West Indian curried mutton
Mutton is just lamb which is two years old or more so requires slow cooking to become tender. It has a slightly stronger flavour than lamb which stands up well to West Indian spices like cinnamon, cloves and allspice in this easy curry.
- 2kg trimmed leg of muttoncut into roughly 5cm pieces
- 6 fat cloves garlicfinely sliced
- 6 fresh bay leaves
- 2 small cinnamon sticks
- 10 black peppercorns
- 2 tsp mild curry powder
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 1 level tsp ground cloves
- ½ fresh nutmegfinely grated
- 5 tbsp malt vinegar
- 1 scotch bonnet chilli(if you like it hot)
- 1-2 long red chilliesfinely chopped
- roughly 6 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 large onionssliced
- 2 × 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 1 heaped tbsp flaked sea salt
- 2 heaped tbsp dark muscovado sugar
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal528
- fat28.9g
- saturates10.9g
- carbs14.9g
- fibre2.2g
- protein53g
- salt2.55g
Method
step 1
Put the mutton in a large bowl and add the garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, peppercorns, curry powder, allspice, cloves and grated nutmeg. Rub the spices into the pieces of meat. Sprinkle over 3 tbsp vinegar and toss through the meat. To avoid potential agony, add and stir in the chilli using a spoon. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 3 hours (or up to 12 hours if you can spare the time).
step 2
Heat the oven to 170c/fan 150c/gas 3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large flameproof casserole and fry the mutton with the garlic and spices in batches until browned on all sides, adding more oil when necessary. Transfer the meat to a plate and put aside. Add a little more oil to the casserole and cook the onions until softened and golden. Deglaze the pan with the remaining vinegar, stirring to lift the sediment from the bottom of the pan.
step 3
Return the meat and stir into the onions. add the tomatoes, sea salt, sugar and 150ml water. Bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-2½ hours until the meat is very tender. You can serve the curry with rice, fried with softened onion and half a rinsed and drained tin of kidney beans.