Mutton Chettinad

A slow-cooked Tamil Nadu mutton curry in a freshly roasted, peppery Chettinad spice paste.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 30 min
Cook: 2h
Total: 2 hours 30 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Medium

Ingredients

  • 1kg mutton or goat on the bone, cut into 4cm pieces, or lamb shoulder
  • 6 dried Kashmiri red chillies
  • 2 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 1 tbsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp white poppy seeds
  • 5cm cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 3 green cardamom pods
  • 30g unsweetened desiccated coconut
  • 4 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds, for the pan
  • 12 fresh curry leaves
  • 3 onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp fresh root ginger and garlic paste
  • 3 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 700ml hot water

Method

  1. Dry-roast the dried chillies, coriander, cumin, fennel, peppercorns, poppy seeds, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom in a dry pan over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the coconut for the last 30 seconds. Cool and grind to a fine powder.

  2. Heat the oil in a heavy casserole over a medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and curry leaves for 20 seconds, then the onions, and cook for 12 minutes until golden.

  3. Stir in the ginger and garlic paste for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, turmeric and salt and cook for 6 minutes until the oil separates.

  4. Add the mutton and fry for 10 minutes, stirring, until sealed. Stir in the ground spice mix and cook for 2 minutes.

  5. Add the hot water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook on a low heat for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until the mutton is tender.

  6. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more to thicken the gravy. Serve with rice or parottas.