Bengali recipe: Kosha Mangsho

One of the biggest joys in life is to sit with your family and enjoy a delicious lunch on a lazy Sunday afternoon. And the joy is bigger when the lunch is a preparation of traditional, authentic Bengali cuisine.

Among the myriad renowned Bengali dishes is one dish that never fails to impress anyone. It’s the Spicy Bengali Mutton Curry aka Kosha Mangsho! It’s a known fact that most Bengalis live to eat and not the other way round, and most of them have grown up licking their fingers to Kosha Mangsho’s velvety gravy and biting into the juicy pieces of the meat, cooked lovingly by their grandmothers and mothers. Today, we bring you the recipe of this sumptuous dish straight from a Bengali kitchen.

Ingredients
750 grams mutton
3 medium sized potatoes cut into equal halves (Optional)
1-2 tbsp of mustard oil to fry the potatoes
3-4 medium sized onions
1 tsp garam masala
1 ½ tsp meat masala

To marinate the mutton
7-8 cloves of garlic
1 ½ inch thick ginger
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 ½ tsp red pepper powder
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
1 ½ tsp salt
4 heaped tbsp of yogurt

To temper
10 – 12 black peppers (uncrushed)
3 bay leaves
4 whole cardamoms
5 cloves
½ inch long cinnamon stick
1 tsp of sugar
½ cup mustard oil

Method

Marinating the mutton
1. Bring together garlic, ginger and onions. Grind them together in a mixer to make a smooth paste.

2. Wash and clean the mutton. Add to it the ingredients for the marinade – yogurt, turmeric powder, coriander powder, red pepper powder, some mustard oil, and half of the ginger/garlic/onion paste. Let it rest for about 2 hours. If you have time on your hands, let it rest overnight. Ensure that you prick the mutton with a fork so that it absorbs all the flavours.

3. Heat 2 tbsp mustard oil in a wok. Fry the potatoes till they turn golden brown. Keep them aside.

Cooking the mutton
1. Heat the remaining mustard oil in another wok. Add some turmeric to it. Then, temper it with the black pepper, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cloves, and cardamom. Also add sugar to it. The sugar gives a nice red colour to the gravy and also contributes to the subtle sweetness of the spicy gravy.

2. Add the remaining onion paste along with meat masala and fry for about 5 minutes. You’ll notice the oil separating from the mixture.

3. Now add the marinated mutton. Cook at a low flame for about half and hour.

4. Add 2 cups water (depending on how much gravy you want) and cover the wok. Let the mutton cook for at least an hour now till the mutton becomes soft and succulent. All this while, ensure that the flame is at its lowest.

5. Now, add the fried potatoes and garam masala, and give it good stir. Let it cool for sometime and then sprinkle freshly chopped coriander leaves.

Serve hot with either steamed rice, maida luchi (pooris) or parathas. Follow it up with Bengali desserts like mishti doi or soft roshogullas!