Hyderabadi Marag (Mutton Soup)

Marag is the quintessential dish of a Hyderabadi Dawat (feast). With its rich and creamy fragrance, this deeply comforting Mutton Soup has made it to the top in the Hyderabadi cuisine. Bone-in mutton is simmered with a unique combination of spices & herbs, later thickened with ground nuts. This Mutton Soup is low on heat, with big matchless flavors and is believed to be nourishing & healthy.

This perfected recipe will give you great results with the right balance of flavors, texture and lesser fat. Mutton is super succulent, without getting chewy and more importantly it does not use tons of spices like any other Hyderabadi dish. So this is a kids-friendly and senior-friendly dish.

About Hyderabadi Marag

Hyderabadi Marag is not only a festive dish but can also be eaten when someone is recovering from illness, childbirth, post-surgery or you simply want to boost your energy levels.

Making this mutton soup is easier than you think, with minimum sauteing and stirring, there are fewer steps. We start with sauteing onions and then meat with aromatics like herbs and spices. It is left to cook until tender, later a small amount of yogurt is added to impart a tang and to tenderize it further.

It is further simmered with a paste made of cashews, almonds and milk or cream. During this stage it transforms to a delicious Marag.

However this dish can be made dairy-free by omitting yogurt and milk (grind the nuts with water). Nuts are an important ingredient in this recipe but if you can’t eat them, you may use all-purpose flour. But then the dish won’t be Marag, it may taste something similar to a low-spiced Nihari.

Marag is usually served with Hyderabadi square naan also known as naan ki roti. But it goes fantastic with any artisan breads, sheermal, pav (dinner rolls), brioche. If you are a rice lover, simply serve it with Bagara Rice or Ghee Rice.

If you are trying to whip up a Hyderabadi meal , you may check out
Hyderabadi Biryani
Double Ka Meetha
Sheer Khurma
Mirchi Ka Salan for biryani
Bagara Baingan for biryani
Irani Chai

If you are a beginner, please read my pro-tips section below.

How to Make Marag (Stepwise Photos)

Preparation

1. This recipe takes about 1 hour 45 minutes. So chop onions, chilies and begin to cook them while you prepare the rest. This saves some time. Here are the ingredients:

• Fine chop 1 medium onion to make 1 cup (avoid red onion)
• Chop or slit 2 to 4 green chilies (as per your heat preference, you may omit and use only black pepper)
• 1 cup mint leaves /pudina (loosely measured, ¼ cup fine chopped)
• 1 cup coriander leaves (loosely measured, ¼ cup fine chopped)
• ¾ tablespoon ginger grated or crushed
• ¾ tablespoon garlic pressed/crushed
• ¼ cup ghee

2. Pour ghee to a deep pot and heat on a medium flame. Add onions and green chilies, saute until light golden, don’t need to brown. It takes me about 6 to 7 mins.

3. Meanwhile, gather the following ingredients:

• ½ teaspoon shahi jeera (caraway seeds)
• 8 green cardamoms
• 6 cloves
• 1 black cardamom
• 1 teaspoon black pepper corn or (½ teaspoon ground, or both)
• 2 (2″ long) cinnamon pieces
• ½ teaspoon all-spice (kabab chini, may sub with star anise)
• ½ teaspoon garam masala (more if you want)
• 20 cashew nuts
• 20 blanched soaked almonds (or ¼ cup blanched almond flour). You can also use silvered, sliced almonds, pistachios or simply double the cashews.
• 1 teaspoon salt

3. When the onions are light golden, lower the heat and stir in the spices. Saute for a minute, until they begin to smell aromatic. Some of the whole spices may splutter, be careful.

Saute and Cook Mutton

4. Add ½ kg (1.1) lbs. bone-in mutton (goat). You may use boneless but bone-in is preferred for flavor.

5. Increase the heat to medium and saute for 5 to 6 mins.

6. Add salt, ginger garlic, mint and coriander (reserving 1 tablespoon each for later). Saute for 2 mins.

7. Pour 3 to 3½ hot water (not boiling). Mix well.

8. Cover and cook for 1 hour.

Add Yogurt

9. Reduce the flame to low to bring down the temperature slightly. Add ½ cup (120 ml) yogurt to a small bowl and whisk it well with a fork to a really smooth texture. Pour a few tablespoons of the hot stock, in batches to the yogurt.

10. Mix well and pour back to the marag.

11. Stir well until the yogurt is well incorporated. Cover and cook until the meat is completely tender and fully cooked. It takes me 30 mins here. Even if your yogurt splits in the beginning, don’t worry it will cook down.

12. Meanwhile grind cashews and almonds in a grinder with ½ cup milk, to a smooth puree.

13. Stir in ¼ cup more milk and mix. You can also pour all the milk at one time, if you use a larger jar.

Make Marag

14. After 1 hour 30 mins of cooking, mutton is completely tender and falls of the bone. This is how it looks with very little stock.

15. Stir in the nut puree, 4 cups hot water and the reserved 1 tablespoon each of mint and coriander leaves.

16. Bring it to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. After simmering if you feel it is too thick you may add more hot water. I did not.

17. Taste test and add more salt as needed along with half teaspoon garam masala (more if you want).

18. Turn off when you see specks of ghee floating on top.

Garnish Marag with fried onions and serve hot. It is usually eaten hot with Hyderabadi square naan or sheermal but artisan bread, pav, brioche or naan also make great sides. If you are a rice lover, simply serve it with Bagara Rice or any simple flavored rice dishes.

Pro Tips

• Trim down the excess fats on the meat before cooking. Also use meat from an young goat or lamb to make the dish less fatty.
• I prefer to add yogurt after the meat is 75% cooked, adding it early can sometimes increase the cook time. I felt adding it later had a better flavor. You may add it early at the sauteing stage, if you know your meat is tender. Avoid adding it with the milk (ground nut paste).
• You may leave out the milk and use yogurt to grind the nuts.
• You can also toast all the whole spices separately and add them to a tea ball or tie it in a muslin cloth, before throwing it to the pot. But I feel the whole spices are beautiful here as garnishes.
• Green chilies impart heat and flavor. If you are making it for someone recovering or for kids or seniors, leave them out and add more black pepper to taste at the finishing stage.
• This is not a spicy and hot soup. Remember less is more, so avoid making it too hot and spicy.
• You can make it as thin as you want. Mine was moderately thin. (Check video for consistency)
• The quantity of water mentioned in this recipe is based on the exact ingredients I use. Goat meat takes me 3.5 cups to cook until tender and I add 4 more to make marag. However this may change depending on your meat or the size of pieces. So add water carefully, only as needed.
• You may cut down the amount of nuts or increase the amount of spices to your taste. I don’t prefer to use turmeric but a lot of people use it. You may add 1/4 tsp ground turmeric (powder) along with ginger garlic if you want.

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