Mutton Karahi — Lahori

A Lahori mutton karahi of tender slow-cooked meat in a ghee, tomato, ginger and black pepper sauce.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1h 50m
Total: 2 hours 5 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
4 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 1kg mutton or goat on the bone, cut into 4cm pieces, or lamb shoulder
  • 1 tbsp fresh root ginger paste
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 1 tsp salt, for the meat
  • 600ml water
  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • 600g ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
  • 100g natural yoghurt, whisked
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds, coarsely crushed
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds, coarsely crushed
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 green chillies, slit lengthways
  • 2cm fresh root ginger, cut into thin matchsticks
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

Method

  1. Put the mutton, ginger paste, garlic paste, 1 tsp salt and water in a heavy pan. Bring to the boil, skim off any scum, cover and simmer for 1 hour until the mutton is almost tender. Drain, keeping the stock.

  2. Heat the ghee in a karahi or wide, heavy pan over a high heat. Add the mutton and fry for 8 minutes until browned.

  3. Add the tomatoes and remaining salt, cover and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes until they collapse.

  4. Add the yoghurt, coriander seeds, cumin, black pepper and chilli flakes. Cook uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring often and adding a splash of the reserved stock if it catches, until the oil rises to the surface.

  5. Add the green chillies and cook for 8 minutes more until the mutton is tender and the sauce clings to the meat.

  6. Scatter over the ginger matchsticks and coriander and serve straight from the pan with naan.