Chettinad Mutton Curry

Starting from left to right dry ingredients involved in this preparation Star
anise, Cardamom, Cloves, cinnamon, Nutmeg , Mace, Dry red chili,
Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds, Fennel seeds, Black Peppercorn, Split roasted
gram, Poppy seeds, Dry coconut flakes. Wet items include Garlic, Ginger,
Green chili, Coriander leaves and Curry leaves.
Usually these spices are dry roasted and then added to the gravy. Since this
preparation involves pressure cooking, Ive decided to add them raw. You
can also dry roast before grinding to add little punch to the gravy but not
really necessary for this dish.

Ingredients-1

2 nos

Star anise (petals)

2 nos

Cardamom

2 nos

Cloves

2 nos

Cinnamon stick (very small)

2 pinch

Nutmeg powder(grated from whole nutmeg)

4 nos

Dry red chili

6 tbsp

Coriander seeds

1 tsp

Cumin seeds

2 tsp

Fennel seed

2 tsp

Black peppercorn

Ingredients-1

1 tbsp

Split roasted gram/pottukadalai

2 tsp

Poppy seeds

6 tsp

Dry coconut flakes/ desiccated / coparai thengai

4 clove

Garlic

2 inch

Ginger

2 nos

Green chili (small)

3 nos

Curry leaves

3 stks

Coriander leaves

1 no

Mace/jathipoo(just one petal)

Ingredients-2

2 lb

Mutton (with bones /

1 tbsp

Lemon juice

tsp

Salt (for marinade)

tsp

Turmeric (for marinade)

Ingredients-3

30 nos

Shallots (sambar onions )(use 3 big instead)

1 no

Tomato (diced)

2 nos

Bay leaf

3 nos

Black stone flower/ kalpasi

2 nos

Kapok buds (marathi moggu)

Ingredients-3

10 nos

Curry leaves (for tempering)

4 stks

Coriander leaves (chopped for garnishing)

tsp

Turmeric powder (for gravy)

1 tsp

Salt (or to taste)

4 tbsp

Oil

1 cup

Water (for pressure cooking)

Combine washed mutton pieces, salt, turmeric and lemon juice and
mix well. Let it sit for an hour before cooking. (Refer table-2)
Marination :

Grind all the dry ingredients first in a mixie and then add the wet
ingredients and grind to smooth paste. Add little water if you find difficult to
run the mixie. Keep this aside. (Refer table-1)
Masala :

Take a pressure cooker, heat oil, add bay leaf, black stone flower,
kapok buds, and curry leaves. Toast them slightly, add the quartered shallots
and fry till translucent. Now add the marinated mutton along with turmeric
powder, ground masala paste and tomatoes. Cook for few minutes to brown
them, add water and salt to it. Cover with lid and cook up to 3 whistles and
switch off. When done, simmer for 15 minutes over low medium flame or
until the gravy thickens to a semi thick state. You need not simmer if you
wish to have it as a Kuzhambu, garnish with coriander leaves and serve with
rice.
Gravy :

Kari Varutha sadam: At home we have this weird practice of torturing the Kadai or pan with which we prepare
the gravy. After transferring the final gravy to a bowl, there will some masala sticking to kadai or cooker, we would
add few drops of oil, temper with curry leaves, add little cooked rice and toss to scrape all the masala and make it
stick to the rice. We call it kadai sadam or Varutha sadam, which taste very good when eaten plain straight from
the kadai. You can make this out of any leftover gravy, try it!!!