Don’t frown at the title. Mutton is not really bad for health contrary to what Indian doctors suggest. In fact, mutton in the Indian context is goat meat. It is a rich source of protein and several minerals and vitamins, including vitamin b 12. So this blog post is dedicated to our Indian goat, aka mutton and Bengali Mutton Stew.
Chicken stew is more commonly cooked in Bengali kitchens. Having said that, chicken has been quite a late entrant in Hindu homes. Before the 70s, a Bengali couldn’t imagine eating chicken on special occasions and Sundays were exclusively meant for mangshor jhol or mutton curry. Wedding menus also did not include chicken. In some homes, it was taboo to consume chicken.
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This Bengali Mutton Stew is also called Tengri juice
My grandmother did not eat mutton but cooked the best mutton curry ever. She gave up mutton when she was a teenager. Once she was down with jaundice and had become extremely weak. The doctor had prescribed tengri juice for her, that’s mutton leg soup. During that period, she had so much mutton stew that she cringed at the thought of mutton anymore.
This Bengali mutton stew is a rendition of that mutton leg soup. It is cooked with potatoes, onions, carrots and peas, making it wholesome and healthy.
You can make this mutton stew in a pressure cooker
Unlike the Irish lamb stew or a good beef stew, you can make this Bengali mutton stew in a pressure cooker. Did I tell you that the pressure cooker is my favourite kitchen equipment? Other than literally bringing down the cooking time by more than half, it also retains the flavour. Coming back to this mutton stew recipe, it is also cooked with a whole lot of vegetables. You don’t have to slow-cook it at all. However, if you wish, you can use a crockpot or cook it in the oven.
How to cook it?
Cut the potatoes in halves, onions in quarters, dice the carrots, finely chop garlic and ginger. You can do this with or without tomatoes. Traditionally, tomatoes are not used, however, in winter, I prefer making this mutton stew Bengali style with ripe red tomatoes. You have to cut the tomatoes into quarters as well. Then temper mustard oil with whole garam masala, whole black pepper and then throw in the onions, garlic and ginger. Saute for a few seconds and add the mutton with bones. Add black pepper powder, salt and brown the mutton pieces. Then add the tomatoes and 2 cups of water.
Close the pressure cooker and cook for half the time. In the meantime, stir fry the potatoes and carrots, just to give them a bit of colour. Transfer these to the pressure cooker midway along with green peas and put the cover back. Let it cook completely and then add a blob of butter, a slurry of flour to thicken, green chillies if you wish to and adjust the seasoning. A little bit of sugar is a must to balance the taste. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and stems and serve with bread, rice or roti.
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Bengali Mutton Stew Recipe | Healthy Mutton Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- 300 gms mutton from the leg with the bone
- 1 no bayleaf
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 nos green cardamom
- 3 nos cloves
- 8-10 nos whole black pepper
- 2 tsp crushed black pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 1.5 tsp chopped ginger
- 1 large onion
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 no red carrot
- 2 nos potatoes
- 1 cup green peas
- 2 nos green chillies
- ½ tsp sugar
- salt to taste
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1.5 tbsp mustard oil
- coriander leaves for garnish
- 1 tsp flour optional
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and cut them in halves. Roughly dice the carrots. Finely chop ginger and garlic. Roughly quarter the onions. And deseed the tomatoes, discard the skin and cut them into quarters.
- Wash the mutton pieces and pat them dry.
- Take a pressure cooker and heat 1 tbsp mustard oil. Add the whole spices and let them brown a little bit.
- Then throw in the onions, ginger and garlic and saute them for a few seconds.
- Add the mutton pieces and start browning them on medium to high heat. While doing that, add black pepper and salt. Keep browning and then add the tomatoes.
- Stir for a couple of minutes. Add 2 cups of water, give it a boil and close the lid of the pressure cooker.
- Take a frying pan, heat half tbsp mustard oil and fry the potatoes and carrots till they have a mild colour but are essentially raw.
- When the mutton is cooked halfway, remove the lid and add the vegetables including the green peas. Give another boil and cover the lid and cook the mutton all the way.
- When done, wait for the pressure to release. Then remove the lid and add green chillies, more black pepper powder, salt, sugar, butter and a tsp of flour mixed with a couple of tbsp of water to thicken the soup.
- If you want to keep it thin, then no need to add the flour slurry.
- Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot.
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