Any
Bengali meal on a Sunday afternoon is incomplete without their staple mutton
curry and rice (mangsho-bhat), and I'm sure any Bengali would vouch for this.
The mangsho or mutton curry varies in its thickness consistency from one
household to other and everyone has their own favourite recipes. Mutton is one
of the easiest meat to cook in terms of flavouring, as you can keep it as
simple or as complex as you wish but its own flavour and juices add a lot to
the dish. So this is always one of the first recipes we bongs try our hands on.
Here's a version of this recipe from the Oh! Calcutta cookbook. Over two hours of cooking time, but it was worth all the
efforts to make this lip smacking Bengali delicacy and a Sunday afternoon
staple Mutton Kosha (semi-dried gravy). The beauty of this dish is that
practically no regular spice such as turmeric, coriander, cumin or chilli
powder is needed for this.
Sharing
the recipe:
Ingredients:
For
marination:-
Mutton
500 grams
Ginger
paste 5 tbsp
Garlic
paste 3 tbsp
Curd
50 grams
Nutmeg-mace
(javitri and jaifal) powder a pinch
Garam
masala powder* 1 tbsp
(Bengali
garam masala consists of Green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, mace and nutmeg)
Mustard
Oil 100 ml
Salt
1/2 tbsp
For
gravy:
Onions
(sliced) 500 grams
Bay
leaves(tej patta) 3-4
Whole
garam masala - 2 green cardamoms, 4 cloves, 6 1cm cinnamon sticks, mace 3-4
strands, nutmeg 1/4th of a fruit
Ginger-garlic
paste 1 tsp
Garam
masala powder a pinch
Turmeric
(optional) a pinch
Kashmiri
chilli powder (optional) 1/2 tsp
Mustard
Oil 100 ml
Recipe:
Wash
the mutton and mix all the ingredients listed under marination with it in a
bowl, cover it and refrigerate for an hour.
In
a flat bottom aluminium vessel or a handi, if you have one, heat the oil for
gravy, temper it with the bay leaves and whole garam masala, and add the
onions. Fry it well till it turns a lil' brown (not burnt), add the
ginger-garlic paste and fry again and add the marinated mutton, add turmeric
and chilli powder if you want to. Stir fry it for another 10 minutes and add
500 ml water and mix well. Lower the flame and cover it and cook it till the
mutton is tender and gravy is all but dried up. It takes around 2 hours and
10-20 minutes more depending on the mutton's quality. Serve hot with rice or
luchis (maida puri) or paratha. Bon appetite! :)
And some pictures...
