Khaana | भारत के स्वाद
Anglo-Indian

Railway Mutton Curry

the mild dining-car mutton curry, loosened with coconut milk and sharpened with tamarind

gluten freenut freehealthier
Prep20 min
Cook75 min
Total95 min
Serves4
Difficultymoderate

Contains: dairy

Ingredients

Quantities for 4.

  • 800g bone-in, cut into 4cm pieces Muttonshoulder and neck give the best gravy
  • 3 medium, peeled and halved Potato
  • 3 large, finely sliced Onion
  • 1 tbsp paste Ginger
  • 1 tbsp paste Garlic
  • 2 medium, chopped Tomato
  • 2 tbsp Coriander Powder
  • 1.5 tsp Chilli Powderthe railway version is deliberately mild
  • 1 tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp Cumin Powder
  • 1 tsp, coarsely crushed Black Pepperadded late, for the catch at the back of the throat
  • 2 Bay Leafoptional
  • 1 piece, 5cm Cinnamonoptional
  • 4 Clovesoptional
  • 1 tbsp pulp, soaked in 100ml warm water Tamarind
  • 200ml, thick Coconut Milk
  • 3 tbsp Ghee
  • 12 Curry Leavesoptional
  • 500ml Water
  • to taste Salt

Equipment

stovetop, pressure cooker

Before you start

  • Bring the mutton to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking; straight from the fridge it seizes and takes longer to tenderise.
  • Soak the tamarind in warm water while you slice the onions, then squeeze and strain out the fibres.
  • This curry was cooked to be reheated on a moving train, so make it a few hours ahead if you can.

Method

  1. Heat the ghee in a pressure cooker and drop in the bay leaf, cinnamon and cloves. They should fizz and smell sweet within 30 seconds.
  2. Add the sliced onion with a pinch of salt and cook over medium heat until deep gold and collapsed, 12 to 14 minutes.This is the body of the gravy. Pale onion means a thin, watery curry.
  3. Stir in the ginger and garlic pastes and fry 2 minutes, until the raw edge is gone.
  4. Add the coriander, chilli, turmeric and cumin powders with 3 tbsp water and fry 2 minutes.The splash of water stops ground spice catching on the base and turning bitter.
  5. Add the tomato and cook until it breaks down and ghee glosses the edge of the pan, 6 to 8 minutes.
  6. Turn the heat high, add the mutton and brown it in the masala for 8 minutes, stirring so every piece is coated and the surface has sealed.Do not add salt to the meat yet; salt draws out water and the pieces stew rather than brown.
  7. Pour in the water, salt to taste, close the cooker and cook 20 minutes at full pressure. Let the pressure fall on its own.
  8. Open, add the potato halves and simmer uncovered 12 to 15 minutes until a knife slides through them without resistance.
  9. Stir in the strained tamarind water, the coconut milk and the crushed black pepper. Simmer gently 6 to 8 minutes.Keep it at a bare tremble once the coconut milk is in, or it will split into oily threads.
  10. Fry the curry leaves in a teaspoon of ghee until they crackle and pour them over the curry. Rest 10 minutes before serving with bread or yellow rice.

Storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and genuinely improves overnight. Reheat over low heat with a splash of water; do not boil hard or the coconut milk separates.

Recipe v1.0.0, last updated 2026-07-31. Curated for Khaana and kept under version control.