Vankaya mamsam/Eggplant mutton/ Brinjal Meat curry

This simple dish is made with one of my favorite veggies- eggplant aka brinjal aka vankaya. There's lot of myths surrounding this veggie and I thought it's important to clarify. Click here to know the calorific and nutritional value of eggplant.

Ingredients:

Brinjals - 5 medium sized

Meat/Mutton - 2 lbs

Salt- 2 tspn

Meat tenderizer - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric - 1/4 tspn

Onions - 2 medium size

Oil- 1 1/2 tbsp

Green chillies - 3-5

Coriander powder - 2 tspn

Cumin powder- 1/2 tspn

Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves all powdered in equal ratio - 2 tspn

Chilli powder - 3 tspn

Tomatoes - 2 medium sized

Cilantro - 1/4 cup

Ginger & Garlic paste - 1 1/2 tspn

Water- 1-1 1/2 cup

Preparation time: 10 mins cooking time: 40 mins

Slice the onions and fry them in oil in a pan. Saute them until they turn slightly brown and then add green chillies. Now add turmeric, salt and then ginger garlic paste. Thoroughly saute them without letting the paste stick to the base of the pan. Add the powders in the order mentioned above and saute again. Now add mutton/meat pieces and sprinkle some tenderizer powder and close the lid. Let the entire moisture come out of the mutton pieces. It might take about 10 mins for the water to drain out of the pieces. Then add diced tomatoes and diced eggplant pieces along with cilantro and then thoroughly mix. Let the tomatoes go soft and tender showing signs of the skin getting peeled off. Now, add water to the entire contents depending on how much of gravy you'd like to have in the curry. Remember, water is directly proportional to the amount of gravy you get later on. Close the lid and pressure cook the meat upto 4-5 whistles or 20 mins if you're following by the clock.

Once cooked, remove the lid as the steam settles down and serve hot with rice, paratha or rotis. Don't forget to garnish it slightly with cilantro and lemon. It definitely adds to the taste. Uhmm! lip smacking :)`

Gongura Mutton

I've 'Googled' and found that 'Gongura,' the original Telugu word, is called Sorrel leaves in English. So now we have Sorrel leaves mutton curry to prepare. Bah! I find the name long and boring. So prefer calling it Gongura mutton and hope you guys don't mind calling it too.

It's a dish that most people from Telangana and Rayalseema region in AP, India, prepare for any grand or small occasion. Its simple recipe and tangy taste is what leaves a foodie asking for more. Infact, there are many ways how you can prepare the same thing. I'll share a few methods.

Ingredients:

1/2 kg lamb meat, cleaned and cut into pieces

1/2 tspn turmeric powder

Salt to taste

10 cloves of garlic

1/2 inch piece of ginger

4 cloves (lavang)

4 whole green cardamoms (ilaichi)

2 bay leaves

1 large cinnamon stick

200 gm gongura leaves

1 large onion thinly chopped

1 stem large curry leaves

3 tbsp cooking oil

10-12 green chillies

Cilantro and Mint leaves for garnishing

Cooking time: 15-20 mins Preparation time: 7 mins

Method 1

First, boil the mutton and ginger garlic with some salt in a pressure cooker. Take out the ginger garlic and make a paste of it and keep aside.

Now, in a pan, heat oil and add all the whole spices. Once they start spluttering, add the ginger garlic paste, green chilies and then the sliced onions to the oil. Saute the onions till they become transparent and then add the gongura leaves(sorrel), curry leaves and all the ground spices and salt. Thoroughly saute till the oil is separated from the mixture. Now add the fully boiled mutton pieces and saute for another five minutes so that they get well mixed with the spices paste. Then add water and boil till the gravy thickens. Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro or even mint leaves and serve hot with rice.

Method 2

Step 1:Wash gongura, keep aside.
Step 2:Cut meat into bite sized pieces and mix along with garlic and ginger pastes and keep aside.
Step 3:Grind poppy seeds, cumin, coriander seeds, cloves and dried red chilis with 1/4 cup of water until soft.

Step 4:Heat oil in a non-stick skillet and fry onions until brown. Next add meat from step 2 and fry on medium heat until meat looks dry.

Now add 1.5 cups of water, cover and cook until meat is soft. Next add ground spices, gongoora and salt, stir well and cover. Cook on low heat for 25 minutes more.