Guest Blogger: Nandita D Prakash

My family and their happiness is what I always strive for and its a common consensus that the key to happiness is good food. 

Being a vegetarian in a household full of non-vegetarians, I had to adapt to preparing meat without having to touch it. Although now I believe that my ‘mutton kalia’ cannot reach better heights, it has been a journey of constant trial and error.

When I first made this dish it wasn’t exactly what my family had in mind. They wanted it to be darker and richer, or as my husband described it – “jaise dilli main milta hai” (mutton like how it is prepared in Delhi). So, over the next few years I perfected what we now call “Mutton Kalia”.  I cook and they eat, every Sunday, a staple dish in our household. 

Ingredients
Mutton, 1 Kilogram (~2 pounds)
3-4 Onions, thinly sliced
3-4 Tbsp Yogurt
2 Tbsp Mustard oil
Salt
1.5 tsp Turmeric
2 tsp Red chilli powder

To grind together
Kachri(Rajasthani berry), 6-7 (Optional)
2 to 3 Kashmiri chillies
1/2 inch Cinnamon 
3 Tsp Whole Dhania 
1 Tsp Whole peppercorn 
6 to 7 Cloves (laung) 
2 tsp Ginger paste
2 tsp Garlic paste 
1/2 chopped Onion

Steps

• Marinade washed mutton with yogurt, salt, turmeric and red chillies

• Heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker. Turn the heat off and let the oil cool down

• Heat the oil once again and fry onions till they are very dark brown in color. Until just before they could nearly burn 🙂

• Now add marinated mutton to the fried onions and dry roast mutton with the onions for about a minute

• Now add the masala that was ground together and fry altogether

• Add half a cup of water and pressure cook for two whistle

• After pressure comes off open the lid and cook for another half an hour

• Enjoy with roomali roti and rice