Mutton curry also known as Mutton masala or Mutton gravy is a delicious Indian curried dish of soft tender chunks of meat in spicy onion tomato gravy. Have you ever wondered how the mutton gravy served in restaurants is so soft, succulent and tender?. This post will help you make one such dish with very basic ingredients and simple steps.

I had numerous requests from readers for a good mutton curry recipe. Since ramadan is around the corner thought of sharing this along with the collection of Iftar recipes.
This is a generic Indian mutton recipe and not any regional one but you can add up your basic flavorings or masala to match your regional cuisine or to suit your taste buds. I have included the tips wherever possible.
If you are a beginner or has failed to make a good mutton curry before, then I highly suggest to follow the recipe as it is without making any changes.
For the convenience of readers, I am showing this with just 300 grams of meat, you can also double or triple the recipe.
More Mutton recipes
Lamb Rogan Josh
Mutton kabab recipe
Easy mutton korma
Mutton biryani
Mutton fry
Keema recipe
Preparation for mutton gravy
1. Wash mutton well under running water. Drain completely. Marinate it with yogurt, ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric and chili powder. Refrigerate and keep for at least 2 hours to overnight. Overnight is best. This is the key to tenderize the meat.
If you do not have so much time to rest it, then you will need to use 1 tbsp of raw papaya paste or ready made meat tenderizer. Set aside for about 1 hour.

2. Just before you prepare other ingredients, keep the meat out of the refrigerator. It helps it to come down to room temperature before we cook.
3. Chop onions very finely or process them finely. Slit a green chilli. Deseed and puree the tomato. Wash the curry leaves and set aside.
If you prefer to use coconut, roast 2 to 3 tbsps of grated coconut on a low flame. When it turns aromatic turn off the stove. Cool this. Blend this to a fine paste with very little water.
How to make mutton curry
4. Heat a heavy bottom pot or pressure cooker with oil. Temper with cinnamon and green cardamom. You can also use cumin if you like.

5. Add the onions and green chilies. You can also skip chili if you do not have.

6. Saute evenly until golden.

7. Reduce the flame completely, as low as possible. You will need to cook on low heat until you add water at a further step. Add the marinated mutton.

8. Saute for about 5 to 6 mins.

9. Cover and cook for another 10 mins. Keep stirring occasionally.

10. You will see mutton begins to release moisture.

11. Sprinkle the masala powder and red chili powder if needed. Saute again for 2 to 3 mins. I used Everest meat masala. This curry gets the flavor from the masala used. SO make a good choice.

12. Add curry leaves. Continue to saute for another 2 mins. If you do not have, just skip them.

Making mutton masala gravy
13. You will see that oil begins to separate.

14. Time to add in tomato puree. I have used very small quantity of puree. You can use more or less to suit your taste. You can also add fresh yogurt or curd instead of tomato. Do not use sour curd.

15. Saute for another 5 to 6 mins. The raw smell of tomatoes should go away.

16. Pour water. Give a good stir. Cook covered on a medium flame for 2 whistles. For mutton with bones you will need to cook for 3 to 4 whistles. If cooking in a pot, cook until tender. Keep adding water as needed.

17. When the pressure goes off, open the lid. Stir well. Simmer again for a while if the gravy is thin or runny. You can also add blended desiccated coconut at this stage. Cook further for few more minutes.
Add coriander leaves for garnishing.

Serve this mutton curry with plain rice or
Naan
Paratha
Jeera rice

How to make the best mutton curry?

1. Firstly to make a delicious mutton curry, the choice of meat is very important. Choose fresh and tender cuts as this helps to get soft & succulent mutton after cooking.
2. Usually bone-in mutton yields a delicious gravy when it is slow cooked. The flavors from the bones transfer to the gravy making it thick and tasty.
3. Make sure you pieces of same size as this helps to cook evenly.
4. Always marinate the mutton before cooking. Marinating helps to tenderize the meat.
5. Do not add acidic ingredients like lemon or tomatoes to the pan before sauteing the mutton for a while. Most times both these acidic ingredients tend to make the meat tough when added before sauteing. So add tomatoes after sauteing the mutton.
Faqs
How to tenderize or marinate mutton for curry?
Yogurt or curd is a natural meat tenderizer and works great. Make sure you marinate with yogurt along with some spice powders.
Which is the best part of mutton for curry?
It is a personal choice. The cuts attached to the bones yield a delicious gravy. Thigh & shoulder cut are the best parts for curry. You can also include liver which enhances the flavor.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card

Mutton Curry | Mutton Masala Gravy
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
marination
- 300 grams boneless mutton or 500 grams of Bone-in mutton (lamb or goat)
- 2 tablespoons curd or yogurt or dahi (to tenderize the meat)
- 1¼ teaspoon ginger garlic paste
- ½ teaspoon salt (use as needed)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric or haldi
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder (less spicy variety)
Ingredients for mutton curry
- 1½ tablespoons oil
- 2 green cardamoms or elaichi
- 1 inch cinnamon or dalchini (if using Ceylon cinnamon 2 inch)
- 1 cup onions fine chopped or processed
- ¼ cup tomato puree (1 large deseeded)
- 1 to 2 Green chilies slit or chopped
- 2 teaspoons meat masala or mutton masala or garam masala ( I use Everest meat masala)
- ½ cup water + 2 tbsp or as needed
- salt if needed
- 2 sprigs curry leaves or 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons Coriander leaves or cilantro chopped for garnish
Instructions
Preparation
- Marinate mutton with the salt, ginger garlic, turmeric, chilli powder and curd. Yogurt & ginger garlic paste are natural meat tenderizers so they make the mutton succulent.
- Set aside for about 45 mins to 1 hour. Marinating for longer makes the mutton soft and tender. I refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight. Overnight works best.
- Keep the mutton out of the refrigerator at least 30 mins before cooking.
How to make mutton curry
- Heat oil in a pan. Then saute bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom for 2 mins.
- Add onions and green chilies. Saute until onions turn golden.
- Lower the flame to very low as much as possible. Then transfer the marinated mutton and saute for 5 to 7 mins.
- Cook covered for 10 mins. When you see the moisture begins to release, then add the meat masala & curry leaves (optional). Saute for another 2 to 3 mins.
- Pour tomato puree and saute until the raw smell of tomatoes goes away. This takes about 5 to 7 mins.
- Pour water & mix well.
- If cooking in a regular pot, then cook until soft and tender, adding more water as & when needed. If using pressure cooker – pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles on a medium flame.
- When the pressure goes off, stir and simmer further if the curry is runny.
- Taste the curry and add more salt if needed. Sprinkle some coriander leaves if you have.
- Serve mutton curry masala with rice, roti or plain paratha.
Notes
Choose fresh cut bone-in mutton for the best taste. Use as much water as needed. The quantity of water to use varies and depends on the meat used.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes

Hi Swasthi,
Thank you for sharing these great recipes, every one I have tried so far have turned out great.
I am about to try you mutton curry recipe with a goat leg. I notice that your initial recipe with 300 gms of boneless when multiplied by three (3x) the constituent masalas increase proportionally but the quantity of the mutton with bone in remains static at 500 gms.
would you please let me know the mix for 1 kg of mutton with bone in as this is the minimum we can buy at the butchers in nz
thanks
kind regards
p
Hi Pothen,
Glad to know the dishes turned out good. I understand that. Go with 2x option to use 1 kg bone-in mutton. Thank you.
Hi your recipes are amazing. I wanted to know which this curry can you use lamb chops? Thanks
Hi,
Thank you! Yes you can use lamb chops. Pressure cook for a little longer. If you want to make a dry dish with lamb chops you can use this mutton fry recipe
You are Genius !!!
Thank you Sudeep
Hi this looks a great recipe. Please can you explain what you mean by 2 whistles when cooking in pressure cooker?
Hi Bark,
Most Indians use stovetop cookers which whistle. If you are cooking in a regular pot or sauce pan, cook until the mutton is tender, adding more hot water if required. If you are using instant pot then cook for 10 mins. If you are using any other stove top cooker, cook for 10 mins after the cooker comes to a pressure. Hope this helps
Hi Swasthi, your recipes are amazing. So far, I have made the mutton curry and mutton biryani, my family enjoyed both of them very much and they have become firm favourites. I look forward to making them again in future and trying some of your other recipes. Thank you.
Hi Greg
Thank you for letting me know how they turned out. Very glad to know your family enjoyed them.
Hi Swasthi,
Just want to drop you a note of thanks! I have tried your mutton curry and chicken briyani recipes. My family thoroughly enjoyed them! Thank you for sharing your recipes so generously. 🙂
Hi Swasthi,
I am a retired guy who started cooking just 3 years ago. I have learnt to faithfully follow all your recipes with the confidence that they will turn out well! When people appreciate my cooking, I simply say, “Thank Chef Swasthi!!”
Hello Mr.Tom
So happy to know the recipes are helping. Thank you so much for leaving a note here. You made my day!
Hi
I accidentally added lemon juice in my marination last night . Now I take it out if the fridge and realized my mistake and quickly drained all the marinade. Can you please help me what should I do now ?
Hi Zonaira
It should be fine. Just go ahead and make the recipe. You may need to add more ground spices and more ginger garlic paste. Add a bit after you fry the onions. Hope this helps
Hi. This is my first time cooking curry mutton and it turns out very well following your recipe.
Many thanks.
Hi Evelyn
Glad to know! Thank you
Hi instead of meat masala can we your biriyani masala ??
Hi,
Yes you can use my biryani masala. Start with 1.5 tsps because it is very strong. You can also use 3/4 tsp coriander powder if you have.
Hi Can you say what is the substitute for meat masala??
Hi Adithya
I have already mentioned that in the recipe card. You can use garam masala or chicken masala. Any good flavorful spice powder works well.
Hi…I have been following your different recepies and the dishes come out really delicious ..
Hi Sushil
Thank you so much!
Superb! So delicious. Thank you Swasthi for this easy to follow recipe. I’m looking forward to trying more recipes.
Welcome Vicky
Thank you!
I made this curry today and it turned out great. i also tried your idli batter recipe and yes the softest idli i ever made. My fav combo mutton curry and hot idli. Thank you so much Swasti for sharing your recipes and many more recipes to try from your blog. Keep up the good work and stay blessed.
Welcome Bala,
So glad to know you enjoyed the meal. I am new to idli & mutton curry combo. It sounds great! Thank you so much!
I tried it and it turned out amazing. Magic is it has use of less spices and still turns out so good. The proportion of spices used is excellent. Right from my 6 year old to older people , everyone loved it.
Glad to know Supriya
Thank you
I can’t cook and most things I try end up in the bin. I had some mutton that I didn’t know what to do with, and found this recipe doing a google search. What can I say, it’s one of the best curries I’ve ever had and I made it! Great recipe, easy to follow, even for someone like me. I love that you give exact measurements, even for salt, many say add to taste and that throws me. Can you swap the mutton for other meats as well like chicken for example?
Hi Nilani,
Glad to know the recipe worked well for you!
Yes you can make it with chicken too. I suggest you to check out this chicken curry recipe. Thanks for rating the recipe.
HI Swasthi,
I tried this recipe today it turned out awesome, I used Chicken Masala powder instead of Mutton but it was great. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Tanya
Glad to know! Thank you
Love this recipe, use it atleast twice a month
Glad to know!
Thank you!
Made mutton curry for the first time, I am lucky that I chose your receipe, my parents loved it. Thank you, would always look upto you for more.
Glad to know! Thank you!
I am non vegetarian, but this time tried this recipe with soya chunks. Turned out very good. Thanks.
Welcome Archana
Glad to know!
The recipe turned super delicious…!!! Today I m going to prepare it for new year celebration…thank you for the perfect recipe.
Welcome Arti,
Glad it turns out good,. Thank you