Everybody loves a good Mutton Curry. Getting
a good recipe and then making one according to that recipe is another matter.
A few months ago we had lunch in Chennai at
the home of our close friends who are Bengalis. Ruby, our friend’s mother, like
most mothers and grandmothers over the age of 50 [not yummy mummies] is a great
cook. She had made a typical Bengali Mutton Curry called Kosha Mangsho. This
was deeply aromatic, spicy with Garam Masala, had a thick gravy, and, like all
good curries, had potato. This, in my view, is essential.
Ruby generously shared her recipe in fabulous
detail and honesty. This recipe which I followed to the `T' actually makes a
Kosha Mangsho as good as Ruby’s. For a home-cook, this level of detail is rare,
which is why this recipe is all the more precious to us.
We have made this a few times and have
slightly adapted it. We made it a couple of days ago for dinner. It turned out
very well. Leftovers have a great advantage. All you need to do is keep them
away and make a Biryani the next day. Place the left over Kosha Mangsho in the
bottom of a pot, add a tablespoon of Kewda Water [Screwpine], fill the pot with
almost cooked rice, place on a slow fire for about 15 minutes covered and your
biryani is ready.
Like all food with onion, ginger and garlic,
particularly, stews, please eat the dish the day after making it. A night in
the fridge does wonders for the flavour.
So Ruby, take a bow. I am sorry to have
tinkered with your recipe but, we believe it is better this way. The recipe
follows.
Ruby Banerjee’s
Kosha Mangsho - Pot
Roast Mutton Bengali Style
Ingredients
4 Tbsp or more Mustard Oil
5 Green cardamom
10-12 Peppercorns
6 Cloves
3 Inch cinnamon stick, broken into several
pieces
2 bay leaf
5 onion finely chopped
1-2 teaspoon sugar
2 Tbsp Ginger Garlic paste
2 tomato, diced
1 1/2 Tsp Coriander seeds powdered
1 1/2 Tsp Cumin seeds powdered
1/2 Tsp Turmeric
2 Tsp chilli powder, or to taste
[If you like you could dissolve all the
powders in a little water to make a paste]
1 Kg Boneless mutton cubed and throughly
dried on some kitchen paper. This is essential.
2-3 potato, peeled and cut into big pieces
Garam masala powder
[Equal quantity Clove, Cinnamon &
Cardamom dry roasted and powdered]
1 Tbsp Ghee
Process
Day 1 - Cooking
Heat mustard oil. Add the Cardamom,
Peppercorns, Cinnamon, Bay leaf and clove. Stir till they crackle.
Add the onions and the sugar and sauté till
golden. Really golden not golden from outside. Do this on a lowish flame.
Add Ginger Garlic paste and cook for a couple
of minutes.
Add the diced tomato and cook till the oil
and water separates.
Now add the powders [which you may have
dissolved in water] i.e. Corriander, Cumin, Tumeric and Chilli. Stir for a
couple of minutes.
Turn up to high heat. Now add the cubed dried
mutton in batches. This will ensure that water is not released. Once all the
mutton is added keep stirring occasionally till all water dries, the oil
separates and the meat and masala start turning darker. If the meat and masala
start sticking to the pan and a tablespoon of water and scrape off the
caramelised part. This process should take about 30 minutes to an hour. The
meat will turn visibly darker. Have a look at the photos.
Meat before browning |
A much darker colour as well as drier |
Once all the meat and masala has turned a
much darker shade (almost black) add water to cover the meat, reduce heat and
simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. If it gets too dry add some water. You should
have a thick gravy.
Now put the contents into a pressure cooker
along with the Potato and cook till the Pressure cooker whistles once. Turn off
the heat and wait till the pressure reduces. When cool, put contents in fridge
overnight.
Day 2 - Eating
Heat the Kosha Mangsho, add salt to taste,
sprinkle Garam Masala powder and Ghee.
Classically eaten with Bengali Luchis, it is
also good with steamed rice or chapatti/paratha.
Finished Kosha garnished with Corriander |
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