Sunday Night Dinner - Lal Maas

I have been somewhat underweather for the past few days and had to be subjected to a bout of antibiotics. So, today for dinner, I wanted something fiery, spicy and meaty. Normally I would just get a portion of burra kebabs from Kwalitys, but as my doctor has banned me from eating outside, decided to cook mutton at home. I also wanted a recipe in which I would not need to marinate mutton, because invariably, I make mistakes and lose patience midway.

After pouring through the collection of cookbooks that had been gathering dust, I located a recipe for lal maas (literally red meat) in Curry. The recipe did not call for complicated ingredients and I had everything I needed. The recipe itself is simple and involves first soaking the dry red chillies, then frying the garlic and onion until golden brown alongwith cloves, green and black cardamoms and bayleaves. Then adding the mutton and frying for 2-3 minutes, adding the soaked red chillies, cooking some more, then adding a yogurt and spice mixture (coriander powder, roasted cumin, red chillies powder - I used Kashmiri, salt) and cooking until the water dries up. I then detracted from the recipe and plonked it all into a pressure cooker, added stock, checked the seasoning and then pressure cooked until 6 whistles because I like my mutton dropping off the bone in curries. After the pressure had gone down, I added some chopped coriander. The original recipe called for a tadka of ghee, cloves and some more dry red chillies, but I thought it was aromatic enough and I didnt want it to be swimming in fat.

Ate it with hot phulkas (chappatis). I was very satisfied with this recipe and plan to incorporate it in my favourites. Mostly because it is easy to cook and I am very lazy, the flavouring is wonderful and it comes out looking very very inviting.