Lamb Karahi (Mutton Karahi)

Lamb Karahi aka Mutton Karahi is a popular North Indian dish of goat/lamb, slow cooked with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies and a special coarse ground spice blend known as kadai masala. Lamb Karahi is hugely popular in the Indian restaurants and goes by the names Karahi gosht or kadai mutton. It is eaten with flatbreads like plain Paratha, Naan, Tandoori Roti or Kulcha.

Like many other Indian dishes, Kadai is also made in 2 versions – dry and gravy. While the dry version has a thick sauce that clings on to the mutton, the other version has more thick gravy/sauce that’s great to mop up with your flatbreads.

About Lamb Karahi

Traditionally this was cooked in a large iron wok, known as kadai/ karahi, hence the name – Lamb Karahi. The method of slow cooking it in a kadai and the use of kadai masala makes lamb karahi taste unique and different from a Goat and Lamb Curry.

I know a lot of us do not have this kind of iron wok at home so we often end up using a pan or any other cookware.

To begin with whole spices are freshly toasted and ground for the best flavors. In the absence of a spice grinder or whole spices, you may substitute with store bought ground spices or readymade kadai masala.

Garam Masala, Kitchen king masala, Meat masala, Biryani masala, Mutton masala and shahi masala work well as substitutes. But avoid using curry powder & curry paste. With all the substitutes, use the quantities as mentioned on the package. If you are using garam masala, you may use the substitutes I have mentioned in the recipe.

It is believed that originally Karahi Gosht was made without onions. Bone-in mutton is slow cooked in ghee or mustard oil with plenty of ripe tomatoes, ginger garlic and spices. But the modern day restaurants make it with onions to balance the tangy taste and flavor of tomatoes.

This perfected recipe of Lamb Karahi strikes a balance between the sweet, spicy and hot flavors. While the meat is very tender and flavorsome, the sauce is equally delicious and you won’t feel you are eating a spiced tomato sauce.

Here are the key features of this dish that make it different from a regular lamb curry:

• Minimum or no usage of onions (I prefer to use to balance the flavors)
• Plenty of good quality fresh tomatoes. If you want make a dish without tomatoes check out these classic Nihari and Hyderabadi Marag
• Meat is not marinated but sauteed first in ghee or mustard oil. If you want to marinate lamb you may check out this Indian Lamb Curry
• Slow cooking i.e cooking meat with spices on a low to medium heat
• Usage of ghee or mustard oil for an extra rich and delicious flavor
• Usage of kadai masala to make it even more special

Read my pro tips below before you make this.

More Mutton Recipes
Keema Recipe
Rogan Josh
Mutton Curry
Lamb Vindaloo
Goat Curry
Mutton Korma

How to Make Lamb Karahi (Stepwise Photos)

Kadai Masala substitute: If you do not want to make the spice blend – mix together 1½ tsp garam masala, 1 tablespoon ground coriander, 1 tsp ground cumin, Kashmiri chili powder (¾ to 1 tsp), 1 teaspoon fennel powder and 1/3 teaspoon black pepper.

Make Kadai Masala

1. On a low to medium heat, dry roast 3 to 4 Kashmiri red chilies and 2 tablespoons coriander seeds for 2 minutes. Add 4 cloves, 1 small black cardamom, 4 green cardamoms, 1½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and 3 inch cinnamon piece. Roast until they smell aromatic but not burnt, for 2 to 3 mins. I also add a strand of mace and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg since I don’t use garam masala. Leave them if you don’t have. Cool down and add to a spice jar.

2. Grind them to a fine powder and keep aside. You will also need 1 teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon turmeric and ¾ tablespoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves).

Prepare the ingredients

3. To save time, chop the onion and begin to cook, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Here is what you need:

• 1 small black cardamom (optional, use to cut down the gamey flavor)
• ¾ cup (100 grams) onions chopped finely
• 1¼ tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or ¾ inch ginger and 4 garlic cloves crushed)
• 400 grams tomatoes (4 medium tomatoes pureed – 1¾ cups puree )
• 1 green chili slit or sliced, deseeded if preferred – to garnish
• 1 inch ginger slice – julienned to garnish
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (cilantro finely chopped) – to garnish
• 600 grams (1.2 lbs.) boneless lamb/goat leg/ shoulder (or ¾ kg bone-in) – excess fat trimmed

Make Lamb Karahi

4. Heat 3 tablespoons ghee or oil to a pan/ kadai. Add the black cardamom and onions. Saute them for 4 to 5 mins, until the raw flavor is gone.

5. Add the mutton and saute on a medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes, until the color of the meat changes.

6. Add ginger garlic and saute for 1 to 2 mins. Do not burn it.

7. Lower the flame and stir in the turmeric, half of the salt and half of the prepared kadai masala.

8. Pour ¾ cup hot water and mix well.

9. Cook covered for an hour on a medium heat. Keep adding water in batches. I didn’t have to check or stir for the first 30 mins. I had to add another half cup hot water at 30 mins mark. This may be different for you.

10. After 1 hour, very little liquid was left.

11. Pour the tomatoes and mix well.

12. Cover and cook until the meat is tender and fully cooked. You need to stir every 6 to 7 mins to prevent the burning. If required reduce the heat during the last 15 mins. Mine took another 40 mins (1 hour 40 mins in total). For a dry kadai mutton, you may end here and leave out the yogurt and the rest of the kadai masala. Proceed to step 16 below.

Make more gravy

13. Take ¼ cup thick yogurt in a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of the masala from the pan.

14. Pour that tempered yogurt to the pan. Sprinkle rest of the kadai masala. Mix well. It may turn out too thick after adding the ground spices, if so add little hot water. I used about ¼ cup.

15. Cover and simmer for 3 to 4 mins, until you see traces of oil rising to the surface.

16. Taste test and add more salt or black pepper if you want and kasuri methi. If you used the substitute for kadai masala you may need more garam masala. Add more if you want.

17. Garnish with black pepper (optional, for more heat), ginger, cut chilies and coriander leaves. Avoid adding the garnishes if you want to refrigerate or freeze it.

Serve Lamb Karahi with Plain Paratha, Tandoori roti, Naan or kulcha. Cucumber Salad, Kachumber or Onion Salad and Chaas make great sides.

Pro Tips

• The homemade spice blend shared in the post looks like a lot but the flavors will mellow down as you cook the meat for 2 hours. However if you avoid yogurt use only half of the kadai masala. Taste test and add more only if you want.
• I have not used red chili powder at all. If you want you may substitute the dried chilies with Kashmiri powder or use half of both. For low heat, deseed the chilies. I use 4 to 5 Mathania chilies (not deseeded) as this gives me better flavor. If you want you may use any other kind you prefer.
• Avoid using tangy tomatoes. Vine ripened, roma or sweet varieties are best here. However if your tomatoes are too sour, you may use heavy cream in place of yogurt and this helps to cut down some of the tang.

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