Mutton Kosa/Kosha
'Mutton Kosa / Kosha' is one of the most popular recipes in Bengali cuisine and is known for its great flavor, richness and taste. This quintessential Bengali delicacy requires a ton of patience and time but believe me it's worth it.
Ingredients
Marination
- 1 tbsp Mustard oil
- 500 g mutton
- 1-2 pieces potato
- 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2-3 tbsp curd
- 1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1 tbsp Meat masala
- 1 tsp salt
Curry
- 1 piece tomato medium
- 4 pieces onions large
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Red chilli powder
- 2 tbsp Meat masala
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 2 tbsp Coriander powder
- 2 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
- 3 pieces green chillies
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 pieces dry red chillies
- bay leaves
- 2-3 pieces cloves
- 2-3 pieces green cardamom
- salt to taste
Instructions
Marination
- Put the mutton pieces in a large bowl and wash it nicely by adding salt to it. Optionally, you can also prick the mutton which can help them absorb the flavors nicely.
- To marinate, add ingredients (mustard oil, ginger garlic paste, yogurt, salt, turmeric, red chilli powder, meat masala and Kashmiri red chilli powder) and mix till all the mutton pieces get coated nicely. You may even grind the spices with yogurt in a grinder and then apply the marination to coat the mutton pieces (entirely up to you).
- Add potatoes to the marination and mix it gently.
- Cover the bowl with a top/lid and keep the mutton aside for 4-6 hours. Marinated mutton should always be kept for a longer duration if possible because it then absorbs the flavors of spices and become softer and juicier. You can also keep the marination in the refrigerator alternatively for 8-10 hours or even overnight. Anything will work…! If you keep the marination in the fridge, just be aware of taking the marination out of the fridge 30 minutes prior cooking.
Curry
- Heat mustard oil in a large pan (This dish is traditionally made in an iron pan but you can even use non-stick kadai). Wait for the oil to start releasing smoke and then add bay leaves, cinnamon, cumin seeds, chopped green chillies, cloves and green cardamom to it and saute well for roughly about 2-3 minutes.
- Add thin sliced / chopped onions and cook on medium flame until the onions becomes translucent while stirring. You roughly need to stir for 5-8 minutes to make them translucent. Keep adjusting the flame if onions stick to the pan. It is always recommended to stir it often.
- Now, add marinated mutton to the pan and toss well with onions. Cook for 8-10 minutes while stirring occasionally.
- Include ginger garlic paste and sauté for a minute so that it mixes well with onions and mutton pieces.
- Add all spices to the pan and mix well. Stir it occasionally and prevent the spices from burning.
- Add in tomatoes and then salt, so that tomatoes release water quickly and turn mushy. Keep stirring on slow flame.
- Add little water (half a cup) and keep stirring for 5-6 minutes so that all the spices get cooked well. Bear in mind to prevent the spices from burning.
- Keep stirring time-to-time and incorporate even brown bits which would have stuck at the bottom of pan. We want to give the dish beautiful brownish rich color.
- Once mutton is fork-tender and you are able to tear the pieces apart using your two fingers, it's time to garnish the masterpiece. Add 1 tbsp of ghee to the pan as it will give the dish richness and nice aroma. Now add chopped coriander to the pan.
- Switch off the gas and transfer the scrumptious mutton kosa/kosha to a serving bowl. Garnish it with chopped coriander leaves. Serve the hot mutton kosa with salad and plain rice or parotta or pulao for your lunch or dinner. Follow it up with desserts (Rosagulla / Misti Doi).