Recipe for authentic South Indian Tamilnadu Style Mutton Kuzhambu. Perfect side dish for Idli, Idiyappam, Appam and Biryani. With step by step pictures.
Kandasamy Abba is my Paati’s (dad’s mom) elder brother’s son. Kandasamy Abba and my Thaatha (mom’s dad) were the best of friends and he was the one instrumental in getting my mom and dad married. He is my dad’s hero. He will not do anything without asking him. Sadly, he passed away a few years back. Kamalam Athama is Kandasamy Abba’s wife. We fondly call her Perur Athama as Perur is her hometown. She is very soft spoken and has a lot of attention to detail. I have always seen her only in one place. The kitchen. Everything is perfect when she is around. Athama’s dishes are legendary. I have eaten countless number of meals from her kitchen and this curry is my all time favourite. The spices are so mild and makes for a delicious curry to dunk in with Indian breads. Below is the picture of Perur Athama clad in an orange saree with her family. Her daughter in law Renu Akka is the one who painstakingly writes and sends recipes to perfection. Thank you akka for everything.
Here is how to do Perur Athama’s Mutton Kuzhambu.
Heat oil in a pan and saute shallots (small onions and curry leaves) for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are pink and soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
Now we need to make our very own home made mutton masala powder.
Dry roast all the ingredients listed under mutton masala powder except turmeric and poppy seeds (khuskhus) until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixie / spice grinder. Add in the turmeric and raw poppy seeds. If you cannot get poppy seeds in a country where you live, just skip it. But poppy seeds does add a lot of flavour to the curry. Grind the mixture to a very fine powder.
To the ground powder, add in the fried shallot mixture and add half a cup of water. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
Keep a pressure pan on heat and add in the washed, cleaned and drained mutton pieces. Add a teaspoon of castor oil to the mutton. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes until all the juices that come from the mutton has evaporated and its completely dry. Grind the ginger and garlic with quarter cup of water to a fine paste. Add the paste to the mutton. Note that we are using more Ginger than garlic for this recipe.
A Note on Castor Oil
Perur Athama uses a teaspoon of Castor Oil while making this curry and she believes that the mutton cooks to tender with the addition of castor oil. Also Castor oil will help in digestion after a heavy non-veg meal. It has cooling properties too. So go ahead and get a little castor oil going in the curry. Don’t add too much though. If you don’t have castor oil, add in a teaspoon of vegetable oil and proceed with the recipe.
Fry till the ginger garlic paste is covered on mutton and is almost dry. Add in the mutton masala paste and the second and third pressed coconut milk. I prefer homemade coconut milk for this recipe. Here is how to make homemade coconut milk at home.
Cover the pan and let it cook for 12 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat after all the whistles are over and wait for the pressure to release from the cooker naturally. Open the cooker and add a heaping teaspoon of rock salt. Combine well. Set aside.
Tempering
Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom, mustard seeds and urad dal. Let it splutter. Add it to the mutton curry.
Add in the first pressed coconut milk (do not heat after adding first milk ) and finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well to combine.
Serve the curry as a side dish for Biryani, Appam, Idiyappam or idli.
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Perur Athama’s Mutton Kuzhambu (Curry)
Recipe for authentic South Indian Tamilnadu Style Mutton Kuzhambu. Perfect side dish for Idli, Idiyappam, Appam and Biryani.
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 mins
- Yield: 5 people 1x
Ingredients
For frying Shallots
- 1 teaspoon Vegetable oil
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 1 cup shallots (approx 20-25) (small onions)
For Mutton Masala Powder
- 6 dried red chillies
- 1 cinnamon
- 1 clove
- 1 1/2 tablespoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (khus khus)
Other Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon castor oil
- 500 grams Mutton with bone
- 1 heaping teaspoon rock salt
- 4 stalks coriander leaves, finely chopped
For Ginger Garlic paste
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 1/2 inch piece ginger
For Home made Coconut Milk
- 1 small Coconut
- Click here for coconut milk recipe
For Tempering
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 3 cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon urad dal
Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté shallots (small onions and curry leaves) for 3-4 minutes until the shallots are pink and soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Dry roast all the ingredients listed under mutton masala powder except turmeric and poppy seeds (khuskhus) until fragrant. Remove from heat and transfer to a mixie / spice grinder. Add in the turmeric and raw poppy seeds. Grind the mixture to a very fine powder.
- To the ground powder add in the fried shallot mixture and add half a cup of water. Grind to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Keep a pressure pan on heat and add in the washed, cleaned and drained mutton pieces. Add a teaspoon of castor oil to the mutton. Mix well and cook for 5 minutes until all the juices that come from the mutton has evaporated and its completely dry. Grind the ginger and garlic with quarter cup of water to a fine paste.
- Fry till the ginger garlic paste is covered on mutton and is almost dry. Add in the mutton masala paste and the second and third pressed coconut milk.
- Cover the pan and let it cook for 12 whistles on medium flame. Remove from heat after all the whistles are over and wait for the pressure to release from the cooker naturally. Open the cooker and add a heaping teaspoon of rock salt. Combine well. Set aside.
- For tempering : Heat oil in a pan and add in the cardamom, mustard seeds and urad dal. Let it splutter. Add it to the mutton curry.
- Add in the first pressed coconut milk and finely chopped coriander leaves. Mix well to combine.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: Tamilnadu, South Indian
What is a substitute for castor oil ?
you can just omit it if you dont want to use.
I tried the mutton gravy and it was very tasty. My family really enjoyed it.
Hi mam can we try it along with rice…
Is there any specific reason why we don’t add the salt earlier akka ?? We usually toss mutton in Salt before pressure cooking?
Hi Kanamma,
I am a silent admirer of you and enjoy cooking your recipe. I sometimes get the fat taste of mutton and even after cooking mutton for 12 whistles, the taste of some pieces are raw. Can you please tell me what to do?
Hi Pavithra, I would recommend marinating the mutton in raw papaya paste for an hour and then proceed with the cooking. Raw papaya paste tenderizes the meat. Do not use a lot. A tablespoon will do for half a kg. Just grind the raw papaya (skin and everything) in a mixie with little water. Wash the mutton after an hour of marinating and proceed with the cooking. You can cut pieces of raw papaya and stash in the freezer. Whenever necessary, you can take a piece or two, thaw and then grind and use it.
Hope this helps.
Hi mam I tried this mutton kozhambu it was yummy… can i try this in chicken too..
My husband specifically asked to try this in chicken…
Hi Vyshnavi, sure you can try. But chicken will cook fast. 4-5 whistles in the cooker will do.
Thank yu fr tis wonderful recipe 😍 am newly wed nd almost al my kitchen works frm yur blog a big fan gal of yur recipes nd the way yu present it… Keep doing the wonderful job. Also am frm coimbatore. Am so glad tat i found you…
Nd a doubt, do we not boil the cury for few minutes aftr adding first pressed coconut milk…
Hi Dhivya, Thanks so much. Really glad that you are liking the recipes. No need to boil the curry after adding the first pressed milk. Hope this helps. Happy Cooking.
I tried the recipe now, it’s really very delicious.Limited Spicy, l adored it. My kids loved so much. They ate very well. Thanks for good recipe.
Hi Mam,
Hats off to you for all your wonderful recepies!
Could you please share the chettinad mutton kulambu??
Tried it. Came out good. I have been trying new recepies from your blog often.kudos.keep them coming. Best wishes. I mentioned about quinoa recepies.did you give it a thought.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for the wonderful recipe. I tried it today it came out very well. My family liked it so much. 🙂
Thank you so much!
I have been following your blog for a while and love all your recipes and your passion for cooking, collecting authentic recipes and techniques. The minute I read the word “abba”, it brought back a lot of memories. It is so unique to Coimbatore. I was surprised to see Kamalam Bedhamma’s family picture. She is my Mom’s cousin.
Keep up the good work.
Thank you so much! So nice to know that you are related.
I tried this recipe but it’s not that good
I am from Coimbatore and missed this recipe a lot as many started to change receipes according to their living place and forget receipes. I got this back because of you. Thanks and yummy
Thank you ! Glad you liked it!
Ji, there is no spicy ingredient added to this dish except red chilli, if we require more spicy what and when should we add.
You can add more chillies and grind if you want a very spicy curry!
Mam while roasting the ingredients for maama powder should we roast each item separately or can we roast everything together. Please suggest.
Sorry it’s masala powder
Since its a small quantity, I roast everything together. It comes good.
Mam while roasting the ingredients should we roast each item separately or can we roast everything together. Please suggest.
It tried this method of mutton kuzhambu, it came very well. I ate it for rice and kept the left out to have it with idly for dinner..To my surprise my 3and years old daughter who never eat rice with curries ate few mouths today with this curry😀
Thats so nice Ramya. So happy that your kid enjoyed her food. 🙂
Madam ,
Can I use this kuzlambu for rice ?
Sure. You can use this for rice.
Great post! Have nice day ! 🙂 kikgt
Hi,
I tried this Mutton Kulambu today (நம்ம ஊர் கொங்கு நாடு recipe) and it came out so good.
நன்றி & வாழ்த்துக்கள்
அசோக்
Thank you so much. Happy Cooking.
Hi, I made the same way but added one tomato and mutton gravy is in sweet flavour.
Can you pls tell me is it because of adding tomato or poppy seed or little ginger?
Thanks
There is no tomato in this curry.
Hi.
Can I try the same with mushrooms. Kindly let me know pls. Am a vegetarian.
Akka
Intha dish la tomato add panalama
If ok na epo add panrathu
Ila add pana dish taste mariduma
Yethu best pls akka reply?
Please don’t add tomatoes in this recipe.
Hi Kannamma,
Sorry to keep asking the same question on different recipes but will this one work with boneless lamb leg cubes? I don’t have access to mutton with bones.
Thanks.
Sure, this recipe will work with boneless lamb. But if you can have access to lamb with bone, then I advise you use that. Bones have a lot of flvour.
Excellent gravy came out so well…Today I also tried vanjara fish fry it also came out too good.Thank you sooooo much for these recipes…
Thank you so much!
Exactly the same way my grand mother makes mutton gravy for idlies.. my grany passed away before 30 yrs. My aunt shared the recipe.. perfectly same… superb illustrations..
Thank you so much Jaimurugan. Glad you remember her through this recipe.
Hi, how the curry will give taste without tomatoes?? Y no tomatoes or tamarind??
Awesome traditional gravy.. tried today… Came out so well.. Thanks?
Thank you!
Hi suguna
Normally we don’t use mustard urad dal for non veg dishes
So…..
Pls clarify
WE take this for white rice?
There is no urad dal tradititionally in non veg recipe. Its traditional in our place to do the tempering with mustard at last. Trust me it works!
But you have used urad dal for tempering. Why are you saying no urad dal in this recipe?
There is no urad dal tempering in non veg dishes. But this one has urad dal tempering. I meant that urad dal is generally not used.
hi,
I saw ur mutton curry. I need some clarifications.
1. why add salt only after cooking mutton? will mutton take salt after cooking?
2. when all juices evaporate and mutton is dry won’t it taste hard?
3. won’t twelve whistles overcook the mutton and make it dry and tough?
thanks.
Jayashree S
This recipe works so well. Try it if you dont believe it!
Mutton cooks really well and never hard.
I tried mutton curry as u mentioned it has come out really really good thank you so so much for ur awesome Coimbatore style.
Thank you Shalini.
This is a hit.Nothing can go wrong with your recipes.Great recipe.Keep going with your service.
Thank you so much Raji Ravi. Happy that you liked the recipe.
So tasty bt i didnt do the dish as it is i did sme tricks bt d masala fragrance were tooo awesome
Thank you so much. Really glad that you liked the recipe.
Hi Akka,
This curry looks delicious..I have almost tried all your non veg recipes at home…Would love to try this..can this be paired with plain white rice ? And how long can this curry be stored in the fridge??
Thank you for bring us such authentic and beautiful recipes
Sure Steffi. You can store it for upto 2 days in the fridge. But while reheating, heat it lightly as coconut milk might curdle if boiled a lot.
Tried this and it came out really well; It was a different taste and yummy.
It will be our regular
Thank you!
Tried it over the weekend for biriyani side dish.. It was super easy n yummy. Thanks !!
Thank you!
Hi Suguna,
Mutton Kuzhambu came out so well today. My Husband finished the whole thing :).
i tried your annapoorna sambhar as well and it is a hit as well.
i am from coimbatore and i am so happy i found your site. Its one stop guide for all my favourites.
My husband said he is your classmate in mani’s not sure if you remember him.
His name is Satish Kumar.
Thank you so much Ramya. That’s really nice to know. Really glad you like the recipes. Say my hi to Satish too!
Hi Suguna
Its really wonderful.. I started using your posted recipies .. Is sooo yummy….
Thank you so much. Glad that you liked the recipe. Happy Cooking.
Hi Suguna,
Tried mutton curry, it was very yummy.
Thanks Anusha! Its our family favorite!
Your clicks are awesoeme and the recipe is simply tempting…
Thank you very much Anlet!
Hi Ms. Suguna,
I have been an ardent fan of ur website since yesterday. I was at home due to bad weather in bangalore. Have gone through many a recipes and liked the way some of the non veg dishes presented here in ur website. Especially Pallipalayam chicken fry and Tamil Muslim biryanis. We’d like to try your Annapoorna sambar this weekend. Have already made Appam yesterday in your way. It’s nice.
About me, I am Raj (near and dear call me Chinai) came from Andhra, living in Bangalore for almost 10 years. Have been experimenting with food for 15years. Recently I have started plating my dishes and working on food photography (only with my food) and a website which is yet to release.
Would love to connect to someone who is really passionate about cooking. If you can ping me on watsapp 9739442344, I would like to share a few pics of my work.
All the best!
Raj
Thank you so much Raj. You can contact me at sugunaindia at gmail dot com
thanks suguna.will try that recipe.
hi suguna,
can you please post a recipe similar to junior kuppana’s naatu kozhi kozhambu? also is that a 10′ or a 12′ inch lodge?do you cook acidic foods in it?thanks!
I don’t cook highly acidic foods in Lodge Prithi! Its a 10 inch pan
And have you tried http://www.kannammacooks.com/spicy-kongunad-kozhi-kuzhambu-chicken-curry-kurma/
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