Mutton Kosha!

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...