Mutton Stew My Style

Its Feb already and there is hardly any signs of the great winter letting up.. The schools closed in preparation for the great storm that assailed the East coast and now will open only mid next week... now at least I can sleep in on these cold cold days without gearing up to confront the icy winds seeping in from the windows. I guess I am going into hibernation, putting on more padding to keep warm as well as turning indoors to avoid battling the cold. Though once we are dressed in clothes, well, layers and layers of them, the cold is not so bad, but the body is just stiff and unbending.

Just kidding.. I love the snow  and the white beauty all around..it is so picturesque and calm..They say its a "storm"..to me storm means lightning and thunder, floods of water and general mayhem.. the Kerala Monsoons. Well, the mayhem and floods of snow are there on the roads as is evident in the news, but the glamorous sound and light show is missing and the "storm" is a day filled with an eerie unnatural silence with a steady stream of cotton candy floating down covering the roof and trees with "frosting".


I even love trudging in the snow, something thats's right outside my balcony now..its so icy when it melts into the shoes..deceptively soft...and I still marvel at all the hindi movies shot in the snow slopes, with the hero dressed warmly in heavy jackets and the poor heroine singing in a sheer chiffon sari.. Brrr..was she cold blooded?
Anyway, my DH is accusing me of being a book junkie now.can you blame me.. don't you want to be curled up in a blanket with a book? I do it any free time I get... if my little ones let me..... so I thought I should post something to regain my sanity.:) I have a ton of posts to catch up on but am too lazy.

This is a light stew that that goes well with any rice based item such as idiappam, puttu, appam or pathiri.


You Will Need:
Mutton/Goat- 1kg or 2 pound
Shallots-10-12 sliced plus 1 small onion sliced
Tomato-2 chopped into cubes
Tiny Hot Green Chilies-5-6 slit vertically
Ginger-1 inch piece
Garlic-6 US garlic(read giant ones)
Fenugreek seeds-1/2 tsp
Fennel- 1/2 tsp
Pepper- 1 tsp

Coconut milk- 2 cup thick first milk and 1-cup second milk
Curry Leaves-One sprig
Whole Spices-2 cardamon, 2 cloves, 1 piece of cinnamon bark

Preparation:
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in pressure cooker and add the whole spices and sliced onions and shallots. Reserve 4 shallots for tempering. Saute for just 2-3 minutes till the onions are transparent.

Crush the ginger and garlic into a paste. Add the ginger garlic paste and saute on medium heat. Add the tomatoes, green chilies and fry it for a minute till it starts breaking down and then add the mutton. Saute that for a minute too and then add 1 cup of the second milk. Add the fenugreek seeds and mutton. Let it come to a boil and pressure cook it for about 6-7 minutes after the first whistle.
Open and cook more if needed. The time depends on the mutton's quality.  Or cook on slow heat till the mutton is tender. Let the cooker cool and then open and add the thick coconut milk and salt. You could reduce the pressure cooking time for 2 minutes and open and add 1 or 2 white potatoes cut into big cubes into the curry. Pressure cook for only 2 minutes after the whistle after you add the potatoes..else it will break down too much. Open and adjust taste and add more milk if needed.

Tempering: Heat 2 tsp coconut oil in a pan and add the fennel seeds and curry leaves and the remaining shallots. Fry on low heat till the shallots turn brownish and then pour over the curry. Since it has coconut milk, the curry tastes best fresh and does not have too much shelf or refrigerator life.