The Great Mutton Meat

This wonderful one time favoured meat has practically disappeared off the menu for both home cooking and in restaurants, relegated to the status of 'the poor mans lamb'. What a dreadful shame, we're really missing a treat; Mutton really stands out for its immense depth of flavour and richness which develops with long slow cooking over a period of time (an extra 40 minutes at best).

Luckily Caribbean and northern Indian, (Muslim communities) still use mutton in abundance and value its flavours in its most popular curry dishes. With the famous Caribbean 'curried mutton' or across the continents the other way we have the traditional mutton curry or mutton Biriyani in the northern Indian recipes.

“In Britain mutton seems to need to be sold to people, which is not surprising given that for nearly 40 years its been in the shadows of its young rival – spring lamb. Whilst lamb still has its place – I think we're missing out on a really tasty alternative that lamb just doesn't deliver in depth and range of taste. “Kumud Gandhi

I've listed one of my classic cinnamon mutton recipes' which is a tried and tested favourite.

Curried Mutton in a cinnamon sauce

1kg Boneless spring Lamb in 1” cubes
6 tbsp vegetable oil
2 X 4” piece of cinnamon stick
4 bay leaves
6 cloves
3 Giant black cardamoms
6 green cardamoms
300g finely chopped onions
4 tsp finely chopped garlic
3 tsp finely chopped ginger
400g chopped tinned tomatoes
1 ½ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon powder
1 ½ tsp red chilli powder
3 tsp ground coriander
3 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
1 large handful fresh coriander in the cooking process

Fresh coriander to garnish
1 piece of ginger shredded into julienne (optional and for decorative purposes)
Lemon juice to garnish
½ tsp garam masala for final garnish

Methodology

Heat the oil in a deep pan; add the bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamoms and cloves until they crackle, then add the onions and sauté till golden brown – caramelised colour and water has evaporated. This is a slow process – do not be tempted to put a lid on.

Now add the garlic, ginger and cook for a further two minutes to allow them to blend into the onions.

Add the tomatoes and mix well – and cook for a further 10 minutes to integrate into the onions, the water from the tomatoes has evaporated and the the oil begins to separate from the mixture and bubbles at the sides.

Add the dry spices: ground coriander, ground cumin, cinnamon powder, turmeric, salt, fresh coriander and red chilli powder. Mix the ingredients well, for a further 2 minute on a medium heat to allow spices to intrgrate once again and infuse into each other.

Now add the cubed lamb and mix thoroughly with all the spices and sealing the meat. Keep the heat on a medium temperature for the sealing process. Once the lamb is sealed, turn the heat to low and place the lid on the pan. Simmer for 15 minutes stirring frequently to ensure the lamb is not sticking to the bottom of the pan and that there is enough moisture in it to cook. Now add 450ml of hot water, stir gently and continue cooking for a further 40 -50 minutes on a low heat until the lamb is tender.

If the sauce is too thick add a little water to loosen to create more gravy. If it is too thin, add a generous teaspoon of tomato puree.

Once cooked – remove from the heat and allow to stand for a few minutes.

Turn out into serving dish and lay the ginger julienne on top and sprinkle with fresh coriander, lemon juice and garam masala for the final garnish. Serve immediately

Since the mutton renaissance in Britain this meat is particular well farmed and can be bought at a good local butchers.