Spicy Mutton Ghee Roast
Mutton ghee roast -tried, tested and passed with flying colors, give it a try to rake in admiration. As the name suggests, ghee is irreplaceable in this recipe. Any other substitutes will take away the soul of this recipe. The fiery red appearance is not indicative of its spiciness, it's just the kashmiri chillies at work.
- 1 kilogram Mutton
- 4-5 tablespoons Ghee
- Curry leaves
- Jaggery syrup
- 2 tablespoons Garlic Paste
- 1 tablespoon Ginger Paste
- 1/2 cup Yogurt
- 10-12 Kashmiri chillies
- 4 Dried long red chillies
- 1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon Coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon Fennel seeds
- 2 inch Piece of cinammon
- 10 Cloves
- 2 Star anise
- 1/4 teaspoon Fenugreek
- 1 inch Piece of ginger
- 2 cloves Garlic
Marinate the washed and pat dried mutton pieces with ginger, garlic and yogurt for a min of 30 min. It can be refrigerated overnight too.
Add 1 tsp of salt and ½ tsp of turmeric(optional) to mutton. Heat a heavy bottom pan or a pressure cooker. Add a few tbsp. of ghee and fry mutton for 10 min on high flame. Add hot water and cook mutton until tender.
Dry roast spices for ghee roast and grind to fine powder.
Heat a heavy bottom pan and fry the ground spices in ghee for a few minutes. Add water or stock to deglaze the pan. Cook the spices until oil starts leaving the sides of the pan. Deglaze the pan several times.
Add cooked mutton, curry leaves and simmer on low flame for 10 to 20 min until the meat is tender and has absorbed all the flavors.
Gravy should be bursting with flavors of spices with the right amount of tanginess from the yogurt. Adjust salt and add 1 tsp of jaggery syrup (optional) to balance the flavors.
Cooking mutton- Cook mutton on low flame for 3 to 4 hrs in a heavy bottom pan until the meat is tender. Or for quicker results, cook in a pressure cooker on high flame until the first whistle and then simmer on low flame for 15 to 20 min.
Silverskin or rubbery connective tissue should be trimmed prior to cooking.
Spices- I like to use Indian ginger and garlic in all my recipes for its flavor. Freshly ground ginger and garlic is preferred for marination. Or you can grind a big batch (50 to 100 gms) of ginger or garlic in a mixer and store in a clean jar in the fridge for upto a week for convenience.
Store bought ginger and garlic paste tends to contain salt and citric acid.
Make ahead- Ghee roast can be prepared well ahead and refrigerated for 3 to 4 days without the dish losing its flavor. To reheat, firstly, bring the dish to room temperature by leaving it on the counter top for 30 min to 1 hr. Warm it in a heavy pan on low flame. Add a few curry leaves.
Yogurt- I prefer to use homemade yogurt for marination as it is more flavourful and nutritious than store bought ones.