Mutton Curry Bihari Style - Vishwakarma Puja special

পুজো আসছে 

Today is Vishwakarma Puja. Vishwakarma, the divine architect, or the heavenly engineer. aturally, Vishwakarma is worshipped with great devotion among the professionals in fields related to architecture and engineering. Although to me Vishwakarma Puja is more about flying kites and mutton curry. Moreover, Vishwakarma Puja (it usually falls on the 17^th of September, and only rarely a day before or after, depending on the lunaar calendar) also marks the beginning of the Festive season. If Vishwakarma Puja has arrived, Durga Puja cannot be far away.

Our family enterprise deals with electrical construction and engineering, and it goes without saying that Vishwakarma Puja is celebrated with much pomp and ceremony at our factories. The preparations begin days in advance and the Puja is followed by nightlong feasting and carousal among the workers, and there are several hundreds of them.  

Idol of Lord Vishwakarma 

When my grandfather was alive, the entire fmily, including the women and the children would go around visiting the factory sites, joing in the celebration, nowadays only the men go. I wonder when and why the custom changed.  I merely think of mammoth pots of spicy, rich mutton curry and the mounds of pulao and salivate.  Not that I have to miss it though. Because, every year the workers send home insane amounts of mutton curry in huge clay pots and innumerable boxes of sweets. The meat is cooked by the masterchefs among our work force and trust me I havent had such delicious meat elsewhere. And over the years the recipe I believe has been the same, because other than minor distance it tastes the same each year. I have always wondered how they make and it was on my bucket list to try and recreate the mutton curry. This year I was determined to makes the Vishwakarma Puja mutton curry at home.

I aked Rajinder Chacha the other day, Rajinder Chacha has worked in our factories for nerly 4 decades now and is no less than family now. He promised to return with the recipe, but all he did get was a rough outline from one the cooks, a native of Darbhanga, in Bihar, which is alsow here Rajinder chacha hails from. And this mutton curry I have obsessed over turned out to be the simplest mutton curry I have ever cooked. And also the spiciest and delicious! And on this holy day, I proudly present my Vishwakarma Puja Mutton Curry. 

By the way, even though I have replicated the dish and it turned out awesome, I will feast on the mutton curry they send from the site tonight! Yippeee! And this one is so simple you could cook it up for dinner TONIGHT.

Ingredients 

Mutton - 1.5 kg
Onions - 6 large
Garlic - 1 whole pod
Ginger - 50 g
Salt to taste
Mustard oil - 3/4 cup
Turmeric powder - 1.5 tsp
Yoghurt (beaten)- 100 g
Whole spices
Coriander - 4 tbsp
Cumin - 3 tbsp
Pepper corns - 3 tbsp
Cardamom - 4-5
Cinnamon - 2-3 inch
Cloves- 4-5
Whole dried red chilies - 3-4

Method. 

In a grinder add the onions (cut in cubes), garlic, ginger, all the whole spices and 1/4 up water, and grind into a thick paste. It will be slightly grainy from the spices but that's what we want.

Heat mustard oil in a heavy bottomed pan/wok and add the blended mixture and fry on medium heat until oil separates.

Now add the meat and turmeric powder and and continue frying on a medium high flame, stirring continuously until oil separates again.

Now add salt and 200 ml hot water and and mix well. Also add the beaten yoghurt, mix well.

Transfer to a pressure cooker and pressure cook for about 40-45 minutes or until meat is tender. Serve with rotis or plain rice.