Mutton is a seriously underrated meat. More flavoursome than lamb it has a reputation for toughness that is really unwarranted. Of course Spring lamb will be tender and best suited for quick cooking but for slow braising in stews and curries you really can’t beat mutton.
Here is one of our favourite dishes – a deeply flavoured, spicy mutton curry. The sauce comes across as rich and indulgent but in fact is almost nothing but fresh veg! This is a great way to get a couple of their 5-a-day into the family without them noticing! Don’t worry if you can’t get all of the spices we’ve used (you should find them in all Asian supermarkets and all good supermarkets) you can always use your own combination .
Ingredients for the Curry:
500g diced mutton (shoulder is probably best)
Salt
Cooking oil
2 carrots
2 leeks
1 head of fennel
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 tin chopped tomatoes
½ tube of tomato puree
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch-long piece root ginger, peeled
2 fresh chillies – or more or less depending on how hot they are and how hot you like your curry!
A little lemon and/or lime juice
½ tsp each coriander seeds, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, asafoetida (hing),
¼ tsp annatto seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds
Ingredients for the Marinade:
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 inch-long piece root ginger, peeled
1 generous sprig coriander
1 same-sized sprig of mint
½ tsp each coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, black onion (kalonji or nigella) seeds, garam massala
1 small pot natural yogurt
Method for preparing the Marinade
1. In a blender buzz all the marinade ingredients (apart from the yogurt) together to form a paste.
2. Mix this into the yogurt and stir to blend thoroughly. Load the diced mutton into a plastic bag and pour in the marinade.
3. Tie off the bag and thoroughly massage the contents to ensure that all the meat is well coated.
4. Put the bag in the fridge for a minimum of 8 hours, 24 hours is even better. Depending on the thickness of the bag you may want to double-bag to keep in all the lovely aromas!
Now prepare the sauce.
Method for preparing the Sauce
1. Heat a tablespoon of oil in your cooking pot. You can use a pressure cooker to save time, but a cast iron pot, or a large saucepan would be fine
2. Add all the dry spices to the hot oil and fry them for a few seconds before removing the pan from the heat. Don’t burn the spices. Your kitchen will now smell amazing!
3. Finely chop all your veg, garlic, chillies and ginger. Bring the spicy oil back up to hot and add the veg to the point, stirring to mix thoroughly and frying gently to soften the vegetables.
4. Add the tomato puree and tinned tomatoes once the veg have softened a little and bring the contents of the pan to a simmer.
5. At this point put the lid on if using a pressure cooker and cook the sauce for 10 minutes. On the hob or in the oven in a saucepan this will take an hour to and hour and a half. The veg, once cooked should be very very soft.
6. Once the sauce is cooked use a stick blender or a food processor to thoroughly puree the sauce. You can, if you like, pass the whole lot through a sieve but I quite like the texture of the blended sauce with the little bits of toasted spices.
7. Once you have a nice thick sauce taste it and adjust the balance with salt, sugar, lemon juice and a little extra chilli powder if you wish. You should aim for a sauce that is flavoursome, slightly (or very) spicy and with a slight sweet and sour touch that will go well with the deep rich mutton.
Set the sauce aside and prepare the meat.
Method for preparing the Meat
1. Remove the meat from the marinade and wipe most of the excess from the meat with a little kitchen towel. Preheat your oven or grill or barbecue or frying pan to its highest temperature and give the meat a good blast of direct heat to begin charring the outside but without cooking it through. The best way to do this is on skewers over a very hot gas BBQ, but under a hot grill ,or in a sauté pan is fine.
2. When all the meat is slightly browned on the outside add it to the sauce and bring the pot to a simmer.
3. If using a pressure cooker leave it to cook under pressure for 25 minutes. Alternatively you can simmer on a very low hob, or in a low oven for a couple of hours. Don’t let it reduce to much – check it occasionally and add a little water if it begins to thicken too much.
4. Once the meat is very tender, check the sauce again for flavour and if you wish you can stir in a good knob of butter or some coconut cream for a richer finish.
5. The curry is best left to cool, covered, overnight and heated up and eaten the following day. The difference in flavour that will result is astounding.
To serve the curry
Serve simply with fresh bread or basmati rice flavoured with a little lemon juice and cardamom seeds.
Laverstoke Park Farm Real Lager compliments this dish perfectly, but if you prefer wine try a Rosé d'Anjou, Gewürztraminer, or a good Beaujolais. Generally wines with plenty of fruit in the flavour work best with curry.
For a print friendly version of this recipe click 'here'.