Rajasthani Laal Maans

Rajasthani Laal Maans
A fiery Rajasthani lamb/mutton curry borrowed from the traditional kitchens of the maharajas, cooked with spices and a burst of red chillies. ‘Lip-smacking’ would be an understatement!

 

“Mutton is to lamb what a millionaire uncle is to his poverty-stricken nephew. – Des Essarts, French actor”
The Fact: The Rajput Kings of Rajasthan were fierce hunters and meat lovers. They didn’t use tomatoes because at the time, tomatoes were not grown in the region. They used ghee or clarified butter in all preparations due of the scarcity of water. Food for them was meat and spice—I mean red hot, fiery ‘spice’. And that’s how their traditional, practical and nourishing ‘laal maans’ came to be born.
The Inspiration: It was a relaxed Sunday afternoon when I was carelessly sprawled in front of the television set, flipping channels, that I came across the food adventures of this American chef who travels to the back of beyond to discover authentic local flavours. Here’s where I first heard about ‘Laal Maans’, which literally translates to ‘red meat’. The show was fascinating! So this American chef meets an Indian chef and together they travel to a tribal settlement in ‘deserted’ Rajasthan. They live and cook and clean with this tribe and somewhere in between create this lip-smacking delight! While I have the privilege of ready ingredients and a comfortable kitchen, these guys literally create this dish from scratch—and I don’t mean that lightly. Right from catching a goat and killing it; to milking the cows for milk and eventually, butter, curd and ghee (clarified butter); and finally building the fire for the stove, these guys do it all. Now that’s what I call ‘rustic’ and I’d trade my comfort for it, just for a day’s experience… or would I? … And so I called the folks over and what a true feast it was!

The Ingredients

Serves about 10 people
A spoonful of spice

  • 1 kg mutton on the bone, cut up into medium pieces (2 – 3 inch pieces)
  • 4 large or 5 medium onions; sliced into fine rings
  • 500 gm curd; whisked lightly
  • 4 peppercorns
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
  • 2.5 (heaped) tsp red chilli powder (I use the medium-spicy version; in case you use the ‘hot’ variety, make sure to reduce the quantity)
  • 2 (heaped) tsp coriander seeds or dhania powder (roast and freshly grind the powder for a strong flavour and aroma)
  • 1 (heaped) tsp cumin seeds or jeera powder (roast and freshly grind the powder for a strong flavour and aroma)
  • ½ tsp turmeric or haldi powder
  • 10 cashew nuts
  • ½ small teacup liquid (melted) ghee/clarified butter
  • A sprinkling of sugar
  • Salt to taste

The Method

  1. Wash and drain the mutton pieces.
  2. After it drains for about 5 minutes, sprinkle about 1.5 teaspoon of salt over the mutton and rub it into the mutton. Leave aside in the colander.Chopped mutton washed and drained
  3. Place a metal cooking pot on the stove, on medium heat. When hot enough, pour in the ghee and allow it to heat up – remember that ghee should not be so hot that it begins to smoke.
    Being a traditional Rajasthani dish from the days of the maharajas, this dish calls for generous quantities of ghee and chilli. To experience the dish for what it is, avoid restraint 🙂 and pour in that ghee, generously.
  4. When the ghee is hot enough, toss in the peppercorns and cloves and leave them to splutter. Quickly toss in the sliced onions. The onions should have enough ghee to gently brown in. Keep stirring from time to time. This should easily take about 10 – 15 minutes, or longer, on a medium flame.Onions sauteed in ghee or clarified butter  
  5. When the onions are a beautiful golden-brown, turn the heat to high.Onions sauteed until golden brown
  6. Now, add the ginger-garlic paste and turmeric powder in the centre of the vessel and leave it to stand, to cook off the strong smells of the paste and turmeric. Now, stir it around with the onions and allow the flavours to blend for about a minute.
  7. Toss in the mutton pieces and give them a stir to coat each piece with ghee and the flavoured onions. Add a sprinkling of sugar.Mutton seared with golden brown onions
  8. Continue to sear the mutton on high flame for about 5 minutes. Then, lower the flame to medium and allow the mutton to cook for another 15 minutes.Mutton seared with golden brown onions
  9. As the mutton cooks, take the bowl of curds and lightly whisk it. Add the red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and ½ tsp salt to the curd. Whisk and keep aside.Curd whisked with red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and salt
  10. After the mutton has cooked for 15 minutes (as listed in step 8), add the curd mixture to the mutton. Stir well and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.Laal maans or spicy red mutton gravy with curd
  11. Dry roast the cashew nuts and powder them coarsely using a mortar and pestle or blitz them in the grinder. Sprinkle the cashew nut powder over the mutton and stir lightly.Coarsely ground cashew nuts sprinkled over mutton curry
  12. Cover the vessel and allow the mutton to cook. Make sure to now reduce the heat to low. I usually place a damp cloth between the vessel and its lid to prevent the steam from escaping. This ensures that your mutton stays succulent and slowly cooks in the steam and the heat of the spices. Alternately, place a thin layer of kneaded dough between the vessel and its lid to seal all gaps.Sealed vessel for slow-cooked meat
  13. Cook the mutton for about 45 minutes to an hour on a low flame. Remember that this dish can easily burn because of the absence of any added water, so keeping a check on the aroma is key. Open and check when you’re sure that the mutton is well cooked; it should be so tender that it falls off the bone. Your dish will have developed a rich red colour and you should be drooling…. right about… now!Rajasthani Laal Maans

Adjust salt and red chilli, as required. Serve hot with rotis or with basmati rice. Although the combination with rice is a relatively dry option, it certainly is my preference. Note: If you prefer the dish with a runny gravy, add a cup of boiling water and allow it to reduce a bit.

You shouldn’t have leftovers… in the off chance that you do, fret not, it tastes even better the next day… 🙂

Bon appétit!

 



2 comments on “Rajasthani Laal Maans

  1. Gauri Jayaram June 20, 2015 10:10 am

    Hi Marsha,

    I stumbled upon your laal maas recipe accidently, but totally fell in love with it. More than that the beauty is that i’ve never ever made mutton beyond a shepherd’s pie. Indian mutton on a bone – i could never imagine I would ever make. But i did !! I made your laal maas recipe and totally loved it. The recipe was simple and clean enough to give me the courage to make mutton one of my worst fears. 🙂
    The gravy or rather the masala was lip smackingly awesome !! However the mutton while it cooked well it was not the most tender. Like you said it should fall off the bone…it did not. What could i have done wrong?
    The only thing which was slightly different was that when i added the curd, i didnot cook the mutton for 15 minutes. I probably cooked for 5-7 minutes and added the curd. Did that make the difference?
    I wonder.
    Thank you for a great recipe.
    Cheers

    Gauri.

    • Marsha June 21, 2015 8:27 am

      Wow Gauri! Thank you for such a lovely and detailed comment. I’m so glad that the dish turned out well and that you liked the outcome.
      I’m surprised that mutton on the bone is not a regular in your household, given the kind of favour it gets in restaurants and our Indian culture, in general. Let’s hope this dish changes that 😉
      As for the tenderness of the meat… Well that depends on a couple of things – the quality, freshness and tenderness of the raw meat, how long it fries in the ghee and whether it steam cooks on low flame until the end. Take care of these three things and you can’t go far wrong 😉

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