Mutton Curry
The end of September saw a cold snap sweep across South Africa. It was unexpectedly cooler than Winter and strange for the start of Spring.
Even though I was working on Saturday, I woke up determined to make a mutton curry because spicy food hits the spot when the mercury plummets.
For this curry, I usually marinate my meat in yoghurt. You can skip this process but try not to because it tenderizes the meat nicely.
Ingredients for marinade for approximately 1kg of curry mutton
1/2 cup fat-free plain yoghurt
3 tsp curry powder
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp garam-masala
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
tsp crushed ginger and garlic
green masala (crushed chilies to your taste)
handful of chopped coriander
fresh sprigs of rosemary, chopped up finely
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
Mix everything well and let this sit for 2 hours or more.
Other ingredients
3-4 potatoes, quartered
2 onions, diced
3 tomatoes, boiled, peeled, and cut into cubes
3 tbsp olive oil
Dry spice
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star aniseed
1 tsp jeera seeds
1 tsp soomph
3 black peppercorns
curry powder (I use mother-in-law masala mixed with Kashmiri spice)
1 tsp garam masala
Method
Marinate your meat and let it sit for a minimum of 30 minutes. Overnight is better.
Grate tomatoes or boil, peel, and chop them up.
Dice your onions.
Prepare your garlic and ginger.
To a large pot on medium heat, add onions and all your dry spices. Let that fry nicely before adding your marinated meat to the pot.
Add garlic and ginger and give it a good mix.
Add about a quarter cup of water at this stage and close the pot for 5 minutes. Keep mixing the meat every 5 minutes for 20 minutes.
Add tomatoes and potatoes and let this curry simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. Add about a cup of water after 30 minutes.
Stir occasionally. You will notice that the oil will come to the surface. This is normal. Keep cooking and stirring until the potatoes are soft. You can test them by smacking one with the back of a spoon. If it cracks, your curry is ready.
Garnish with fresh coriander and garam masala.
Serve with brown rice, naan, or rotli.
