Mutton Chilly Fry | Easy One-Pot Recipe
It’s been a while since I cooked a mutton dish, so decided to address it this weekend. Went to the Turkish store (in my opinion, that’s where you get the best mutton in Germany!) and picked up a portion of this lovely protein. Was wondering what to make out of it when my eyes fell on every Mangalorean’s favourite cookbook, The Chef! by Isidore Coelho. I have explained a bit about this book when I recreated the Parsi Style Mutton Stew. This time I bring to you Recipe No. 933 viz. Mutton Chilly Fry, from this wonderful book. Like I have mentioned before, with over 1600 recipes, this book is a treasure trove of culinary delights.
How to make Mutton Chilly Fry
I made this Mutton Chilly Fry recipe the traditional way by slow cooking it. This is an easy one pot dish to prepare but, will take some time. Alternatively, if you are short of time, you can pressure cook the meat and then finish it with the remaining ingredients. Cut the meat into bite sized pieces, trim off the excess fat, wash it and keep aside to drain off the excess moisture while you prep the remaining ingredients. Since, we are slow cooking, leave some fat on the meat. While the meat slow cooks, the fat will render and add to the flavour of the dish.
Use a large enough thick bottomed pot for making the Mutton Chilly Fry. Heat some ghee and fry some green chillies and ginger. Adjust the quantity of chillies as per your requirement. Next fry the onions till they brown up. Remember to just brown them but not burn them! By browning them well, we release the sweetness in the onions to counter the heat from the chillies. Add the meat to the pot and sear it on high heat for a couple of minutes. Turn down the heat, cover and let the meat cook in its own juices, stirring occasionally until it browns up a bit.
Once the meat has browned, add the tamarind pulp, Kashmiri chilli powder, Turmeric and freshly ground pepper. Do remember, the chilli powder is added just for the colour and not for the heat. We already are using sufficient quantity of green chillies for the heat. Hence, use only Kashmiri chilli powder or alternatively use Paprika. Follow this with diced tomatoes and salt, mix well and cook for about an hour on an open flame. By the time it is done, the onions and tomatoes would have completely disintegrated and the gravy would have thickened and absorbed into the meat.
The sweetness of the onions, along with the tartness from the tomatoes and tamarind, paired with the heat of the chillies, mixed with the flavour from the rendered fat from the slow cooked meat make this a flavour-packed dish. The Mutton Chilly Fry recipe in the book calls for the addition of 1 cup of boiling water. I have skipped this as the meat had released sufficient juices and also the tomatoes I used were pretty juicy. I used a mix of ribs and shoulder for this dish. If you wish, you can garnish this dish with some chopped coriander. Serve The Mutton Chilly Fry hot with steamed rice or chapati.
Mutton Chilly Fry
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Ghee
- 10 pc Green Chillies, slit (adjust the quantity as per your requirement)
- 1 inch Ginger, julienned
- 2 pc Onions , medium-sized thinly sliced
- 1 Kg Mutton (on the bone), curry-cut, trimmed of excess fat, washed and drained of excess moisture
- Tamarind , lime-sized, soaked in warm water
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Chilli Powder (Paprika)
- ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp Pepper, freshly ground
- 2 pc Tomatoes, medium-sized diced
- Salt, as acquired
Instructions
- In a large enough thick-bottomed pot, heat the ghee and fry the chillies and ginger for about 30 seconds
- Add the onions and fry till they turn brown. Ensure not to burn them
- Add the meat and sear it on high heat for a couple of minutes. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cover and let the meat cook in its own juices, stirring occasionally until it browns up a bit.
- Add the soaked tamarind pulp, along with the chilli powder, turmeric and pepper and give a good mix
- Follow this with the tomatoes and salt. Give a good mix and let the meat cook for about an hour on an open flame until the gravy thickens and is completely absorbed into the meat.
- Garnish with some chopped coriander (optional)
- Serve Hot with steamed rice or chapati!
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