Mutton Cooked In Ghee

Ghee brings back lots of memories because during school days, especially winter ones, Steaming hot rice, musur dal, ghee, fried potatoes(alu bhaja) and boiled eggs used to be our all time favourite dinner.Back then we never really loved fishes and shunned any kind of vegetable curry. How I learnt to love food is the subject of hostel life. But now that I enjoy my lunches more than ever before and developed culinary taste towards Indian food in general and North Indian food in particular, it feels great reminiscing those days.
I was unaware for quite sometime about the use of Ghee in Chicken/Meat. But when I learnt about it and started experimenting in my own kitchen it generated some stupendous results.The recipe below is a Ghee based Mutton curry which, if cooked to perfection, will result in a succulent,tender and heavily aromatic dish - A dish that fits your Sunday lunches or any occassion lunch with guests. A distinguishing factor in this dish is - it requires next to no marination.A 15 mins mix up of the mutton,salt and turmeric powder is all that is required.

Servings: 2

The Preparation:

• Mutton: 500 gms.Should contain a little amount of rewazi/fat containing pieces.
• Turmeric Powder: 2 tsp
• Salt: To taste.

Mix all the above ingredients and keep aside for 15-20 mins. During this time, you may opt to cut the onions, crush the garlic/ginger and whisk the yoghurt - All of which will be required for the cooking phase.

Cooking:
Ingredients:

• The Mutton from the Marinade.
• Onion: 300 gms.Sliced longitudinally.
• Garlic:10-12 cloves.Crushed.
• Ginger: One 1 inch piece.Crushed.
• Potato: One Big(100 gms).Sliced into 2 halves.
• Yoghurt: 70-80 gms.Whisked.
• Sugar: 1 tsp
• Salt: To taste.
• Melted Ghee: 6 table spoon for the curry.2 table spoon to be sprinkled onto the mutton after cooking is over.

Powdered Spices:

• Coriander Powder: 2 tb sp
• Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: 2 tb sp
• Garam Masala Powder: 1 tsp.To be added ONLY at the end.

Other Ingredients:

• Bay Leaf: 2

Procedure:

• Coat the potato slices with a little amount of turmeric powder salt. Fry the potato slices in 1 table spoon of oil.
• Then:
• Heat the 6 table spoon of melted ghee in a wok/kadai.
• Once the ghee gets hot, add the bay leaves.
• The bay leaf will release its own aroma after sometime. 
• Then add the crushed garlic and crushed ginger.
• Wait for the ginger-garlic to release their smell - post which add the sliced onions.
• Until medium heat - sprinkle the sugar on the onion and wait for the onion slices to turn brown.This should require around 12-15 mins.
• Then add the mutton from the marinade.
• Increase the heat to high. Initially the addition of the mutton will add moisture to the kadao, so that will result in quite a bit of sputtering. Wait for the sputtering to subside. Then add the Coriander Powder and Kashmiri Red Chilli powder.
• Add a little amount of salt, if required.
• Stir the mixture continuously for 8-10 mins at the end of which the mutton will acquire a dark brown colour and the mixture will turn dry.
• Lower the heat to medium high
• Add a little amount of warm water and continue to stir the mutton pieces for another 15 mins.In case the mixture becomes dry then add some more warm water within the period.Follow that up by adding the fried potato slices to the mixture.Stir for another 2-3 mins and transfer the entire contents to a pressure cooker.
• In low heat: Add very little amount of warm water to the pressure cooker-around 130-150 ml - and top up the mixture with whisked yoghurt.
• stir the ingredients for 5 mins to ensure that the yoghurt mixes well.
• Put the pressure cooker lid and let the mutton slow cook for 40 mins.

The end result will be soft,succulent mutton pieces. Add 2 tb sp of ghee and 1 tsp of garam masala.Give a final stir.
Serve with Zafrani Pulao.