Mutton chettinad gravy is one of those chettinad delicacies down from TamilNadu. The chettinad style involves cooking the mutton/chicken/veggies in the richness of raw garam masala like cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, fennel seeds along with the spices like cumin seeds, coriander seeds, red chillies, black pepper powder. Needless to say, onions especially the shallots/pearl onions play a vital role in giving the gravy consistency and tomatoes too. In any non-vegetarian recipes, ginger and garlic are a must to add as they help in reducing the raw smell of the meat as well as to help in digestion of the meat while we savour them!
Today, we would see the recipe of cooking mutton pieces in chettinad masala and preparing a gravy out of it. You can serve the mutton chettinad gravy with white rice, jeera rice, poori, dosa, idli, uthappam, roti varieites and naa. Let's look at the ingredient lists here.
Ingredients:
450 gms of mutton/lamb pieces
10-12 shallots/pearl onions, finely chopped
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp cooking oil
salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
4-5 mint leaves
1 green chilli, optional
4-5 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 black cardamom
1 star anise
For grinding:
1 tsp corinader seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
7-8 dry red chillies
How to make mutton chettinad gravy:
1. Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly for about 7-8 times. Keep it ready.
2. In a tawa or pan, dry roast the ingredients mentioned under "For grinding", until nice aroma comes. This might take about 5 minutes on medium flame.
3. Let the dry roasted ingredients cool down completely.
4. Once cooled down, add it to a blender or mixer or food processor and grind it to a coarse or fine powder.
Tip: You can multiple the ingredients for dry roasting like n number of spoons of each of the ingredients like fennel, cumin, black pepper corns, coriander seeds and the red chillies could be adjusted as per your spice level. Grind it in a flour mill and store it in an air tight container for up to 4 months of time. You can use it anytime you would try to make a chettinad chicken or mutton gravy.
5. Heat a pan or a pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp cooking oil. I used vegetable oil. You can use gingely oil or olive oil or clarified butter/ghee. Add the garam masala spices, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and star anise. Saute for a minute on medium flame.
6. Then add shallots.
7. Followed by chopped regular onions and green chillies.
8. Cook the onions till they start to change the color to light brown.
9. Now, add ginger garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
9. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes become all mushy.
10. Then add mutton/lamb pieces.
11. Add turmeric powder, freshly ground masala powder. Mix it well.
12. Now add chopped coriander leaves.
13. Cook on medium flame until the mutton pieces are little browned.
14. Finally add and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
15. If you are using a pan, then transfer the roasted mutton masala to a pressure cooker. I have used a kadai/wok for roasting the mutton masala initially and hence transferring it to a pressure cooker.
Tip: If you prefer to cook the mutton on the kadai/wok itself, then cook until the mutton pieces are tender. It might take up to an hour to get the mutton cooked thoroughly.
16. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 6-7 whistles on medium to low flame.
17. Once the pressure gets released by itself, check if the mutton pieces are cooked well. If not, further cook it for another 1-2 whistles till they are thoroughly cooked.
18. Now, you can see the oil oozing out of the pressure pan after cooking for 6-7 whistles.
The sauteeing of mutton pieces till they turn little brown, before adding to the pressure cooker plays an important role here.
19. Voila! yummy mutton chettinad gravy is ready.
Today, we would see the recipe of cooking mutton pieces in chettinad masala and preparing a gravy out of it. You can serve the mutton chettinad gravy with white rice, jeera rice, poori, dosa, idli, uthappam, roti varieites and naa. Let's look at the ingredient lists here.
450 gms of mutton/lamb pieces
10-12 shallots/pearl onions, finely chopped
1 medium sized onion, finely chopped
1 medium sized tomato, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsp cooking oil
salt to taste
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
4-5 mint leaves
1 green chilli, optional
4-5 cloves
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 black cardamom
1 star anise
For grinding:
1 tsp corinader seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper corns
7-8 dry red chillies
How to make mutton chettinad gravy:
1. Wash the mutton pieces thoroughly for about 7-8 times. Keep it ready.
2. In a tawa or pan, dry roast the ingredients mentioned under "For grinding", until nice aroma comes. This might take about 5 minutes on medium flame.
3. Let the dry roasted ingredients cool down completely.
4. Once cooled down, add it to a blender or mixer or food processor and grind it to a coarse or fine powder.
Tip: You can multiple the ingredients for dry roasting like n number of spoons of each of the ingredients like fennel, cumin, black pepper corns, coriander seeds and the red chillies could be adjusted as per your spice level. Grind it in a flour mill and store it in an air tight container for up to 4 months of time. You can use it anytime you would try to make a chettinad chicken or mutton gravy.
5. Heat a pan or a pressure cooker and add 2 tbsp cooking oil. I used vegetable oil. You can use gingely oil or olive oil or clarified butter/ghee. Add the garam masala spices, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf and star anise. Saute for a minute on medium flame.
6. Then add shallots.
7. Followed by chopped regular onions and green chillies.
8. Cook the onions till they start to change the color to light brown.
9. Now, add ginger garlic paste. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
9. Add chopped tomatoes and cook till the tomatoes become all mushy.
10. Then add mutton/lamb pieces.
11. Add turmeric powder, freshly ground masala powder. Mix it well.
12. Now add chopped coriander leaves.
13. Cook on medium flame until the mutton pieces are little browned.
14. Finally add and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
15. If you are using a pan, then transfer the roasted mutton masala to a pressure cooker. I have used a kadai/wok for roasting the mutton masala initially and hence transferring it to a pressure cooker.
Tip: If you prefer to cook the mutton on the kadai/wok itself, then cook until the mutton pieces are tender. It might take up to an hour to get the mutton cooked thoroughly.
16. Add 2 cups of water and pressure cook for 6-7 whistles on medium to low flame.
17. Once the pressure gets released by itself, check if the mutton pieces are cooked well. If not, further cook it for another 1-2 whistles till they are thoroughly cooked.
18. Now, you can see the oil oozing out of the pressure pan after cooking for 6-7 whistles.
The sauteeing of mutton pieces till they turn little brown, before adding to the pressure cooker plays an important role here.
19. Voila! yummy mutton chettinad gravy is ready.
