Mutton Salna

         In many ways I miss Madurai,and one most important thing would be the food.I would put parotta salna on my top 5.I've tried to duplicate those flavors many times and this particular recipe comes close to the original.


Ingredients :

• 1 lb mutton,clean with turmeric powder
• 2 of  cardamom,cinnamon,cloves each
• 1 star anise,kalpasi
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/4 lb small onions,slit lengthwise
• 2 tomatoes
• 10 green chillies
• 1 to 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• salt,oil and coriander leaves

To grind and make a paste :

• 1 cup coconut
• 3 tbsp poppy seeds (toast on a hot pan for 1 min,before grinding)
• 1 tbsp broken cashew nuts
• 6 to 8 garlic pods
• 3 inch ginger

Procedure :

• Add cleaned mutton,turmeric powder and 3 cups of water in  a pressure cooker.Wait for one whistle sound and then bring the heat to a simmer.Let it cook in a very slow flame for 1 hr.
• Now heat 3 tbsp of oil in a pot and then add all the seasonings.Then add chopped onions and cook it through.
• Once the onions are completely cooked, add the green chillies and tomatoes.When tomatoes are soft,add ground paste,chilli powder,coriander powder and turmeric powder.
• Add mutton along with the liquid and stir it in well.Add necessary amount of salt and 2 more cups of water.
• Now let the whole thing boil for 15 mins until the raw masala smell goes amd the gravy starts to thicken,then another 10 more mins on a medium flame.
• Add freshly chopped coriander finally and serve.

Trivia :

Use mutton with lots of bones,this gives a lot of flavor.
Cooking slowly for a longtime is another important  step.If you're pressed for time,go ahead and cook it as usual in a cooker,the taste slightly changes,but thats okay,it will still be yummy.
You can use chicken instead of mutton,but this will have a totally different taste and flavor.