Mutton that was long pending for all my viewers!

Mutton kosha a delectably delightful Bengali delicacy was long pending in the wish list of my admirers of food and all else. This one's for you! Mutton at least 1 kg. needs to be purchased from a nearby Indian grocery store that sells meat and chicken primarily beside every other necessity. Wash the pieces of mutton and dry them out in a small vessel and keep it aside. In the meantime arrange your spices and condiments for the dish to be prepared soon after it's left in the fridge for an hour. For the stirring and sautéing one needs spices that are very well known and typically Indian. Bengalis like their mutton kosha nicely flavored with strong spices and a little 'jhol'(thick gravy) is no harm for we are curry lovers and anything a little soupy with a consistency that is not runny is most liked by us. A thick gravy to be prepared needs one onion cut lengthwise, some whole garam masala which includes two big cinnamon sticks, a handful or a little fewer green cardamoms, some peppercorns, a big fat dried red chilly, fenugreek seeds, cayenne pepper for color, coriander and cumin powder around 1 and a half teaspoon each, ginger and garlic freshly minced about 1 and a half teaspoon each and garlic chopped a few of them and left aside for the sautéing process to be undergone once tipped in the oil. The yoghurt is one of the main ingredients without which this curry would not be as tasty as it looks here. Also keep aside some clarified butter along with mustard oil for frying.

Now coming back to the pieces of mutton first we prepare the marinade. It comprises of fresh ginger and garlic about half teaspoon each and some cayenne pepper or Deggi Mirch as we call it in India that lends no heat yet a lot of reddish hue to the base gravy. Then we use just a bit of like half teaspoon of coriander and cumin powder and mix all the ingredients well with mustard oil going in it too. Also adding in the onion paste about 2 tablespoons and some salt as per taste. Let it all get marinated in this gravy for a good one hour until all the spices does not get into the pieces nicely lending softness and succulence.

Now after an hour is over take out a pressure cooker which is big enough and keep some potatoes nicely peeled off the skin and cut into halves aside for the last minute touches. In that cooker add in your normal garam masala mix as the oil keeps warming up and the spices all splutter and lend an aroma that fills the air with Indian ness. Then goes in the bay leaf one or two roughly and add in one tablespoon full of that clarified butter left aside. Once the oil turns aromatic and full of flavor add in one teaspoon of sugar and once caramelized it will become a little brownish hue and keep stirring ensuring that it does not catch on the bottom of the pressure cooker. Then slowly tip in your sliced onions and give all of them a nice mix letting them all come together gradually and until the onions do not turn a nice reddish hue. Once that process gets done add the rest of the dry ingredients on the kitchen counter and mix them very well. Then add your ginger garlic paste and stir occasionally and let all the spices become one homogenous mixture emitting flavor and lots of aroma. The oil starts separating from the spices after a good amount of stirring and the paste becomes quite darkened. Then, you eventually add the yoghurt to the mutton pieces that were lying around in the fridge marinating in it's own juices and spices. Mix it all up very well and keep stirring it continuously until it becomes a nice yellowish hue that it's cooking away and eventually mutton needs time to get softened. Hence the pressure cooker comes in handy in this regard. Once in a while stir the mutton pieces keeping the flame on low and ensuring that the lid is on. In the fear of the bottom getting burnt one must check occasionally the mutton if its getting burnt or not. We can add some more mustard oil incase we see that the bottom is actually getting more dark and catching up more than it should. With an extra amount of oil it starts to become simpler for cooking and as a lubricant it is used for the homogenous mixture to come together without getting burnt. About forty five minutes or fifty is required for the mutton to turn a nice deep reddish hue and every spice to sink into the meat. Now we gradually tip in the potatoes left on the side and then add in warm water that easily immerses the pieces of mutton and potatoes.

Now final step is to add in salt for taste and then close the lid tight and as per the quality of the mutton we must give required amount of whistles. I usually put it on six to seven whistles. If it's very soft baby goat then it does not need any more than three. It really depends upon your pressure cooker, the mutton's quality and the amount of stirring that went into making this happen. After about seven whistles if the mutton is not fresh or kept in the freezer for a week or more we can open the lid once it's safe to do so letting all the steam release on it's own without disturbing it's usual nature. Wala! Mutton is ready to get devoured by all of you'll! A typical Bengali mutton kosha looks red hot and is oozing with oomph and spiciness. Enjoy it with rice as the main cereal and nothing but some salad will be enough on the side to keep this dish tasty and flavorful.