Kandasamy Abba is my Paati’s (dad’s mom) elder brother’s son. Kandasamy Abba and my Thaatha (mom’s dad) were the best of friends and he was the one instrumental in getting my mom and dad married. He is my dad’s hero. He will not do anything without asking him. Sadly, he passed away a few years back. Kamalam Athama is Kandasamy Abba’s wife. We fondly call her Perur Athama as Perur is her hometown. She is very soft spoken and has a lot of attention to detail. I have always seen her only in one place. The kitchen. Everything is perfect when she is around. Athama’s dishes are legendary. I have eaten countless number of meals from her kitchen and this curry is my all time favourite. The spices are so mild and makes for a delicious curry to dunk in with Indian breads. Below is the picture of Perur Athama clad in an orange saree with her family. Her daughter in law Renu Akka is the one who painstakingly writes and sends recipes to perfection. Thank you akka for everything.
Here is how to do Perur Athama’s Mutton Kuzhambu.
Heat oil in a pan and saute shallots (small onions and curry leaves) for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are pink and soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
Now we need to make our very own home made mutton masala powder.
Dry roast all the ingredients listed under mutton masala powder except turmeric and poppy seeds (khuskhus) until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixie / spice grinder. Add in the turmeric and raw poppy seeds. If you cannot get poppy seeds in a country where you live, just skip it. But poppy seeds does add a lot of flavour to the curry. Grind the mixture to a very fine powder.
To the ground powder, add in the fried shallot mixture and add half a cup of water. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Keep a pressure pan on heat and add in the washed, cleaned and drained mutton pieces. Add a teaspoon of castor oil to the mutton. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes until all the juices that come from the mutton has evaporated and its completely dry. Grind the ginger and garlic with quarter cup of water to a fine paste. Add the paste to the mutton. Note that we are using more Ginger than garlic for this recipe.
A Note on Castor Oil
Perur Athama uses a teaspoon of Castor Oil while making this curry and she believes that the mutton cooks to tender with the addition of castor oil. Also Castor oil will help in digestion after a heavy non-veg meal. It has cooling properties too. So go ahead and get a little castor oil going in the curry. Don’t add too much though. If you don’t have castor oil, add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and proceed with the recipe.
Fry till the ginger garlic paste is covered on mutton and is almost dry. Add in the mutton masala paste and the second and third pressed coconut milk. I prefer homemade coconut milk for this recipe. Here is how to make homemade coconut milk at home.
Cover the pan and let it cook for 12 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat after all the whistles are over and wait for the pressure to release from the cooker naturally. Open the cooker and add a heaping teaspoon of rock salt. Combine well. Set aside.
Tempering
Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom, mustard seeds and urad dal. Let it splutter. Add it to the mutton curry.
Add in the first pressed coconut milk (do not heat after adding first milk ) and finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well to combine.
Serve the curry as a side dish for Biryani, Appam, Idiyappam or idli.
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 cup shallots (approx 20-25) (small onions)
- 6 dried red chillies
- 1 cinnamon
- 1 clove
- 1½ tablespoon coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric
- 1½ teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)
- 1 teaspoon castor oil
- 500 grams Mutton with bone
- 1 heaping teaspoon rock salt
- 4 stalks coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2½ inch piece ginger
- 1 small Coconut
- Click here for coconut milk recipe
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 3 cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon urad dal
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté shallots (small onions and curry leaves) for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are pink and soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Dry roast all the ingredients listed under mutton masala powder except turmeric and poppy seeds (khuskhus) until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixie / spice grinder. Add in the turmeric and raw poppy seeds. Grind the mixture to a very fine powder.
- To the ground powder add in the fried shallot mixture and add half a cup of water. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Keep a pressure pan on heat and add in the washed, cleaned and drained mutton pieces. Add a teaspoon of castor oil to the mutton. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes until all the juices that come from the mutton has evaporated and its completely dry. Grind the ginger and garlic with quarter cup of water to a fine paste.
- Fry till the ginger garlic paste is covered on mutton and is almost dry. Add in the mutton masala paste and the second and third pressed coconut milk.
- Cover the pan and let it cook for 12 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat after all the whistles are over and wait for the pressure to release from the cooker naturally. Open the cooker and add a heaping teaspoon of rock salt. Combine well. Set aside.
- For tempering : Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom, mustard seeds and urad dal. Let it splutter. Add it to the mutton curry.
- Add in the first pressed coconut milk and finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well to combine.
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