Having spent a large chunk of my life in Kolkata, a couple of things always manage to retain their nostalgic appeal for me. While one of them is boi-para’ (College Street) the quintessence of Bengali adda’, the very next would be Kosha Mangsho (Bengali mutton curry); a meal that every Bengali swears by.
One of the biggest satisfactions in life is to sit with your family on a lazy Sunday afternoon and gorge on a hot, sumptuous lunch. This satisfaction happens to be double when we have Mutton Kasha for lunch.
Being an avid foodie I’ve had my share of trial and error in cooking an authentic mutton curry. But after a lot of experiments, I finally came up with this one meal prep that is not only easy to prepare but also equally amazing when it comes to tantalizing one’s taste buds.
In the following section, I will share this simple recipe of the authentic Bengali mutton curry or the kasha mangsho. The ingredients are easy to get and the meal too can be whipped up in a couple of minutes.
Things you’ll need
As I’ve already mentioned, getting hold of the ingredients for the Bengali style mutton curry is not really much of a hassle. The ingredients are available in almost all homes and the spices too can be bought from over the counter stores.
To begin with, you will need about
750 grams of mutton, 3 medium sized onions, one to one and a half teaspoons of meat masala, 12 black peppers, 4 green cardamoms, inch cinnamon stick, 3 medium potatoes cut in halves, 3 bay leaves, 5 cloves, a teaspoon of sugar and about 4 cups of mustard oil.
For the marinade, you will need
one and a half inches ginger, one ad a half teaspoons of powdered red peppers, a dash of salt, 8 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons of turmeric powder, one and a half teaspoons of coriander powder and 4 tablespoons of curd.
Preparing the meal
Start with your preparation by marinating the mutton. Chop the garlic, ginger and onions in fine pieces. Now grind them in a mixture to come up with a smooth paste. As your paste is ready, clean the mutton well.
Now, add the yogurt, turmeric powder, a tablespoon of coriander powder, one cup of mustard oil and half of the ginger-onion-garlic paste to the mutton. Keep it covered and let the mixture rest for about two hours.
The more time you give, the better will be your final meal as the spices will get enough time to penetrate within the mutton pieces. So if possible, try to keep this meal prep at rest for the entire night. Before you keep it at rest, prick the mutton pieces with a fork so that all the flavours are absorbed by the meat.
After your marinated meat is ready, heat about two tablespoons of mustard oil in a round bottomed wok. Take the potatoes and fry them till they are golden brown. Now, let them cool.
As soon as you’re done with this, start by preparing the mutton. To begin with, start heating the rest of the mustard oil in the same wok. Add a dash of turmeric to it. Now, slowly temper it with the bay leaves, cloves, black peppercorns, cinnamon stick and the cardamom. Add a dash of sugar to it. This sugar will add a nice red colour to the gravy and it will also add some sweetness to the otherwise spicy preparation.
Now, take the remaining onion paste that you had kept from the marinade and fry it with meat masala for about five minutes. As the oil starts separating from your mixture, add the marinated chunks of mutton. Add salt to taste. Cook at a really low flame for about 30 to 45 minutes.
Now, depending on the amount of gravy you want, add one to two cups of water. Cover your wok with a lid. Let your mutton cook for about an hour until it becomes really soft, juicy and succulent. While cooking, make sure that the flame is set at the lowest.
Finally, add your fried potatoes, a dash of garam masala and give it a really nice stir. Cook for two more minutes and turn off the gas.
Your Bengali style mutton kasha is now ready.
Serve it with a bowl of steamed rice or our favorite Bengali style pooris (luchi). Finally, end your meal with rasgulla or mishti doi.
Here’s another lamb recipe you might like: Keto Ground Lamb Recipes
