Chettinad Lamb Curry Recipe – If you are a non-vegetarian, what is your favourite meat? I am myself a vegetarian, but have heard from people who eat non-veg food that once they eat lamb / mutton, they prefer it over chicken. My partner is non-veg food lover and I love helping him with his recipes. So he wanted to eat “Chettinad Mutton Curry” (or South Indian lamb curry) last week and here I was with him guiding his way through the recipe 🙂
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This Chettinad Mutton or Lamb Chettinad is a classic south indian curry originating from Chettinad region of India. Chettinad cuisine is perhaps the most renowned thing in the Tamil Nadu.
Most of the dishes are eaten with rice and rice based accompaniments such as dosais, appams, idiyappams, adais and idlis. The recipe of the chettinad mutton curry which am sharing below is suitable to be consumed with rice and indian flat bread (chapatti) too.
In Chettinad food, major spices used include peppercorn, cardamom, chillies, cinnamon, coconut, hence this recipe of mine includes all these spices. It is the usage if these raw spices which gives this curry an aromatic essence along with spicy flavour. It is such a distinct flavour that once you will have it, you will recognise this taste any day and likely crave for it yet again.
Chettinad Lamb Curry Recipe | YourFoodFantasy.com
Method to make Chettinad Lamb Curry
- First of all, marinate the mutton pieces with some salt, turmeric powder and lemon juice and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add all the ingredients listed under Chettinad masala category one by one and roast them for 7-8 minutes.
- Once roasted, switch off the heat and let it cool. Transfer this into a grinder jar and grind it to a smooth paste. Our Chettinad masala is ready.
- Now add the ground paste/ masala to the marinated mutton and mix it well. Let it marinate for 25-30 minutes.
- Heat a kadai/pan and add a tablespoon of oil to it. Once the oil is heated add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.
- Now add curry leaves and chopped onion. Once the onion turns light golden, add the tomatoes and cook till they are mushy.
- Now add the marinated mutton and 2 cup of water. Let it cook for 30-45 minutes on low medium heat so that it’s cooked properly. Stir in between and check the Mutton pieces for softness. Switch off the flame once the mutton is soft and the gravy reaches your desired consistency.
Pro Tips for Chettinad lamb curry
- You can reduce the cooking time by pressure cooking the marinated mutton for 2-3 whistles and then add it to the gravy and cook for 8-10 minutes till the gravy thickens.
- Swap lamb meat with goat meat, if available.
- You can use red onions instead of Shallots.
- It tastes best when cooked in mustard oil.
Serving Suggestion
Serve this authentic chenntinad style lamb curry with hot steamed rice or Indian bread.
Other Lamb Recipes
Lamb Chops
Lamb Rogan Josh
Handi Gosht
Lamb / Mutton Biryani
Achari Gosht
Aloo Gosht
Now let me walk you through this step by step recipe of Chettinad style lamb curry.
Recipe Card
Chettinad Mutton Curry
Ingredients
For Chettinad Masala
- 12-15 Shallots
- 6-8 Garlic Cloves
- 1 Inch Piece Ginger
- 1 Inch Piece Cinnamon stick
- 2 Teaspoon Whole black peppercorns
- 1 Tablespoon Whole Coriander Seeds
- 1.5 Tablespoon Fennel Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- 1 Tablespoon Coconut Grated
- 5 Dried Red Chillies
- 2 Green Cardamom
- 4 Cloves
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
For Gravy
- 600 Grams Mutton /Lamb Pieces
- 1 Onion Large – Chopped
- 2 Tomatoes Medium – Chopped
- 1 Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- 1 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt As per taste
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 String of Curry leaves
- Fresh Coriander Leaves To garnish
Instructions
- First of all, marinate the mutton pieces with some salt, turmeric powder and lemon juice and keep it aside for 10 minutes.
- Heat a pan over medium heat and add all the ingredients listed under Chettinad masala category one by one and roast them for 7-8 minutes.
- Once roasted, switch off the heat and let it cool. Transfer this into a grinder jar and grind it to a smooth paste. Our Chettinad masala is ready.
- Now add the ground paste/ masala to the marinated mutton and mix it well. Let it marinate for 25-30 minutes.
- Heat a kadai/pan and add a tablespoon of oil to it. Once the oil is heated add the mustard seeds and allow it to crackle.
- Now add curry leaves and chopped onion. Once the onion turns light golden, add the tomatoes and cook till they are mushy.
- Now add the marinated mutton and 2 cup of water. Let it cook for 30-45 minutes on low medium heat so that it’s cooked properly. Stir in between and check the Mutton pieces for softness. Switch off the flame once the mutton is soft and the gravy reaches your desired consistency.
Notes
- You can reduce the cooking time by pressure cooking the marinated mutton for 2-3 whistles and then add it to the gravy and cook for 8-10 minutes till the gravy thickens.
- You can use lamb meat or goat meat whatever available.
- You can use red onions instead of Shallots.
- It tastes best when cooked in mustard oil.
great recipe = but you missed a step off – to add all the ingredients in the gravy section. although it is obvious to add them before the lamb
Hi, thanks for taking effort to read and comment. Actually, if you note, I did mention to add ground paste to the marinated mutton. Unless you are referring something else. Btw I have updated and added masala words along with paste now to avoid any confusion.
I love food blogs. Thanks for taking out your precious time for collecting the best food blogs around the world in one place.
Thats really helpful for all the foodies in the world.
I usually use fresh curd to marinate the meat as it help in making it tender and the gravy also gets a nice base and texture. Never had to worry about hard mest ever. Lemon juice, while needed in much quantity also adds a sour flavour which is not preferred by many. Can I do the same in this one ? Let me know!
Hi,
This is absolutely fine as long as yogurt/ curd at your end is sour and good enough. In UK, that’s not the case and hence suggested adding lemon juice.
Thanks For Sharing this Amazing Recipe. My Family Loved It. I will be sharing this Recipe with my Friends. Hope They will like it.
Hi Meenu, i think I overdid the pressure cooking to 5-6 whistles. The lamb became really hard after 10 mins of cooking. Any suggestion?
Hi,
May be its too late now when this response reaches you.
If your lamb has gone hard already during cooking, there is little you can do. May be you can cut it further in smaller pieces and let it soak in gravy, this can soften it a bit.
Perhaps you lamb got hard due to over cooking or it could also get hard due to wrong part of the lamb, age of lamb etc.
I will recommend that look for tender “spring lambs” to begin with, next time.
xx
Meenu
Hi!! I prepared this dish today and it came out really tasty.. Family loved it. Thank you.
So happy to know that you and your family loved it.