Mutton curry recipe – Lamb curry or mutton masala gravy. Delicious, soft tender chunks of lamb meat in Indian style spiced 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.
Step-by-step photos
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 lamb/ 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 mutton masala gravy with rice, chapati, naan, roti or paratha.
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.
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 is the best part of mutton for curry. You can also include liver which enhances the flavor.
Serving suggestions
You can serve this lamb curry with plain rice or
Naan
Paratha
Jeera rice
More Mutton recipes
Mutton kabab recipe
Easy mutton korma
Mutton biryani
Mutton fry
Keema recipe
Recipe
Mutton curry recipe | Mutton gravy recipe | Mutton masala
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
marination
- 300 grams mutton or lamb boneless or 500 grams with bone mutton
- 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.
Soft cooking mutton or lamb curry
- 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.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
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.
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Suja Nair says
Quite simple and tasty dish!!!
swasthi says
Thanks Suja
Glad you like it
Colin Theodore says
Hi Swasthi !
A very good recipe indeed as I have made it more than couple of times !
I have a question :
*When I use 1 whole tomato unseeded puree for 500gm of mutton with bones it feels the gravy I get is not so much and the puree is negligible in the dish but when I use 2 whole tomatoes unseeded puree then the flavour of the whole gravy is overpowered by the flavour of raw tomatoes which I am not able to get rid by sauteing for even more time hence the tomato smell still persist. What do you suggest I do ?
swasthi says
Hi Colin
Thank you. You may saute the tomatoes separately and add. For more gravy, just use 1.5 times of all the ingredients except mutton. Hope this helps.
Jyoti garg says
Hi
I always follow your recipes and they come out very well I depend on you since I consider myself a naive in cooking field but I’m getting lot of compliments these days a big cheer to you .
Jyoti garg says
Hi I want to give one suggestion or say I want help that when I cook non veg food I don’t know whether iit is cooked or not as I cannot taste it as I’m vegetarian so pls include signs of cooked meat in recipe .
swasthi says
Hi Jyoti
Thank you! So happy to know the recipes are helping.
Yes I will try to include them.
🙂
Tanu says
Hi swasthi
Thank you for the super delicious recipes. Love your chicken biryani and chicken fry recipe.now I’m gonna try mutton. Can I follow same ingredients list for the 500gms bone in mutton and can I add tomato pieces instead of puree. Will it be any difference.
Thank you in advance
swasthi says
Hi Tanu
Welcome! Glad to know! Yes you can use 500 grams bone-in mutton with the same ingredients. Chopped tomatoes don’t loose the raw flavor quickly so I puree them. You may try. It should be fine.
🙂
Lallie Pillay says
Thank you for sharing super delicious recipes
Gaurav Kumar says
Hi Swasthi,
I tried to cook mutton for first time, and it was so delicious and tender. Everyone liked it. Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Alka grover says
Hi swasthi
I tried this recipe its awesome and super hit in my place ,thanks for sharing
swasthi says
Welcome Alka
Glad to know!
Thank you
Pritha Lobo says
Hi Swasthi
I tried this recipe mutton curry. It WS really yummy. Few doubt’s
1. If yogurt is not there dn wat to use
2. If meat masala is not there dn wat to use.
3. Wat can I add if d dish hs become v spicy n hot
Thank u n God bless u
swasthi says
Hi Pritha
Glad to know!
1. Yogurt is used to tenderize the meat. Without that the meat will be fibrous and not so good. However you can also use raw papaya paste. But I haven’t tried it for this recipe.
2. You can just use regular garam masala but a flavorful one.
3. Coconut milk or smooth poppy seeds(khus khus) paste will work well. For this recipe half cup coconut milk or 2 tbsps poppy seeds paste will work. If using then add them towards the end just before turning off. Simmer only for a few mins after adding. Hope this helps.
Pritha Lobo says
Thank u soooo much.. God bless n kp posting d recipes
Rita Robertus says
Hi swathi,
Thanks for sharing your recipes. I tried the tomato rasam and it turn out very well and tasty.😊 Is it possible for your to share some tips and tricks to make cooking easy and faster.
swasthi says
Hi Rita,
You are welcome! I didn’t understand your question
Ken says
I haven’t had mutton in years and so I decided try it again. Stumbled across this recipe and realized I had 4 times the amount of mutton. So I adjusted the recipe save for the water and the chilies as I like a thicker sauce and family who haven’t matured into heat loving. Well this was very good….it tasted authentic…like comfort food with no cream. The mutton wasn’t that old and did lack a bit of flavour but the sauce was very good. Thumbs up and my 75 year old mother in law asked to take some home. Now I want to try all sorts of recipes on this site.
swasthi says
Hi Ken
So glad to know! Thanks much for sharing. Hope you enjoy more recipes from here!
Sakeenah says
I tried this today and wow am I to say im set for life thank you
swasthi says
Hi Sakeenah
You are welcome! So glad you liked it.
Imran says
which is the best part of mutton for gravy?
I think it’s shoulder,because the leg portion is more like beef consistency. What u think?
swasthi says
Hi Imran,
It is a personal choice. As you said shoulder should be the best part!
Satish says
I keep travelling frequently to DXB. Using your recipe I have become a star. Will share it’s not me, the recipe belongs to you.
Thank you very much to experience the star feeling😃
swasthi says
Hi Satish,
You are welcome. So glad to know the recipe is useful. Thank you!
Good luck!
Asheesh Barna says
Very nice 👌😊
swasthi says
Thank you!
Veena Kapoor says
Hi Swathi,
All your recipes are very well explained, thank you so much I have been able to cook delicious items for my family. In the Mutton recipe do we add salt only during the marination?
Thank you
Veena
swasthi says
Hi Veena,
You are welcome. Glad to know the recipes help. I have mentioned salt twice in the recipe. Once for marination and the second time you can add it as needed once the entire dish is ready. I will update more clearly.Thank you
BHALCHANDRA REDIJ says
so delicious.
swasthi says
Thank you!
Sanjay says
Tried this recipe last weekend, it was fantastic! The only change I made was that I slow cooked the mutton for 1 hour on lowest flame and no whistles. It takes a lot longer than 3 whistles but I believe the end result is better.
The proof was that my wife (who is a fantastic cook) was very impressed too!
Swasthi, thanks for this recipe, I will be trying the other items you have like chilli paneer and kadai paneer.
swasthi says
Hi Sanjay,
You are welcome. Glad your wife liked it. Thanks much for the comment. Yes do try the other recipes.
Prachi Singh says
Hi Swasthi,
I followed your recipe for making mutton curry today and got rave reviews from my husband and mother inlaw who are hard core non vegetarians. They were licking their fingers even after finishing it. Thank you so much for posting such an easy and fantastic recipe. Your chicken curry and chicken biryani recipe are also a great hit with my family. As I am a vegetarian, I don’t even taste the dish to check for flavours, but I have so much of faith in your recipes that I know they will turn out awesome and this time was no different.
swasthi says
Hi Prachi,
You are welcome! So glad to know your family loves the food you make. Thanks a lot for the trust!
🙂
Taps says
Thanks for this simple recipe…I was able to replicate it exactly and it was sooo yum…didn’t make any changes except I didn’t have curry leaves. Still turned out perfect
swasthi says
Hi Taps,
You are welcome. Glad your mutton curry turned out good. Thank you so much for the comment.
Sudhakar shetty says
Loved it for its rustic aroma and yummy taste.
Thanks a lot and lots of love and hope you will share more of it.
swasthi says
You are welcome!
Wally says
Is there a way to make this without a pressure cooker?
swasthi says
Hi Wally,
Yes you can make it without pressure cooker. Just that it will take longer to cook. Follow the recipe as is and keep adding hot water as and when needed. When cooked in a pot, mutton needs much more water. Do not pour a lot at one time. Thanks for rating the recipe.
Carolyn bernard says
Just love all yr recipies. I am trying most of them and they turn out to be excellent. God bless yr hands that prepare the excellent gravies.
swasthi says
Hi Carolyn,
Thank you so much for the wishes. Glad you like the recipes.
🙂