For Chettinad Mutton Chops
Clean mutton chops well and rinse it under tap water. Marinate the chops with 1 teaspoon red chili powder and salt for about 2 to 4 hours inside fridge.
Take marinated mutton and add it to pressure cooker. Also add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 finely chopped onion with 1 cup water (add ¼ cup water if you want to make dry roasted chop). Pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.
Chop onions and puree it along with green chili. Chop tomatoes and puree it separately. Keep aside.
Heat a pan/skillet. Dry roast cumin seeds, black pepper corns, coriander seeds, dried red chilies and mustard seeds. Roast them on low flame for about a minute until it starts to splutter. Be careful, whole spices can burn fast. So make sure you reduce the flame and roast it for about a minute with constant stirring. Remove from flame, let it cool and then grind into powder.
Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a wide pan. Add cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaf.
Add onion green chili paste and sauté till raw smell of the onion paste is gone. Will take 3 to 5 minutes.
Add ginger garlic paste and cook till raw smell of the paste is gone.
Now add tomato puree and cook till tomato puree thickens and oil separates from the edges of the pan.
Now add spice powders- red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder and the powdered spice mix along with salt. Cook for about 1 minute.
Add cooked mutton chops along with the water in it. Simmer and cook for about 25 minutes. Add water if needed. Check for salt.
That’s it. Spicy Chettinad mutton chops kozhumbhu(curry) is ready.
Serve hot with steamed rice or dosa or even idli.
For Mom’s Mutton Chops Curry Recipe
Wash mutton chops 3 to 4 times. Add little salt and turmeric(not mentioned in ingredients quantity) along with enough water to ensure all the chop are submerged in water. Let this sit for about 10 minutes. This step removes the smell from the mutton. After 10 minutes, discard the water. This step is completely optional. If you are that person who hates the smell of raw meat, this technique will help reduce the smell.
Add half amount of required water, red chili powder and turmeric powder to the chops. Mix well and let it marinade for about 3-4 hours in fridge.
Chop onions, tomatoes very fine. Grind all the ingredients mentioned under ‘for masala paste’ with little water. Keep aside.
Pressure cook chops with very little water for 2 to 3 whistles.
Heat oil in a wide pan. Add cinnamon sticks, cloves and bay leaves. Add finely chopped onions and sauté till onions turn soft. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook till the raw smell of the paste is gone.
Now add finely chopped tomatoes and cook till tomatoes turn soft. Add red chili powder, coriander powder, and turmeric powder, salt and mix well.
Add the cooked mutton chops and cook for about 5 minutes.
Now add the ground green paste, mix well and cook in simmer with water as required for about 15 minutes or until all the ingredients are blend together well and the chops are done well.
Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice or rotis.