Welcome back to another one of my favourite recipes! Mutton is such a versatile meat and quite an indulgence for me, I love it in any form, dry, curry or as a Biryani. Dal Gosht simply put is mutton and lentils in a gravy. This particular recipe is quite an easy way to cook mutton and I remember trying this during my initial trial and error days of experimenting with meat. It's also well balanced with the addition of lentils, which makes the gravy rich and hearty. Some like their meat a bit firm, but if it's mutton I prefer it to be 'falling of the bone' kind.
So here's an easy way to cook up mutton, if its too spicy for you, just reduce the amount of chilli to make it more child friendly. The lentils and ghee give an extra shot of protein and if you even need to boost your loved one's immunity, this recipe is a clean winner. And if you love spicy food, go ahead, throw in more green chilies.
Ingredients
500gms mutton (goat meat), cut into curry size pieces
1/2 cup Channa Dal, cleaned and soaked for 1-2 hours
2-3 bay leaves
2 Medium onions thinly sliced
6 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsps Ginger, finely chopped
2 Green Chillies, slit lengthwise
1/2 cup yoghurt whisked
1 large Tomato (roughly blend this in a chopper)
Salt to taste
4-5 tbsps Ghee or Cooking Oil
Masala Powders
1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli powder
1 tsp Coriander powder (home ground is the best)
1 tsp Garam Masala (again, if home made, it makes a huge difference to the taste)
Garnish
1 tbsp Ginger juliennes
2 tbsps chopped green chillies (optional)
1 tbsp Fresh Coriander leaves, chopped
2 tbsps Caramelised onions (optional)
Heat Oil in your pressure cooker and add the bay leaves, after a few seconds add the sliced onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies, give it a good stir and cook this on high for 4-5 minutes, then bring down the flame to low and cook till the onions brown well (it's very important that your onions get that a golden colour. Always add a bit of salt to the onions, this helps get it browned faster. Now add the mutton and get this well browned too, next add all the masala powders (except for garam masala) and sauté for another 5-7 minutes. In goes your blended tomato, salt and cook until oil is released. At this point, add the Channa Dal, yoghurt and 2 cups of water, and bring this to a boil. Now close the lid of the pressure cooker, do one whistle and lower the flame after that, and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, then turn off the flame. Once the mutton is cooked until tender, you can add the garam masala and turn off the heat.
To garnish this, top it off with slivers of fresh ginger, green chilies, coriander leaves and caramelised onions. Enjoy this rich gravy with hot roti's, paratha's or rice. If you have guests over, try combining this curry with Jeera Rice, papad and salad, super yum!
Note- Always pre-soak the Channa dal, at least for 1 hour in water to save on cooking time. Substitute with ginger-garlic paste if you don't have fresh ginger or garlic. Again, if you already have some cooked Channa dal lying around, you can add this in once the lamb is done with the pressure cooker phase. I have said 2 cups water, but this can be reduced to 1 cup and you can always add more later, it totally depends on the kind of lamb you have. You can also substitute the tomato with thick tomato paste (like 3 tbsp or so), and add extra water to the gravy base.