Chettinad Mutton Curry

Starting from left to right dry ingredients involved in this preparation Star anise, Cardamom, Cloves, cinnamon, Nutmeg , Mace, Dry red chili, Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Fennel seeds, Black Peppercorn, Split roasted gram, Poppy seeds, Dry coconut flakes. Wet items include Garlic, Ginger, Green chili, Coriander leaves and Curry leaves.

Usually these spices are dry roasted and then added to the gravy. Since this preparation involves pressure cooking, I’ve decided to add them raw. You can also dry roast before grinding to add little punch to the gravy but not really necessary for this dish.

Marination : Combine washed mutton pieces, salt, turmeric and lemon juice and mix well. Let it sit for an hour before cooking. (Refer table-2)

Masala : Grind all the dry ingredients first in a mixie and then add the wet ingredients and grind to smooth paste. Add little water if you find difficult to run the mixie. Keep this aside. (Refer table-1)

Gravy : Take  a pressure cooker, heat oil, add bay leaf, black stone flower, kapok buds, and curry leaves. Toast them slightly, add the quartered shallots and fry till translucent. Now add the marinated mutton along with turmeric powder, ground masala paste and tomatoes. Cook for few minutes to brown them, add water and salt to it. Cover with lid and cook up to 3 whistles and switch off. When done, simmer for 15 minutes over low medium flame or until the gravy thickens to a semi thick state. You need not simmer if you wish to have it as a Kuzhambu, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

Kari Varutha sadam: At home we have this weird practice of torturing the Kadai or pan with which we prepare the gravy. After transferring the final gravy to a bowl, there will some masala sticking to kadai or cooker, we would add few drops of oil, temper with curry leaves, add little cooked rice and toss to scrape all the masala and make it stick to the rice. We call it kadai sadam or Varutha sadam, which taste very good when eaten plain straight from the kadai. You can make this out of any leftover gravy, try it!!!