Kosha Mangsho – Sauteed Mutton

I was scrounging through the frozen food section of our local sub-continental grocery in search of fish (after all, I am Bengali) and in between the Papda and Ilish I saw this package of mutton and child hood memories flooded bacl. Kosha Mangsho was one of my favorite food growing up. So much so that when my mother was cooking this in the kitchen, I would pilfer some pieces even when not quite tender. I would wrap it in some left over “ruti” (flour tortilla) from breakfast and chew away.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs of mutton (or lamb, or beef), cubed
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• 2 coriander powder
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3 green chillies, chopped t slit in halves
• 2 slim green chillies
• 1/2 inch ginger root, peeled and grated (or, 1 tsp of ginger powder)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (or, 2 tsp garlic powder)
• 4 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 1 cup hot water
• 2 tsp garam masala

Steps

1. Mix the meat with the next 12 ingredients and marinade for a couple of hours
2. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large pan
3. When hot, add the meat and marinade
4. Stir fry for 15-20 minutes (this is called koshano in Bangla)
5. Add the hot water and cook covered over medium heat for about an hour. Stir occasionally to prevent the spices from sticking to the bottom of the pan
6. When the water is about to dry up, add the garam masalla
7. Cook until the oil rises to the top

This recipe is great with parathas and rutis.