Goat meat Curry - Mutton Masala

A few of our friends wanted to eat goat curry - so I decided to give it a try. I am not a fan of red meat and hence never learnt how to cook it. Now - there was a challenge. Well, it turned out pretty well and its easy to make too.

Ingredients

4 pounds of goat meat - take a mix of the chops and the shoulder/neck piece - medium pieces

4 onions - roughly chopped

4 tomatoes - roughly chopped

a bunch of cilantro - roughly chopped

a whole garlic - roughly chopped

2 teaspoons ginger paste

1 can coconut milk

1/2 cup of oil

1/2 cup of yogurt

2 tablespoons tamarind paste

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

4 teaspoons chilli powder

2 teaspoons  garam masal powder

2 teaspoons dhania jeera powder

3 to 4 Bay leaves

2 inches cinnamon

2 green cardamos

1 black cardamom (badi elaichi)

2 star anise

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon aniseed (badishep/saunf)

3 to 4 dried red chillies

salt to taste

Method

Wash the goat meat well and then marinate in yogurt, salt and turmeric and let it sit for an hour.

In a big pressure cooker (I used a 5 liter) add the oil. When it gets hot add the bay leaves, the dried chilies, the black cardamom, the green cardamom, the cinnamon stick, the star anise, the black pepper and the aniseed all together. After about 30 seconds, add the chopped onions and the garlic. Fry till the onions become golden brown. To this add the tomatoes, the ginger paste and half of the chopped cilantro. Mix well and let this mixture fry till the oil leaves the side of the cooker. Add the garam masala, the chilli powder, the dhania jeera powder and the tamarind paste and mix well. Get the flame to a medium low and then add the coconut milk - be cautious to continuously stir, else the milk will curdle. Add the marinated goat meat and let all the pieces be covered with the masala mixture. Add a cup of water. Put the lid on the pressure cooker and let it cook for 3 to 4 whistles. 

Once the pressure is gone - open the lid and check if the meat is cooked. Generally its cooked beautifully in 4 whistles - but, if its not cooked then cook it again for another 2 whistles. 

Add salt to taste and add a little water if its too dry.

Garnish with the remaining chopped cilantro and serve with rice, rotis, naans or even dosas.

Chicken Masala - Quick Fix

Ingredients

2 pounds of chicken, cut into medium pieces (I used thighs - skinless but with bone in)

2 tablespoons of curd 

2 medium onions - roughly chopped

2 medium tomatoes - roughly chopped

7 to 9 flakes of garlic - finely chopped

1 teaspoon - ginger paste

3 tablespoons of tomato ketchup

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

2 tablespoons of oil

salt to taste

chopped cilantro for garnish

Method

Marinate the chicken in curd, salt and turmeric powder and keep aside for 1 hour.

In a karahi, add the oil - when it gets hot, add the onions and garlic and saute/fry till the onions turn golden brown. Then add the tomatoes and the ginger paste and mix well. Saute till the oil leaves the sides of the karahi. To this add the tomato ketchup and mix well. Then add the dhania jeera powder, chilli powder and the garam masala powder and mix well. Add the chicken pieces and mix well. All the chicken pieces should be covered in the masala. Add some water to get a thick gravy consistency - be careful not to add more water as the chicken will lose some water into the gravy too.

It takes around 20 minuted for the chicken to cook through. Add salt if required. Remember, you marinated the chicken in salt and turmeric and curd - and also you added ketchup which has salt.

Garnish with cilantro - serve with rotis, naan or plain rice. I served it with plain dosas.