We all love traditions. I love traditions just so I can questions them, break them, and make new ones.

Yet some traditions are better left untouched. They’re just right as they are, and they connect us to special things, places or people, often revealing a memory in time when all was right.

For me, the Sunday Special Mutton Curry is one such dish, reminding me of the times when me and my friends would hop on our bikes and zip through traffic-heavy New Delhi into Old Delhi to get a fix of the lip-smacking Mutton Curry.

Karim’s is a historic Old Delhi eatery, serving ancestral Mutton recipes for generations. (Image: Wikipedia.)

In those days, we had fewer choices to make, more time on our hands and fewer screens to go around. We gathered in groups more often, and shared times good and bad in person—face to face. After the meal, we’d enjoy a nice chilled Kulfi (traditional Indian ice cream on a stick) or a Meetha Paan (betel leaf rolled with various sweet digestifs)—a perfect way to end a meal.

Mutton (traditionally older Sheep) is synonymous with Goat meat in India. The preperation of this dish is a labor of love, takes several hours, and unfortunately it’s not a dish you can make on a whim. Certainly not something you’d make with “Chicken instead”. This particular recipe for the Mutton Curry is meant for Goat alone. Lucky goat, I know!

Here are some key tips to follow for the perfect Mutton curry:

• Start by marinating the meat for at least 5-6 hours, ideally overnight. The lactose in the yogurt needs the requisite time to break down the meat at a molecular level, resulting in a much more tender result.

• Take your time frying the onions, low and slow till they are sweet and almost jammy.

• Using a pressure cooker of some sort (traditional Indian vessel or Insta Pot) results in a more tender meat.

• The flavors and aromatics are accentuated and heightened even more the following day of preparation.

• Please use Ghee.

• Give yourself enough time to cook—weekends work best.

• Substituting spices doesn’t really work for this recipe. Each ingredient in the spice mix plays a unique role that adds to the flavor profile. For example, Rose water can not be substituted with anything else, and skipping it would strip the dish off it’s every-so-subtle florarl undertones.

Other than that, we’re good. Do I still have you?

If you’re reading this sentence, then I know you’re all in, and I promise you it’ll be worth it. You’ll get a few meals of immense joy (it stays good for 2-3 days in the fridge) not to mention, a sense of accomplishment!

The Sunday Special Mutton Curry (Adapted from Chef Ranveer Brar’s recipe)

Marinade Ingredients:

1.5 lb of Goat meat (with bone, washed thoroughly a few times till it ‘smells clean’)

1 cup whole milk greek yogurt

1 tbsp freshn ginger paste (ideally homemade)

1 tbs fresh garlic paste (as above: homemade)

2 -3 hot green chilies, roughly chopped

1 tbsp Cumin powder (or coarsely pounded in the mortar)

2 -3 tbsp Coriander powder

2 tbsp Kashmiri Red Chili powder (or a good sweet Paprika)

1 tbsp papaya paste (optional if you want to aid the tenderizing process)

Juice of one lime

7-8 mint leaves roughly broken up (no stems plesae)

Handful of fresh cilantro, roughly chopped

1/2 tsp of Rose water (plus more at the end of cooking process)

Spice Mix Ingedients:

4 tbsp Coriander seeds

2 tbsp Cumin seeds

7-8 green cardamom pods

4 black cardamom pods

1.5-2 inch stick of Cinnamon

2 tbsp black peppercorns

Pinch of Mace (Javitri)

Optional: 1 tbsp Cloves

Curry Ingedients:

4-5 medium onions sliced thin

4 tbsp tbsp Ghee + 2 tbsp for frying spices.

2 tbsp neutral oil (Avocado)

1.5 cup Water

1/2 tbsp Rose water

1 tbsp spice mix (see above)

• In a large bowl (one that comes with a tight lid) throughly mix all of the marinade ingredients. Add the mutton and incorporate well. Wash hands. Cover containter and seal. Leave it in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight which is preferred.

• In the last hour of marination, bring out the marinated meat to come up to room temperature, and bring out a large saucepan and heat it upto low to medium heat. Add 4 tbsp of Ghee and allow it to melt. Add all of the onions and a pinch of salt ot aid the sweating process, which in turn can quicken the caramelization a tiny bit. Over the course of the next 45 minutes to an hour, keep stirring and watching the onions for uniform caramelization. Stir every 10-15 minutes.

• While the onions are caramelizing, heat up a small sauce pan on medium heat, making sure it’s not too hot. When the pan is hot enough add all of the spices from the spice mix and toast them ffor about 2-3 minutes, shaking the pan frequently fofr even toasting. Remove when they start smelling aromatic.

• Remove spices and allow them to cool a bit for 10 to 15 minutes, and then grind them in a spice (or coffee) grinder.

Sweet, jammy onions and Mutton Curry Spices.

• Bring out your pressure cooker and heat up to medium heat.

• Once the vessel is hot enought, carefully transfer the delicious golden brown onions and add 2 tbsp neutral oil.

• As soon as the onions start to sizzle in the oil add half of the spice mix and fry it with the onions.

• When the spices become fragrant, add the marinated mutton to the cooker and fry for a little bit (7-8 minutes) stirring requently.

• When the meat is even browned, add 1.5 to 2 cups of water to the pressure cooker and allow it to come to a rolling boil. At that point cover the pressure cooker (sealed tight, with whistle on top) and allow it to cook down the meat and tenderize it. About an hour. It should take roughly 5 to 6 cooker whistles on low heat ffor the meat to be ready.

• After about an hour or so, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and allow to cool down for the next 20-30 minutes. At that point you can release the pressure cooker from its top and whistle, and cook the mutton uncovered.

• Now we add our final touches. Bring back the uncovered pressure cooker back to medium high heat, and start the process of reducing the curry a bit and concentrate the flavors even more.

• While the sauce reduces, heat up the same pan you used for the spices to bring back to medium high heat.

• When hot, add 2 tbsp of ghee, and when it melts add the rest of the spice mix and fry quickly for 1 minute.

• Add the spice and ghee mix carefully to the mutton curry as it might splatter. Mix well.

• Cook for another 5-7 minutes and remove from heat.

• Add a touch of rosewater to finish. Mix well.

• Top with fresh chopped mint and or cilantro.

• Serve with fresh and crispy Naan or Tandoori Roti and a side salad of cucumbers and onion rings with black salt and juice of half a lime

• Additionally you can also make a quick raita by beating up a cup of yogurt (if you use greek you might have to add some water till you achieve the right consistency) and season it with black salt and a touch of toasted cumin powder.

The Sunday Special Mutton Curry is served…