Kosha Mangsho! Chunks of goat meat slow-cooked in a rich gravy with whole spices to a dark and soft texture that falls off the bones and melts in your mouth is indeed a labour of love. A finger-licking delicious mutton curry from the state of West Bengal that the world now relishes in so many versions.
Kosha Mangsho is a very popular goat meat curry from the City of Joy, Kolkata. The word ‘Kosha’ means dry so the gravy is quite thick which is perfect with paratha, luchi or any Indian flatbreads. For South Indians, this curry is superb with dosa, appam and idlis too 🙂 I have tried all three.
With a lot of goat meat in the freezer that we got during Bakrid, I wanted to try something out of my comfort and regional cuisine. I remembered this goat meat curry I had at Calcutta at a friend's wedding. I quickly pinged her and she was more than happy to share the recipe.
My bong friend, Rajasree's recipe
So here her text message of recipe:
- Make a paste of onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies
- Wash the meat and drain the water
- To the meat, add the paste, cumin powder, red chilli powder, and turmeric powder
- add a whole bay leaf
- some chopped onion
- add 2-3 tablespoons of mustard oil and mix all of this
- In a pressure cooker, add oil and heat it till it's very hot
- add some chopped onion for flavour
- add the meat with the marinade
- cook till all the water evaporates
- then add some salt and a pinch of sugar
- add water
- also, add some big potatoes before you close the lid
- pressure cook until meat is done
Before I began the preparation, I was just curious to know how the Bong Eats team made them. There are very few cooking Youtubers who mesmerize me.
Ingredients
- meat: goat meat or mutton is best. You may use lamb.
- veggies: red onion, garlic pods, ginger-garlic, green chillies, potato
- ground spices: cumin, turmeric, garam masala, coriander, and red chilli
- yoghurt
- mustard oil
- whole spices: dried red chillies, bay leaves, black cardamom, green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick,
- ghee
Mustard oil
Mustard oil in bong cuisine is like coconut oil in Kerala cuisine, it is best not to be replaced. That said, I am guilty of not using mustard oil in all my previous bong food preparations but I will never make that compromise again! If you do not have mustard oil or are not a fan, then you can add tomato to get the zing factor.
Labour of love
Did you notice the post title? A labour of love is when you do something out of love for it and so you don't expect anything in return. The three odd hours of slow cooking the mutton does need your attention every 10 minutes so it is not shut and cook and serve... you will truly be amazed at the transformation of the mutton meat to a dark shade that has dropped off the bones and simply melt in your mouth! And if you nailed it, then trust me, appreciation will start to pour!
How to make it?
I have tried both pot cooking and pressure cooking method and I prefer the pot for flavour. When I made Kosha Mangsho in a pressure cooker, I saved around 45 minutes but it took more time to darken the meat. So, I would still suggest that you make sure you have 3 hours before you attempt this dish. You may try Instant Pot or a slow cooker method but I don't own so cannot say the time etc.
Grind together the marinade ingredients - onion, cumin and turmeric powder, yoghurt, garam masala and garlic pods into a smooth paste.
Marinate the goat meat pieces with prepared marinade paste. Keep aside for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed kadai or pressure cooker on low to medium flame. Add all the tempering ingredients - dried red chillies, bay leaves, black and green cardamoms, cinnamon and cloves. Saute until fragrant.
Add the thinly sliced red onions and fry on medium flame until browned. It can take about 7 to 10 minutes.
Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.
Add all the ground spices - coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder. Saute for another 10 minutes.
Add marinated meat along with the whisked yoghurt and cook covered for 10 minutes.
Add a cup of hot water and salt to taste. Cover and cook the meat on low to medium flame.
Keep stirring in between to prevent burning from the bottom of the pan until there is no visible liquid floating.
For the next 1 to 2 hours, splash water, cover and cook on low flame, stir, scrape the bottom and sides, and cook until the meat is completely cooked and starts to become dark in colour.
You may add a large potato cut into large chunks towards the last 15 minutes and continue cooking so that the potato stays in shape by the end of the cooking.
When the mutton pieces are fully cooked, and soft and dark, then add hot water per your desired consistency and bring to a boil before switching off. Stir in some slit green chillies and ghee. Serve kosha mangsho hot with rice or roti
A perfectly cooked lamb that falls off the bones easily, soft, juicy and melting in the mouth...the cumin flavour and all those whole spices and onions fried in oil...it was yummy! .. so close to what I had at her wedding. F loved it and left a clean pot after dinner. If you haven't had this, I suggest you try this and I am very sure you will love it.
📖 Recipe
Kosha Mangsho
Ingredients
- 500 to 550 grams mutton bone-in (goat meat or lamb meat)
For the marinade
- 1 medium-sized red onion
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¼ cup yoghurt
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala
- 3 to 5 garlic cloves
For tempering
- 1 tablespoon mustard oil
- 2 dry red chillies
- 3 bay leaves torn into small pieces
- 1 black cardamom
- 5 green cardamom
- 5 cloves
- 1- inch cinnamon stick
For the gravy
- 2 large red onions sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 4 green chillies chopped
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- ½ teaspoon red chilli powder
- ½ cup whisked full-fat yoghurt
- salt to taste
- a pinch of sugar
- Hot water as required
- 1 large potato optional
- 3 green chillies
- 1 teaspoon ghee
Instructions
- Grind together the marinade ingredients into a smooth paste.
- Marinate the meat pieces with ground marinade paste. Keep aside for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
- Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed kadai on low to medium flame and add all the tempering ingredients. Saute until fragrant.
- Add sliced onions and saute on medium flame until browned for about 7 to 10 minutes.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add all the spice powders and saute for another 10 minutes.
- Add marinated meat along with the whisked yoghurt and cook covered for 10 minutes.
- Keep stirring in between to prevent burning from the bottom of the pan until there is no visible liquid floating.
- Add one cup of hot water and salt to taste. Cover and cook the meat on low to medium flame.
- For the next 1 to 2 hours, splash water, cover and cook on low flame, stir, scrape the bottom and sides, and cook until the meat is completely cooked and starts to become dark in colour.
- You can add a large potato cut into large chunks towards the last 15 minutes and continue cooking so that the potato stays in shape by the end of the process.
- When the mutton pieces are fully cooked, and soft and dark, then add enough hot water to make the curry as per your desired consistency and bring to a boil. If serving with rice, add more water and if serving with flatbreads add less water to make a thick gravy.
- Stir in some slit green chillies and ghee. Serve hot with rice or roti
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!