Khara Masala Gosht / Mutton With Whole Spices

The current went off again...and I had to lit candles to light up my room. It would have been better, if I had an emergency light. But I love the steady flame of the candles and the dimly lit attire of the room. The gloomy, sadist nature makes everything mysterious like walking through an endless alley...you keep walking, you know the destination but it never comes. Tiresome, lengthy and takes a lot of patience.

 

One of my cats burnt their whiskers by sniffing the burning candle. One of them started peeping everywhere but the litter box...and two are so much busy with fighting with each other!!! I don't even know what they are fighting for. I separate them, push them into opposite directions, their torn fur dances around the room with the wind....and I get left with a lots of stumbled upon things...

The first time I got the recipe of this Khara Masala Gosht / Mutton with Whole Spices...I was skeptical that whether or not it will be tasty. But thank god I tried...because it is not only tasty but also very mild in flavors. I have slightly overcooked the mutton here, and they kind of fell off the bones. I also added some fats, that I bought extra from the butcher, to make it a little more lush. And voila...it worked. Besides, when you eat a dish so simple in its flavor, it needs some additional kick to keep it going!!:)

Khara Masala Gosht / Mutton With Whole Spices
Serves 5-6

Ingredients:

• 1 kg mutton on bone
• 4 medium onions - thinly sliced
•  3-4 whole green chilies - silted
• 6-7 green cardamom
• 2 black cardamom
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 large cinnamon stick
• 6-7 cloves
• 6-7 fat cloves of garlic - paste
• 2, 2 inch ginger stick - paste
• 1 mace
• 1/4 of nutmeg - crushed
• 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 5-6 black peppercorns
• 3-4 dry red chilies
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• salt
• 2 tbsp oil / ghee
• 1/4 cup of whisked yogurt
• 1 small bunch of fresh coriander leaves - finely chopped

Method:

• In a heavy bottomed pan first heat half of the oil / ghee and add in half of the whole spices.
• Now add the sliced onion, green chilies, ginger - garlic paste and mix with the oil/ghee.
• Without wasting anymore time add the mutton pieces on the sliced onions.
• Sprinkle generous amount of salt on the mutton and add the half of the oil/ ghee and spices on it.
• Put cover and let it cook on very low flame for at least 30 minutes. 
• The masalas will not burn easily as we have added a lot of onion and oil. Also since our mutton also has fat in it, it will ooze out oil too. However, if the flame is not very low, you have to stir the mutton in between, so that the mutton and the masalas does not burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
• After 30 minutes, you will see the all the onion slices have melted totally and the meat also have released a substantial amount of oil.
• Now add the whisked yogurt and mix well.
• At this stage if you want you can add a little turmeric and red chili powder. This gives the dish a very beautiful color.
• Now you have to stir and cook the mutton until it is properly browned and cooked thoroughly.
• It will take somewhere around 1 hour. Continue to add water little by little to avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan.I generally avoid cooking this particular dish on pressure cooker because slow cooking gives this dish a beautiful taste, which no shortcut can assure.
• Cook till the meat is done. Add finely chopped fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed hot rice or chapati or naan.