Mutton Varutharacha Curry (Goat meat in a fried Coconut Gravy)

Posted on | September 25, 2011 | 24 Comments |

Mutton curry

As I am looking through my drafts folder, I see that it is mostly filled with mutton recipes. Looks like I will have to do a mutton marathon event to get through all these. Mutton aka Goat meat, while very popular in India, is considered somewhat of an exotic meat over here in the US and only the very adventurous foodie will dare give it a try. This attitude seems to be changing though; according to Bon Appetit Foodist Andrew Knowlton, goat meat is the next big thing: http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/bafoodist/2011/06/goat-meat-next-big-ingredient.html. To quote the Foodist:

While goat sits somewhere near the bottom on the list of America’s favorite proteins, it’s the most widely consumed meat on the planet. Goat has found a place on a few high-end restaurant menus thanks to chefs who know it’s healthy, sustainable, and delicious in a lamby sort of way.

While the US folks try to train their taste buds to get on the goat bandwagon, those of us already in the know will continue enjoying this delicious meat in all the ways that we can. Check out a few recipes I have already blogged here: http://blog.sigsiv.com/category/recipes/by-ingredient/lamb-or-goat .

Today’s recipe is something I am trying for the first time, a fried coconut based gravy for mutton. I was planning on a coconut milk base for the curry, but I found that I was out of coconut milk at the last minute and had to go with grated coconut instead. Since I had to go through the pains of grinding the coconut anyway, I went one step further and decided to fry the coconut before grinding. It turned out to be quite a different dish from my usual coconut based goat curries, and went nicely with Appams for a hearty Sunday brunch.

Varutharacha Curry

Ingredients

2lbs Goat Meat
2 tbsp coriander powder
1 tbsp red chili powder
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste
1tbsp oil
2 tbsp shallots, thinly sliced
A few curry leaves
2 tbsp vinegar
For the fried coconut paste

1 tsp oil
1/2 cup fresh/frozen grated coconut
2 tbsp shallots, thinly sliced
1 tsp garlic slices
a few curry leaves
1 tsp black peppercorns
3 cardamom pods
1/2" stick of cinnamon

Method

Clean and cut the meat into small bite sized cubes. Place the meat in a pressure cooker and add the chili, coriander and turmeric powders and salt to taste along with 1/4 cup of water. Mix well. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 6 minutes on medium heat after it reaches maximum pressure. Once the pressure cooker is cool enough, open it check the amount of liquid in the meat. If there is a lot of gravy, cook it down till there is just enough liquid to coat the meat pieces.

While the mutton is getting cooked, heat 1 tsp oil in a pan, and sauté the shallots, garlic and curry leaves. Once the shallots are softened, add the coconut and sauté on medium heat till the coconut starts to brown. Add the peppercorns, cardamom and cinnamon and sauté for one more minute till coconut is well-browned, but not burned. Remove from the heat and let it cool. Once it is cool enough to handle, transfer the coconut mixture to a spice grinder and process to powder the ingredients. Now add some water to make a smooth paste.

In a large saucepan, add 1 tbsp oil and sauté the shallots and curry leaves. Once the shallots are softened, add the cooked meat and sauté for 3-4 minutes on high heat so that the spices sticking on the meat gets browned a bit. Now add the coconut paste and mix well and sauté for another couple of minutes. Add 3 cups of hot water and the vinegar and mix well. Bring this to a boil and reduce the heat to medium. Cover and cook for 7 minutes. After 7 minutes, reduce the heat to low, mix well and cover and let it simmer for 10 more minutes to combine all the flavors.

Serve hot with rice, rotis or appams.

Category: India - Kerala, Lamb or Goat

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Comments

24 Responses to “Mutton Varutharacha Curry (Goat meat in a fried Coconut Gravy)”

notyet100
September 25th, 2011 @ 6:42 pm
Reply

Even I luv goat meat,curry looks yumm
Usha
September 26th, 2011 @ 4:16 am
Reply

I was never a mutton person and did not eat it until 10 years ago.. then I fell in love it.. Love it now! Curry looks super delicious!
Toronto Food
September 26th, 2011 @ 5:59 am
Reply

Looks really good.
Miri
September 26th, 2011 @ 8:17 am
Reply

That roasted coconut must have given the curry a really nice flavour – delicious!
Aruna
September 26th, 2011 @ 9:02 am
Reply

Hi Sig, Thx for this delicious curry recipe and PLEASE DO keep the mutton recipes coming, I for one am waiting!! Hope u r doing well
shabnam
September 27th, 2011 @ 11:08 am
Reply

Looks yum!! Can’t wait to try it out:)
Manju
September 27th, 2011 @ 12:18 pm
Reply

Ive gotta make this for you know who!
Arch
September 27th, 2011 @ 10:51 pm
Reply

Awesome ! Have you tried Kolhapuri/Maratha cooking, its really spice and they use dry coconut and onions for the masala, super yum stuff…you should try it…
Vinod
September 30th, 2011 @ 9:28 am
Reply

Nice Recipe! Do you know a good place where we can get Goat/Mutton from in the eastside?
vandana rajesh
October 2nd, 2011 @ 11:00 pm
Reply

The curry looks so good..just perfect!!I make it the same way however with an allergy for mutton I make the chicken version of the varatharacha kootan.
Shreya
October 13th, 2011 @ 11:22 am
Reply

Yum!!:-)
Sarah
October 18th, 2011 @ 8:55 am
Reply

Absolutely mouthwatering!
Sushma
October 23rd, 2011 @ 9:45 pm
Reply

Love this!! Looks delicious!!
spiceandmore
October 25th, 2011 @ 6:51 pm
Reply

That looks like a great curry. I like goat meat as well…bit hard to get though unfortunately.
Sarika Ogale
October 31st, 2011 @ 5:07 pm
Reply

Hi Sig,

My husband and I made this for our friends last night and everyone loved it! I didn’t change a thing and it was just delicious. Thanks for breaking things down so beautifully…cooks like us need it
Maheswari
November 2nd, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
Reply

My Mom makes almost the similar way..I never get this color!Looks perfect and delicious..
Shantanu
November 19th, 2011 @ 9:06 pm
Reply

Hi Sig, its good to see you are still blogging. I have been a little unsocial with my blog pals during the past couple of years. Now that I have begun venturing into the kitchen during weekends when I am not traveling, I come here for inspiration. Hope everything you are doing well!
Steve in Albuquerque
December 17th, 2011 @ 4:51 pm
Reply

My wife made it last night, with some revisions: we do not have a pressure cooker so she stewed it (lamb instead of goat) on the stove. Additionally as we both have nasal allergies, she cut the chile powder to 1 teaspoon. Delicious!
San
February 25th, 2012 @ 6:43 pm
Reply

Drool worthy mutton curry sig. Love its combo with rice and dosa. I also agree with you that people here don’t get to eat more of lamb or goat, they are missing something delish
Paul
March 12th, 2012 @ 9:00 am
Reply

Great Recipe! I tried it and made some subtle changes. One thing that should be noted, mutton is NOT goat meat. Mutton is an adult sheep, a goat is a goat. I used goat and did not use a pressure cooker. It turned out awesome! I am going to try it again with mutton, and see if it makes a big difference.
binge drinking
February 28th, 2013 @ 9:13 pm
Reply

Thank you for any other great post. Where else may just anybody get that
type of info in such an ideal method of writing? I have a presentation next
week, and I am on the search for such information.
rita vasudevan
April 8th, 2013 @ 7:39 am
Reply

The Mutton curry is super and i made it the same way thanks for the same.
Edith
May 19th, 2013 @ 8:42 pm
Reply

First, there was the Miami Face-eater; then another man ate his
room mates’ brain and heart; and now it’s being reported that a woman in NYC wanted to eat a police officer and claims she
has a “hunger for human flesh”. The two shows this year have
been advertised as:. Watch the movies’there is always strength in numbers.