lamb with Methi (fenugreek)Dumplings

 

                              Mutton with Methi Dumplings

                              

Now this is a recipe that I saw on tv and tried and it came out pretty well so since then it has been a regular curry every time muttons on the menu. It was Anjum Anand’s show on Fox life that I got this recipe from. She said this is a Gujrati recipe, it’s quite different and no doubt tastes great so who really cares where it is from.

However I have given my own twist to it, like the recipe asks for kasoori methi, I went with fresh methi instead. But there have been instances where I have used both for extra taste so it’s completely up to your personal taste which way you want to go. I also have increased the methi measurement. The curry is rich with the coconut milk that goes into it, and it gets tartness from the lemon juice. The dumplings are also tasty and wholesome it’s got wheat flour and besan and I use lots of methi (fenugreek) as I said earlier.

In the recipe below I will give the measurements as shown on the show and I will aslo put in my changes. Another thing that I have learnt recently is that not everybody is aware of how to make coconut milk or for that matter aren’t even aware that you can buy it in the market. Me being a Mangalorean have seen coconut milk been made at home since I was a kid, infact I can’t remember my mum ever buying it. And economically speaking its cheaper making rather than buying. So at the end of this recipe I’m also giving directions to make the coconut milk so it can be helpful to those who don’t know how to make it but want to, the rest could just buy it.

 

Ingredients

For curry

½ kg mutton

1 teaspoon mustard seeds

1 medium onion chopped

The recipe asks for 1 tablespoon of garlic paste, since I was lazy I just used ginger garlic paste

2 tablespoon dhaniya powder

1 teaspoon jeera pwdr

Chilli pwdr about 1 teaspoon (adjust acoording to your taste)

1 teaspoon Turmeric pwdr

Pureed tomatoes 2-3

Thin Coconut milk around 2 cups

Lemon juice according to your taste or 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Water as required

oil 3 tablespoon

coriander leaves chopped for garnish

 

For Methi Dumplings

Besan (gram flour) 4 tablespoon

Wheat flour 10 tablespoon

1 teaspoon sugar

Salt to taste

Lemon juice 1 tablespoon

Ginger thumb sized and grated

2 teaspoon kasoori methi, I used a small bunch of fresh methi.

1 teaspoon of methi seeds pounded slightly

Water as required

 

Method

Let’s start with the prep work, wash and clean the meat and let the water drain out.

Cut 2-3 tomatoes into big chunks and grind into taste.

Make coconut milk (see end of recipe for instructions)

Pound the methi seeds

Wash and drain the methi leaves

Now heat the oil and when it’s hot add the mutton and fry till all the meat is sealed and browned, you could do it in batches aswell. Once the mutton is browned transfer it into a different vessel. In the same oil (you could add a little more if needed) once hot add   mustard seeds and let it pop and then add the garlic paste, as in this case I added ginger garlic paste. Fry for a few seconds and then add all the masala powders and salt and fry for 3 seconds and then pour in the tomato puree let it simmer for a 2 minutes then transfer this gravy and mutton into a pressure cooker along with a cup of water and cook for 2 whistles.

If not using a cooker then after pouring in the tomato puree add the mutton and let it simmer till mutton is almost done. You can add a cup of water here aswell so the mutton cooks nicely

While mutton Is cooking start working on the dumplings

Dumpling method

Mix all the dumplings ingredients and knead to make a consistency that you can form into balls. And keep ready

Once the mutton is done, or the pressure is released transfer to the kadai again and then add the coconut milk and dumplings and let it simmer on high for five minutes then you can cover with lid and let it simmer for about 10-12 minutes till the dumplings are cooked. Check for salt and add extra if necessary at this point. This is a thick gravy so adjust the boiling up until you feel its ok. Once it’s done off the gas add lemon juice according to taste and garnish with coriander leaves.

 

 

 

Can be eaten with rice or rotis.

 

Making coconut milk

Grated coconut around ½ coconut, I used a little less than half because that’s how much I had.

Water about a cup and half

Method

Take the grated coconut and grind with around ¼-1/2 cup water, grind till around 1 minute then take a muslin cloth and strain the liquid into a vessel. This would be the thick milk.

Again take the  ground coconut in the mixy and add remaining water and grind again for about 1 minute or minute and half and repeat extraction with muslin cloth. This is thin milk.

For this recipe since I did not need thick milk I just mixed both extractions into one lot. And used around 2 cups from it.