I don’t think I have eaten as much mutton in my whole life as I have eaten in these past 8 years in Bombay. I can vouch for the excellent quality of meat we get here in Andheri W – rarely has the butcher cheated us with stale cuts. It’s money’s worth through & through and one has the satisfaction of having enjoyed the dish thoroughly owing to the quality of the meat.
When I was little, my mum used to make it only during important occasions and feasts especially during Easter as good mutton was hard to come by in Mangalore. If you knew the butcher really well, you could request him in advance to reserve the best meat for you. But this ‘best meat’ would also come with unwanted meat portions and plenty of bones and my memories of having eaten mutton in Mangalore revolve around a lot of skimpy pieces of bones! This was the reason why probably beef was more popular in Mangalore as it was cheaper than mutton making it a more wholesome, cost effective source of protein for a large family.
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This curry/stew is perfect if you don’t want to use coconut and also want to throw in some veggies which makes it such a wholesome meal. And colourful too! My son loved the bits of green and orange peeping through a mutton curry that he doesn’t have much liking for. He loves his chicken curries. I loved this and so did R. I hope you enjoy it too! Make sure that your masala has been ground really well to a very fine texture and consistency.
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Mutton Brown Stew (Without Coconut)
Preparation time: 20mins | Cooking time 25mins | Serves 4
You Need:
- 1/2 kg boneless mutton (or beef)
- 2 medium sized potatoes skinned and cubed
- 2 medium sized carrots skinned and cut into 1″ strips
- 12 french beans stringed and cut into 1cm pieces
- 1/2 cup peas (optional)
- 1 medium sized tomato chopped or sliced
- 1 medium sized onion finely sliced
- 2-3 tsp ghee or oil
- salt to taste
For the masala:
- 3 dry red chillies (I used Byadgi)
- 3/4 tsp cummin/jeera
- 8 peppercorns
- 2 cloves
- 1/2 inch cinnamon
- a marble sized ball of tamarind
- 3/4th tsp poppy seeds/khus khus
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 2-3 small green chillies (adjust to taste) *see note
- 1/2 inch ginger
- 2 big onions roughly chopped
- 12 sprigs (1/2 cup approx) of coriander leaves
Method:
1. Cut the mutton into medium sized pieces, wash and drain. In a pressure cooker add enough water to cover the mutton pieces and salt to taste. Pressure cook on a full flame till one whistle goes off. Reduce the flame completely and cook for another 10-12 minutes if the meat is tender. (Note: Cooking time depends on the quality of meat). Wait for the whistle (weight) to loosen up completely before opening the lid. Stir the contents and keep aside.
2. Boil the cut vegetables (minus the tomato) in sufficient water (add salt to taste) till it is almost tender. Keep aside.
3. In a heavy bottomed pan/kadhai heat 1tsp ghee and toss in the 2 big chopped onions and coriander leaves and fry for a couple of minutes until the raw smell of the onions vanishes. Grind these along with the rest of the ingredients mentioned under ‘For the masala’ to a fine paste. Retain the masala water from the mixer grinder.
4. In the same pan/kadhai heat the remaining ghee and fry the sliced onion till golden brown. Add the tomatoes and fry till its mushy. Add the ground masala and fry on a slow flame till the ghee separates (this will take 5-6mins). Add the masala water and a little water or stock from the boiled mutton. Adjust consistency of the gravy, check salt and bring it to a boil.
5. Add the meat, boiled vegetables and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Turn off the flame, garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rice, Neer Dosa or Appams
Notes:
- The original recipe asks for 10 green chillies, I have reduced it to 3 small ones and found it a tad spicy. Do adjust all the spice elements (red chillies, peppercorns & green chillies) as per your tolerance to spice.
- If you wish you can dry roast (without ghee) the onions. I tossed in the coriander leaves as well as it adds a wonderful fragrance to the dish.
- You may boil the tomato along with the other vegetables or the mutton. You can add it to the gravy as it boils or fry it along with the onions – its your choice.
Lovely mutton curry..
So Comforting! Looks like this is going to be the Sunday lunch!
Delicious and inviting looking mutton curry. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe.
Deepa
Beautiful curry. We don't really get mutton here unless you specially request it or go around the butcher's to try and source it, so all my mutton curry recipes I make with goat, which has a similar flavour. Its not a real substitute for mutton though, more's the pity. No matter, I'll just stuff myself whenever I manage to get to your place 🙂
Curry looks very inviting..wonderful recipe!
Wish to have this yummy and irresistible stew for my today's lunch.
Shireen,
Mutton ishtew was simbly superb!!!
You are my ishtaar!!!!
cheers,
Usha
Looks so comfy! Bookmarked it!
Thanks a ton everyone for your kind comments 🙂 Usha, you are truly my star for trying out my recipes 🙂 Hugs!!
Hey I tried mutton stew, its yummmmmm:-) all loved it at home. Thank you for sharing this recipe. – Divya.
Hi Divya, so glad you liked the stew! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂 let me know if and when you try more recipes, thanks!!
Hi Shireen,
I tried the receipes and it turned out superb….and verybody liked it…Thanks for sharing….keep uploading ….i just love all the receipes….
cheers
Sheryl
Hi Sheryl! Thanks so much for your feedback, so glad to know that it turned out well!! Do keep trying and letting me know whenever possible 🙂
Wow…that's an delectable recipe….
Hi Shireen
I have been following your blog for quite sometime now, tried a couple of recepies. Brown Mutton Stew was our Friday lunch. Turned out very nice and an easy recepie to follow. Also I loved it as it does not involve coconut! Thank you
Hi Reshma! Thanks so much for your feedback! So glad to know that you liked the Mutton Brown Stew! Do let me know if you have tried and liked anything else!
Hi Shireen, I love your blog not only for its beautiful pics but for the recipes as well…
I had one question regarding the above stew. Can we do the same thing with beef? if so, how long do I need to cook the beef for?
@Shwe: Thanks a ton for the compliments! Yes, you can try the same dish with beef, however it will take longer to cook than mutton unless u are cooking veal (tender beaf). For regular beef you can pressure cook it for about 10minutes extra. Again, please use your judgement, if you get good quality beef, you can cook it for about 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. Turn off the flame and check if done, if not add extra cooking time. Hope this helps!
Hi Shireen,
I tried this recepie without the veggies and it was very delicious. Next time will try it with the veggies….Thanks for sharing.
Great recipe!
Tried it today and my daughter loved it. So did I 🙂
Love
Sunita ❣️
Hi Sunita,
Thanks so much for the feedback! Glad to hear that you liked the mutton stew a lot! Do stay tuned for more recipes 🙂
can i make chicken instead of mutton.
Yes you can..the cooking time will vary though as chicken will cook faster than mutton
This is one of the best Mutton’s recipes I’ve tried!!! And my husband who doesn’t eat red meat really loves this dish!! Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful comment! I am very glad to hear that your hubby also liked it! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback!
This is a beautiful Recipe!!! My husband is not a mutton or veggie fan but he can stop himself from this gravy!!! So thanks to you ❤️
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! Happy to hear that your husband liked it. Thanks for letting me know!
Today for lunch prepared mutton brown stew. My family relished it. Thanks.
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback! So glad to note that your family liked it so much