Kosha Mangsho (Mutton in a Spicy Gravy Bengali Style)

It has been a through and through Bengali weekend for me starting with Matar Ghugni on friday, Bangladeshi Chicken Curry on Saturday, and now Kosha Mangsho to bring this lovely weekend to an end. It was quite a relaxed time at home as well. A bit of swimming, some shopping, and some couple time refreshed us for the week to come. This is the second time I have attempted Kosha Mangsho and as they say, it only gets better. This time the gravy was so delicious and the marination was so perfect, we just kept on licking our fingers. Scrumptious!! 

Ingredients

For the marination

500 gms mutton (I had used boneless mutton, but strongly recommend with bones as it tastes much better. I had no option)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tbsp garlic chopped

1 tbsp ginger chopped

2-3 green chillies

1/2 cup yogurt

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

2 tsp mustard oil

Other ingredients

2 big onions, finely sliced

1 medium tomato, chopped

2 medium potatoes, cut into four cubes

1 bay leaf

2 cloves

2 cardamom

1 inch cinnamon

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp hot chilli powder

2 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tbsp ghee

1 tbsp mustard oil

Salt to taste

Direction

Start with marinating the mutton overnight. Make a paste with the onions, ginger, and garlic and marinate the mutton with this paste and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and keep in the refrigerator overnight. If you are short of time, you can also marinate for 2-3 hours or even less. However, the longer the marination period, the better the mutton will taste and cook. You may skip the marination if your mutton is really fresh and tender and put all the ingredients used in marination while cooking it directly as well. 

In a pan, heat the oil. Rub a little turmeric on the potato halves and fry in the oil till golden brown. Remove from oil and drain excess oil on paper towels. In the same oil, add the bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamoms. Let it crackle. Now add the sliced onions and fry till pink and translucent. Reduce the flame to medium and fry further till slightly golden, stirring frequently. Now add the chopped tomatoes and the dry spices. Keep stirring till tomatoes are mushy and oil starts appearing on the sides. It is important to properly fry the masalas at this point as this step ensures the perfect color for your gravy. Now add the marinated mutton (it is important to take out the mutton from the refrigerator about 1-2 hours before cooking so that it comes down to room temperature). The mutton will have a lot of water in the marinade. Do not discard. Add salt as per requirement keeping in mind that you have already added during marination. Keep frying on a high flame till the masalas and the mutton are mixed well. Now reduce the flame to medium low and continue stirring intermittently ensuring that it does not stick at the bottom. We need to dry up the excess water before transferring the mutton to the pressure cooker for the final cooking. However, if your mutton is tender enough and you can already see that it is cooked, you may skip using the cooker. Replace the pan with the cooker on the stove and transfer the contents. Pressure cook for 6-7 whistles as you deem necessary depending on the extent to which your mutton is cooked in the pan. Please note that I have not added any water as I wanted a thick gravy. The mutton will anyway release a lot of far while in the cooker ensuring that it does not get burnt. Remove from heat and let the pressure release completely on its own. Now add the fried potatoes, ghee, and garam masala. Also check how well the mutton is cooked. Now close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle (if mutton completely cooked) or more as you deem necessary. Remove from heat and let the pressure release completely. Serve hot with plain rice.