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Rajasthani Laal Maas
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Laal Maas

This Laal Maas recipe is my easy rendition of a classic meat delicacy - the traditional Rajasthani Laal Maas with succulent mutton pieces falling off the bones! Laal maas is a mutton curry spiced with dry chillies and cooked in a yogurt base.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Main Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

  • 500 grams mutton small to medium pieces
  • 4 medium onions about half the weight of mutton
  • 5 cloves
  • 1 inch ginger
  • 8 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup yogurt whisked
  • 3 tablespoon mustard oil
  • 10 dry kashmiri chillies *read notes
  • 5 dry red chillies hot chillies
  • salt

For garnish

  • 1/2 tablespoon ghee clarified butter
  • 6 cloves garlic thinly sliced lengthwise
  • Cilantro (Coriander leaves) optional

Instructions

  • Thinly slice the onions. Finely chop the ginger and garlic, and crush to a coarse paste.
    Onions, ginger, garlic, and dry chillies getting prepped for laal maas
  • I prefer using meat with bones. Wash the mutton pieces and keep it aside.
  • I used Kashmiri and the regular hot variety red chillies instead of the Mathania chillies.
  • Soak the chillies in lukewarm water for 10 minutes.
  • Grind to a fine paste in a blender adding a little water at a time.
    Chillies ground to a fine paste for laal maas
  • On a high flame, heat mustard oil in a pressure cooker.
  • Once the oil reaches a smoking point, take off the cooker from the heat.
  • Add the clove once the smoke subsides. The oil will still be hot and you can hear them pop.
    Cloves fried in mustard oil for laal maas
  • Now put the cooker back on the stove and add the onions.
    Onions fried in mustard oil for laal maas
  • Mix well and fry the onions on a low flame.
  • Cook till they are brown (about 15 minutes) and add the mutton pieces.
    Slow-fry onions till they brown
  • Cook for a couple of minutes while stirring to get the onions and the meat evenly distributed.
  • Now add the ginger garlic paste, mix well, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
    Add the ginger and garlic paste
  • Add the chilli paste and mix well.
    Laal Maas paste added to the cooker
  • Add salt, half a cup of water, and mix well.
    Add salt to the laal maas mix in the cooker
  • Now close the lid and pressure cook until the meat is cooked. I was using soft, tender mutton which got cooked in 4 whistles.
  • Switch off and wait for the pressure to subside before opening the cooker.
  • Mutton should be cooked perfectly now.
    Laas Maas is almost ready. Mutton cooked to perfection
  • Increase to a high flame and bring to boil. Add the whisked yogurt.
  • Stir well and cook on a high flame till you bring it to boil again. Switch off.
  • Heat some ghee in another pan and fry the thinly sliced garlic pieces. Switch off when they start to turn brown.
    Final touch to the laal maas - fried garlic
  • Garnish with fried garlic and serve hot with some chapati or rice.

Notes

I have used 10 Kashmiri chillies and 5 dry chillies that are hot. This will provide a good blend of colour and heat. You can tweak this if you want your curry fiery! Please note that yogurt added at the last step will reduce some of the chilli heat. If you can get hold of Mathania chillies use them instead for a more authentic flavour. Use about 15-20 of them.