Bhuna Gosht / Braised mutton curry

This curry definitely takes “ALOT” of time to cook. Trust me! that’s worth the wait and efforts. The main process which makes this dish OUTSTANDING is the “Bhuna” part. Bhuna in Hindi is slow cooking. The mutton is mixed with the goodness of Indian Spices and cooked on a low flame till perfection. The mutton should cook in its own juices slowly and steadily. You should stir at regular intervals. As I said, its worth the wait !

This dish doesn’t call in for a lot of ingredients. This demands only the basic Masala we use in our Indian Kitchen. Recipe only demands a lot of onions and tomatoes though 🙂 Try to pound fresh garam masala instead of a store bought. They release a lot of fresh flavours in the curry. Choose tender lamb pieces as they tend to cook faster and are comparatively buttery when cooked.

Please note: I have made few changes to the authentic recipe. I have added few chopped mint leaves (as i love the flavour) and a potato wedges while cooking the meat. You can simply omit the ingredients to make your own authentic Bhuna Gosht

Bhuna Gosht can be served along with yellow rice, plain rice, jeera rice or ghee rice 🙂 These go along good with butter roti, naan or lacha paratha

Ingredients

Lamb – 750 gms (cut into curry pieces)

Onion – 5 medium ( thinly sliced)

Tomato – 4 medium (finely chopped)

Ginger Garlic paste – 2tbsp

Red chilli powder – 2 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tbsp

Meat masala – 1 tsp (any brand)

Turmeric powder -1/2tsp

Potato -1 medium (cut in wedges)

Mint leaves – a few (optional)

Bay leaf – 2

Green cardamom – 3

Black cardamom – 1

Dry red chillies – 2 (broken)

Cloves- 5

Cinnamon – 1″ (2 sticks)

Black peppercorns – 6

Shahi jeera/ Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Nutmeg – a small pinch (grated) (totally optional)

Curd/ Yogurt – 1 cup (whisk thoroughly)

Oil – 1/4 cup

Salt to taste

Method

1. In a mortar and pestle, add green cardamon, black cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, dry red chilli, cumin seeds and pound to a coarse powder. Youcan also use a electric mixer for this. Set aside
2. In a pan, add oil and allow it to heat.
3. Add bay leaf and the pound masala
4. Add thinly sliced onions and fry for a minute
5. Add Ginger garlic paste and saute till raw smell evaporates
6. Add turmeric powder and fry
7. Add red chilli powder, coriander powder and meat masala and mix
8. Add cleaned and washed mutton and mix well
9. Fry for next 5 minutes
10. Add Chopped tomatoes, whisked yogurt, potato wedges and mint leaves. Mix thoroughly
11. Add salt and mix well
12. Do all these steps on low to medium flame only.
13. After step 11 simmer the flame to low and cover the pan with lid.
14. After 20-25 minutes, mutton starts to release its juices and starts cooking in its own juices.
15. Occasionally stir the gosht and cook on low flame till well done.
16. It took 2 hours 36 minutes for me to complete the process.

Tips:

• Using potatoes and mint is totally optional.
• You can skip meat masala if you do not have one.
• Add little water if you find the mutton gravy getting too dry. This usually happens when the meat is not tender. Do not worry, just add water 🙂
• Freshly ground spices give the best results 🙂 You can out the whole spices as well but pounding them releases more flavour.