices, Tomatoes 180gm to be chopped into smaller rough chunks. Pound 16 fat garlic cloves + 9 green chilli+ 1.5" ginger+ 1tsp black peppercorn, together, into a rough paste. 

3. Make a paste: 4tbsp yoghurt + 1/3cup beresta or fried onions + 1.5tsp red chilli powder + 3/4thtsp kashmiri chilli powder + 1.5tsp turmeric paste + 2tsp (heaped) coriander powder+ 2tbsp mustard oil + juice of 3/4th lime.. Marinate mutton with this paste and keep it aside for 10-15mins.

4. Now heat a pan and add some oil of your choice. Massage the quartered potatoes with 1/2tsp turmeric powder and some salt and add them to the hot oil. WE intend to fry them, till they have acquired light brown col on the edges and the skin blistered t places. Remove from the flame and keep aside.

5. Place the pressure cooker on the gas and add about 4tbsp Mustard oil + 2 tsp ghee. Once the oil is fumed and the colour has changed to a paler shade, we will throw into the pan the following: 3 bay leaves + 3 dry red chillies (broken)+ 6 cloves+ 6 green cardamom+ 1 black cardamom+ 1.5" cinnamon stick.

6. As always, once aromatic, bung in the chopped onions into the cooker with a generous pinch of salt. Cover, reduce the flame and cook it for at least 10-12mins. till they have softened and got a jam-y consistency. Time to add in the pounded garlic ginger and chillies and fry them for a few seconds at a higher flame. Once the raw aroma disappears add in the chopped tomatoes, cover and cook till they disintegrate, around 5min max, on a medium low flame.

7. Once all the contents of the cooker has amalgamated well, throw in the marinated mutton along with the fried potatoes. Give it all a good mix. Keep doing that on a medium high flame till all the water evaporates and  oil seeps out from the sides. Adjust seasoning, salt in this case at that time. Next pour in 3 cups of boiling hot water, stir, clamp the lid and allow it to cook on medium flame for 2 whistles.

8. Once all the vapour has disappeared and the lid can be opened, check the contents. The mutton should be cooked by now, if not one more whistle is the solution. Also I add in 1tsp (heaped) of garam masala powder and stir well. I am done. So are you. Serve it with only and only plain steamed rice.

This is finger licking good. It has to be. It is my mother's recipe. While typing this out for you all, I felt a rather discomfort clouding my mind. It feels like doling out a part of my growing up days with you all, I feel naked almost. But I am glad, that my mother's cooking is now going to be a part of your repertoire as well. Some words of common sense and wisdom enlisted below:

A. Adjust the level of heat ( I mean chillies) according to your level of endurance.

B. I have been told a few days back about a strange phenomenon: People not liking aloo or potato in their meat curry. Strange! Avoid them if you wish to, please. Just don't tell me about it.

C. You can add the potatoes after the first whistle if you wish to, I add them from the beginning because some disintegrate into the gravy, which gives it that lovely thick consistency. Consider it a natural starch.

All that I feel now is bliss and silence. A strange kind of quietness has fallen over the table, while people are happily chomping on humble offering of mutton curry and rice. oh yes! a squeeze of Gondhoraj, and maybe we can travel to food heaven together. who cares, even if it's hell for us, right?