Kata Moslar Mangsho / Kata Masala Mutton

“Mahashtami” can never pass for me without a yummy meal in the lunch. In Kolkata Ashtami used to be the day when all the hell broke loose. Wearing the best dress, eating out, going from pandals to pandals without caring what time it is and where we are and of course giving “anjali” in our Baghbazar Sarbojanin Puja Mandap, were some of them...which made “ashtami”, “ashtami” for us. But now, since I am missing all the thrills, it was the time to get busy in the kitchen and create a stormy menu for the lunch. So I made Kata Moslar Mangsho.

I already have posted a mutton curry recipe with whole spices. But that one is very much Mughlai and has rich spices in it. Whereas this recipe is more towards the Bengali taste and is popular as a special recipe during Eid in Bangladesh.

Marinate the mutton with onions, garlic, ginger, spices, salt and half of the oil.

Put the marinated mutton and the dry red chillies in the cooker and cook covered.

The recipe here is same as the previous one, except the fact that, there is use of dry red chillies and no use of any..and I mean it any...whole garam masalas. Only chunky onions, garlic and ginger do the entire job. The mutton requires slow cooking, which helps in melting all the onions and garlic and the gingers stay in more or less chunks to create a crunch in the dish. The dry red chillies give the curry a fiery red colour and the simple spices make sure that the flavours of the whole spices are not overpowered.

Kata Moslar Mangsho / Kata Masala Mutton

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

500 gm mutton

2 medium potatoes – peeled and halved / 4-5 baby potatoes - peeled (This is my addition. You can omit if you want.)

1 medium onion – chopped

6-7 cloves of garlic – cut into big chunks

1 inch stick of ginger – julienned

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp red  chilli powder (reduce if you don’t want that much heat)

A few whole coriander seeds (optional)

10-12 dry red chillies - broken (get rid of the seeds if you don’t want too much heat in your mutton)

4-5 whole green chillies – slitted

A handful of fresh coriander leaves - chopped

2 tbsp mustard oil / ghee / unflavoured oil

Salt

Method:

Marinate the mutton with chopped onions, ginger – garlic paste, whole coriander seeds (if using), turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and half of the oil. Let them marinade for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Then heat the rest of the oil in a pressure cooker and add all the marinated mutton into it.

Put cover and cook till the mutton pieces start to release water from them.

Then add the broken dry red chillies and put cover again.

Cook in this way until all the moisture is evaporated.

Stir in between to prevent burning and sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the curry is dry, add 2 cups of water. Mix in and cook on pressure till the cooker blows 4-5 whistles.

Put off the flame and let the cooker release its pressure naturally. Then open the lid and put it again on medium flame.

Add the potatoes and simmer till the gravy reaches your desired consistency. Also make sure that the potatoes are soft and cooked from inside.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Put off the flame, sprinkle the slitted green chillies, some chopped fresh coriander leaves on top of them and serve hot with some steamed hot rice.