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Open Those Delicious Letters for These Delicious Recipes! | Niramish Mangsho Recipe

Niramish Mangsho

Niramish mangsho or vegetarian mutton curry would sound like an oxymoron to most. But not to meat-loving Bengalis, who found a way of offering to gods – a mutton curry cooked sans onion and garlic and thus labelled as ‘vegetarian mutton curry’.

The roots of this dish go back to the Hindu ritual of animal sacrifice and offering it to the gods. In Bengal, this ritual was a part of the ninth day, Nabami on Durga Pujo and Kali Pujo. The sacrificed animal was considered as an offering to the gods and cooked without any onion and garlic (considered non-veg as per tradition), the mutton curry was deemed as ‘maha proshad’ – ‘food blessed by the Supreme Being’. This recipe serves four to five adults.

 

Ingredients

Mutton – 2 lbs/1kg (buy cuts like front shoulder or back leg)

 

For Marinating the Mutton

Thick yogurt – ½ cup

Ginger paste – 2 tbsp

Turmeric powder – ¼ th tsp

Red chilli powder – ½ tsp

Garam masala powder – 1 tsp, loosely packed

Salt to taste

Mustard oil – 2 tsp

 

For Tempering I

Bay leaves – 2

Cloves – 4

Green cardamom – 4137

Cinnamon stick – 2’ stick

Dried red chillies – 2

 

For Tempering II

Ginger – 2’ knobs of ginger grated to almost 2 tbsp of it

Asafoetida – ¼ th tsp

Kashmiri mirch – 1 tsp, loosely packed

Mix the above spices in a little water to make a paste.

 

Making the Masala Paste

Cumin seeds – 2 tsp

Coriander seeds – 2 tsp

Fennel seeds – 1 tsp

Dried red chillies – 2

Soak all the above in lukewarm water for 15 to 20 minutes and then put in a blender to make a wet masala paste.

 

Others

Tomato – 1, ripe and juicy

Green chillies – 2 or 3

Garam masala powder – ½ tsp

Nutmeg powder – a pinch

Javetri or mace – 1 petal

Salt to taste

Sugar – 2 tsp

Mustard oil

Ghee – 1 tbsp

 

Marinating the Mutton

Buy and wash goat meat thoroughly.138

Place the washed mutton pieces in a wide, open-mouthed bowl.

Add all the ingredients listed above for marinating the meat and toss the mutton pieces, making sure the pieces are coated with the spices.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

 

Cooking the Mutton

In a wide-mouthed pan, heat about ¼ cup of mustard oil.

Add two tsp of sugar and swirl it around until it browns.

When the oil is hot, add the whole spices for tempering.

When the whole spices sizzle, add the grated ginger, hing and the Kashmiri mirch paste.

Sauté for 30–50 seconds. It will give off a lovely fragrance.

Now add the chopped tomatoes and sauté for a minute.

Add the mutton pieces, reserving the marinade liquid for now.

Fry the mutton pieces at medium high heat until the meat pieces lose their raw colouring.

Next, mix the wet masala paste with ¼ cup of yogurt and whip it well. Pour this into the pan, stir and mix the spices and mutton.

Cook at medium heat for around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

For the next steps, you can continue cooking it in the pot or you can switch to a pressure cooker. It will take an hour or more in a pot and about twenty minutes in a pressure cooker. Transfer everything to a pressure cooker, if you choose to go ahead with the latter.

Add the marinade liquid and 1-1½ cups of water at room temperature to it.

Add the garam masala powder, nutmeg powder and mace. Mix well.

At medium heat let the gravy simmer and come to a boil. Taste for seasonings and add salt/sugar as needed. Soon you will see a fine layer of oil floating on top. Add the green chillies then.

Put the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook for five whistles in a whistling pressure cooker. In a Futura-like pressure cooker, once the steam builds up, the mutton will be cooked in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Serve with steamed rice or pulao.

 

Once you’re done, it should look a little something like this:

those delicious letters recipe

 

You thought that was delicious? Well, now that you’ve got a flavour of what’s in store, we’re sure you’re craving Sandeepa Datta Mukherjee’s new novel on food, family and love! Order your copy of Those Delicious Letters today to find the perfect recipe for love!

Those Delicious Letters
About the Book - Those Delicious Letters

From the bestselling author of Bong Mom's Cookbook, comes a novel about food, family and love Soon after her fortieth birthday, Shubha starts receiving letters with traditional Bengali recipes from a mysterious lady in Calcutta claiming to be her grandmother.…

About the Author - Sandeepa Datta Mukherjee

Sandeepa Mukherjee Datta is Bong Mom, the nom de plume behind the very popular blog ‘Bong Mom’s Cookbook’. She has been entertaining her readers with food and stories for over ten years and is the go-to source for Bengali cooking…

To read more, order your copy of Those Delicious Letters, by Sandeepa Datta Mukherjee today!

₹ 299.0000
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