GONGURA MUTTON

Winter begs for hot spicy food and so it’s Gongura Mutton at our home. With fresh sorrel leaves available in abundance at our local rythu bazaar, I bought a few bunches to prepare this traditional dish. Mutton is cooked in a spicy masala base with sour red sorrel leaves enriching the flavor of mutton, giving it a distinctive fiery tangy taste and an aroma that is a delight to the senses. A delicacy prepared in most homes on Kanuma, the third day of our traditional harvest festival, Sankranti.

Gongura Mamsam Recipe

Preparation: 40 mts

Serves 5-6 persons

Cuisine: Andhra

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Ingredients:
1 kg mutton, washed and drained
2 cups packed freshly picked, washed red sorrel leaves
4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
2-4 green chillis, slit (adjust)
1 tbsp coriander pwd
1 tsp cumin pwd
1 1/2 tbsp oil
Marinade:
1 cup curd
1 1/2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp red chilli pwd
juice of small lemon
Garam Masala Pwd:
5-6 cloves
1 1/2″ cinnamon
2 cardamoms
2 star anise/anaas puvu/biryani puvvu
1 tbsp khus-khus pwd

1 Marinate mutton pieces in curd, salt, turmeric pwd, chilli pwd, ginger garlic paste and lemon juice and keep aside for half an hour. Pressure cook till the mutton is half cooked.
2 Lightly dry roast the spices under ‘garam masala pwd’ for 3-4 mts and cool. Grind the spices to make a powder. Keep aside.
3 Heat oil in a heavy bottomed vessel. Add the onions and green chillis and saute till transparent.
4 Add the sauted onions to the pressure cooked mutton pieces and cook on high heat for 2-3 mts. Add coriander pwd, cumin pwd and garam masala pwd and combine well. Add a cup of water and adjust salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and cook for another 10-12 mts.
5 Add the washed gongura leaves by roughing tearing them and combine well. Place the lid and cook till the mutton has turned soft and the leaves have blended well with the mutton masala base.
6 Serve hot with white rice or rotis.