Achari Gosht Recipe / Achari Mutton

Achari Gosht / Achari Mutton (अचारी गोश्‍त) is a wonderful, pretty simple yet absolutely ravishing recipe which hails from Awadhi cuisine of Uttar Pradesh . Achari Gosht got its name due to the presence of  Achari / pickled flavours  into it. It is cooked in Mustard oil with onion seeds, mustard seeds, fennel and fenugreek seeds, and all these are key ingredients for any kind of pickle. 

Preparation time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 40-45 minutes

Serving : 5-6

Ingredients: 

For marination: 

1. Mutton pieces on bones – 1.5 Kg
2. Ginger - garlic Paste – 1 tablespoon
3. Thick Yogurt – 1 tablespoon
4. Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
5. Coriander Powder – 1 teaspoon
6. Red Chilli Powder – 1/2 teaspoon
7. Salt – 1 teaspoon or as per your taste
8. Lemon juice – 1 teaspoon

For Gravy:

• Onions – 3 (medium sized)
• Ginger  – 1 inch piece
• Tomatoes – 4 (medium sized)
• Green chillies – 2
• Dry red chillies – 4-5
• Mustard seeds – 1.5 teaspoon
• Fenugreek seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Fennel seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Onion seeds – 1 teaspoon
• Mustard oil – 2.5 tablespoon

• Chopped Coriander leaves for garnishing

Recipe: 

1. First of all , clean and wash mutton pieces and leave it in colander for 10 minutes to drain out excess water. 

2. Now in a mixing bowl, take all the ingredients listed under marination category, mix all of them together and add mutton pieces to this marinade. Mix the pieces well in marinade and leave it for at least 25-30 minutes.

3. Now, in a pan dry roast Red chillies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, onion seeds for 5-6 minutes. Cool slightly and then grind coarsely with the help of a pestle & mortar. 

4. Finely chop Onions and in a blender puree together Tomatoes, green chillies and ginger.

5. Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed pan until you see smoke coming out of it, cool it and then heat it again.

6. Now, add onions and sauté till brown. After this, add coarsely ground masala powder and saute it for one minute.

7. Now add marinated mutton, cook on high heat till mutton pieces are well browned. 

8. At this stage, add tomato puree and cook this until it starts leaving oil . Then add two cups of water and cover the pan with lid.

9. Lower down the flame to medium heat and cook till the mutton is properly cooked while stirring and checking the tenderness  occasionally.

10. Once its cooked properly, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Enjoy it with Rumali Roti / Naan / Rice of your choice.

Key Notes:

1. You can marinade the mutton for longer depending upon how much time you have. The longer its left for marination, less time it will take to cook and having more flavours till deep inside.
2. Always heat the mustard oil till its smoking point in the first instance otherwise the lamb will smell more of mustard oil after cooking, if not heated properly.
3. You can always adjust the level of spice according to your taste. But this recipe is more authentic with right level of spices.
4. Always dry roast the spices on low heat otherwise they will be burnt.
5. You can use same recipe for Achari Paneer or Achari Chicken.