What makes Achar gosht special?

What makes Achar gosht special?

Achar or Achari Gosht / Achari Mutton  is a wonderful, pretty simple yet absolutely ravishing recipe which hails from Awadhi cuisine of Uttar Pradesh . Achari Gosht got its name due to the presence of  Achari / pickled flavours  into it. It is cooked in Mustard oil with onion seeds, mustard seeds, fennel and fenugreek seeds, and all these are key ingredients for any kind of pickle.

Achar gosht

It was originally made using goat meat or mutton, however in UK, getting fresh goat meat is not that easy. I have used lamb as a good replacement here.

What makes this achari gosht special? It is not the meat but the ingredients used here. The spices is what makes this special and then the way how spices are cooked along with the meat.

pices like fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds are roasted and then ground to make the fresh spice mix. When cooked with meat in mustard oil, yields one of the best taste.

Method

• First of all clean and wash mutton pieces and leave it in colander for 10 minutes to drain out excess water.
• Now in a mixing bowl, take yogurt, ginger garlic Paste, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt  and lemon Juice. Mix all of them together and add mutton pieces to this marinade.
• Mix the lamb pieces well in marinade and leave it for at least 25-30 minutes.
• Now, in a pan dry roast red chillies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, onion seeds for 5-6 minutes.
• Cool slightly and then grind coarsely with the help of a pestle & mortar.
• Take a blender, and puree tomatoes, with green chillies and ginger.
• Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed pan until you see smoke coming out of it, cool it and then heat it again.
• Now, add chopped onions and sauté till brown. After this, add coarsely ground masala powder and saute it for one minute.
• Now add marinated mutton, cook on high heat till mutton pieces are well browned.
• At this stage, add tomato puree and cook this until it starts leaving oil . Then add two cups of water and cover the pan with lid.
• Lower down the flame to medium heat and cook till the mutton is properly cooked while stirring and checking the tenderness  occasionally.
• Once its cooked properly, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

If you like Lamb /Mutton, you may like to try Chettinad Lamb Curry, Handi Gosht, Lamb Keema, Lamb Biryani, or the juicy lamb chops.

Pro Tips for making achari gosht

• I always recommend using fresh meat. Look for tender juicy mutton / lamb pieces.
• This curry will taste better after 6 hours or even next day. Lamb pieces by then absorb the spices properly giving exceptional taste.
• You can marinade the mutton for longer depending upon how much time you have. The longer its left for marination, less time it will take to cook and having more flavours till deep inside.
• Always heat the mustard oil till its smoking point in the first instance otherwise the lamb will smell more of mustard oil after cooking, if not heated properly.
• You can always adjust the level of spice according to your taste. But this recipe is more authentic with right level of spices.
• Always dry roast the spices on low heat otherwise they will be burnt.
• You can use same recipe for Achari Paneer or Achari Chicken, replacing lamb with paneer or chicken respectively.

Storage

You can freeze this lamb curry and keep it frozen for future use. Remember to let the curry get to room temperature before freezing. Once taken out from freezer, let the curry thaw properly, heat in a pan or microwave properly

You can also refrigerate it in an air tight box for couple of days.

INSTRUCTIONS

First of all clean and wash mutton pieces and leave it in colander for 10 minutes to drain out excess water. What makes Achar gosht special?

Now in a mixing bowl, take all the ingredients listed under marination category, mix all of them together and add mutton pieces to this marinade.

Mix the lamb pieces well in marinade and leave it for at least 25-30 minutes.

Now, in a pan dry roast Red chillies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, onion seeds for 5-6 minutes.

Cool slightly and then grind coarsely with the help of a pestle & mortar.

Take a blender, and puree tomatoes, with green chillies and ginger.▢

Heat mustard oil in a thick-bottomed pan until you see smoke coming out of it, cool it and then heat it again.

▢Now, add chopped onions and sauté till brown. After this, add coarsely ground masala powder and saute it for one minute.

Now add marinated mutton, cook on high heat till mutton pieces are well browned.

At this stage, add tomato puree and cook this until it starts leaving oil . Then add two cups of water and cover the pan with lid.

Lower down the flame to medium heat and cook till the mutton is properly cooked while stirring and checking the tenderness  occasionally.

Once its cooked properly, switch off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Enjoy it with Rumali Roti / Naan / Rice of your choice.

NOTES

• I can marinade the mutton for longer depending upon how much time you have. The longer its left for marination, less time it will take to cook and having more flavours till deep inside.
• Always heat the mustard oil till its smoking point in the first instance otherwise the lamb will smell more of mustard oil after cooking, if not heated properly.
• Can i always adjust the level of spice according to your taste. But this recipe is more authentic with right level of spices.
• Always dry roast the spices on low heat otherwise they will be burnt.
• You can use same recipe for Achari Paneer or Achari Chicken, replacing lamb with paneer or chicken respectively.  What makes Achar gosht special?