This slow cooked goat curry is one of my most requested ways to cook mutton. Everyone who tries it seems to love it! Slow cooking goat meat with Indian spices results in a perfectly tender, juicy, and flavorful curry. This mutton ghee roast is just a keeper of a recipe.
Every meal is a celebration.
My Amma (grandma) made sure I realized that. She was not what you’d consider pious or orthodox. She was a modern thinker when it was frowned upon. She didn’t believe in fasting or the regular norms of life. But, she respected her sons and daughter in laws who were religious and had beliefs of their own. After a month of festivities and vegetarian food, she made sure to make some of the most delicious non-vegetarians meal for her clan of six boys and a loving daughter in law.
When she decided she was going to make meat at home, it was a process. Every process was thoroughly enjoyed; she lived in the moment. Amma took great pride in going to her favorite butcher and buying the perfect cut of fresh meat. She sat in our back veranda on a wooden mannai(stool), washing and rewashing while her hands turned a pretty hue of orange from the turmeric. I wondered then, how the masala didn’t fall off the ammikkal(flat version of mortal and pestle). On a beautifully cured mann-chatti(clay pot), she cooked and fried. It took hours. Then she calls me, Ashu and sits me down. Carefully blowing it so it doesn’t scorch my tongue, she feeds me the first bite of the juicy, spicy, and flavorful curry. I’ll always remember that first bite. Maybe it was her hands that fed me or those hands that cooked it. I’ll never be able to recreate that. But, this is close.
My grandma was known for her meat dishes. Not many at our home enjoyed goat meat. Lamb chops were loved, but not goat curry. Me included. She would shop for the best meat at her favorite place and meticulously cook the curry. Slow cooked curry is the best, she said. I never got it then. My palette definitely had not blossomed back then.
Goat curry is delicious served with plain rice, a salad, and raita. If you thicken the gravy, it tastes just as good with hot, freshly made Chapatis.
If you haven’t had goat meat before, you’re in for a treat. Goat meat is very popular in India; it’s more popular than lamb or beef. My parents rarely made it, so I didn’t develop a taste for this delicacy. Growing up, my mom cooked goat meat once a month at our house. Unfortunately, I missed out on too many of those tasty meals, since I was quite fussy. When I was younger, I’d turn my nose up at anything other than chicken. Oh, how times have changed (for the better). If you’ve never eaten goat meat, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s fairly similar to lamb or beef and when cooked properly, it’s fantastic.
In India, goat meat is usually known as mutton! It is cooked in numerous delicious ways. This simple, yet delicious version of goat curry, or mutton curry, is also very easy to put together.
Mutton Ghee Roast – Goat Curry in Spices and Ghee
Making Ghee:
Golden liquid/ghee is clarified butter, a.k.a. butter that has been simmered and strained to remove all water. To make ghee at home, start by simmering a saucepan of butter until the milk solids sink, then cook over a very low heat until they turn golden brown. The butter will form a foam which will disappear, ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden. Approximately seven to eight minutes. Brown milk solids will be in bottom of the pan. Gently pour into a heatproof container through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in an airtight container, making sure to keep it free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep in an airtight container for up to 1 month. The texture of the ghee has to be grainy, that’s the PERFECT Ghee.
Spices for the Mutton/Goat Curry
This goat curry is very simply made with a minimum of ingredients, so I urge you to use the freshest of the them. The spices are roasted on low flame and made into a paste. Every spice in here is a must. Don’t skimp on the chilies (if you can handle some heat). Since you are cooking it in ghee, the spice and the heat will tone down considerably. Add the touch of jaggery, it’s a MUST.
The reason you don’t want to add water that the mutton has cooked in, is that you want it dry, and it’ll make for a more tasty masala. This goat curry/mutton ghee roast will be cooked to perfection in an hour or until the meat is falling apart. Make naan or roti to help you scoop up this deliciously spiced, melt-in-your-mouth goat meat curry.
If you’re feeling adventurous, give this a try. Trust me, your taste buds will thank you.
For those who already eat and enjoy goat meat, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment letting others know why you like goat meat (and also what you think of my recipe!) 🙂
If you make this goat curry/mutton ghee roast, please do leave a comment and rate it, and tag me at #foodfashionparty. It helps out.
- 1 kg Mutton (Goat or Lamb), chopped
- 3 Tbsp Ghee / Clarified Butter
- 1 Tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
- ½ tsp Turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt or accordingly
- ½ cup water
- 10 red chilies
- 10 Kashmiri Chilies, for the color
- 1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 Tbsp Pepper Corns
- 4 Cloves
- 1 inch Cinnamon stick
- 4 cardamom
- 5 whole cashews
- To Grind Masala
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2 Cloves of Garlic
- 1 Tbsp Lemon juice
- 4 tbsp yogurt
- 3 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
- 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tsp palm sugar/jaggery
- Toasted Curry Leaves for Garnishing
- onion and cilantro for garnish
- Salt to taste
- Take a pressure cooker, add 2 tbsp ghee and add the ginger garlic paste. Saute for a minute. Wash the pieces and put it in cooker with some salt and saute in the ghee for 3-4 minutes.Then add some water(1 cup of water) not too much just to cover the mutton pieces.Cook for 4-5 Whistles on a medium heat or until the meat is soft and tender. Once the cooker whistle is cooled down, open and separate the mutton from the broth. Transfer the broth in a bowl.
- The reason why we are separating the pieces form the liquid is we want to make mutton roast, not mutton gravy and at the same time we don’t want to waste this broth so we are going to add it to the masala and reduce it. We will be adding the mutton pieces later that way mutton will be nicely roasted and will retain all the flavor.
- To make Masala for Mutton Ghee roast, on low heat, Dry roast kashmiri chilies (Kashmiri Chilies adds a nice color to the recipe and at the same time they are less spicy) If you don't have kashmiri Chilies then replace this with 4-5 regular red chiies chilies) . After roasting for 2-3 minutes transfer this to a plate and then roast the other spices Coriander seeds, Pepper corns, Fennel seeds, Cumin seeds, Cinnamon, Cloves, star anise and dry red chilies and roast it for some time until you feel the nice aroma of the roasted spices and be careful no not burn them
- Transfer all the roasted spices to a blender and along with this add a piece of Ginger, Garlic and lemon juice, and grind it to a smooth paste by adding some water.
- To make mutton Ghee roast, melt 2 tbsp ghee in a pan and add the ground masala, yogurt, vingar, to it and mix this well with the ghee. Saute and cook this masala for 10 minutes on low heat. Now to this add the broth which we have separated initially and mix well with the masala. Add some salt if required.We need to cook this until the gravy thickens and reduces.
- Now you can see the gravy is nice and thick, the ghee should ooze out from the sides. Now, its time to add the cooked mutton pieces and mix well with the gravy. After mixing nicely cook this for another 4-5 minutes on a medium heat.Add the jaggery. Finally add some curry leaves for garnishing and turn off the heat.
It looks mouthwatering! Love all the spices and that sauce is just amazing.