Recipe: Pepper Masala Mutton Chops

Should you be planning on making your mom something special on the weekend, we have a recipe for you.

Model and photographer Prasanna Pandarinathan's late mother Nirmala Pandarinathan's Pepper Masala Mutton Chop is an impressive dish to cook for Mother's Day.

A family pleaser, it is not very complicated, tastes wonderful and pairs nicely with steamed rice and Chicken Curry or Pamban Fish Curry for an evening dinner.

Pepper Masala Mutton Chops

"I can't remember a single time when mutton chops in pepper masala came out tasting less than perfect," says Prasanna.

"Dad and my nephew Anush are testimony to that, since we wouldn't hear a peep from people until every last morsel on their plates had been devoured."

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• 1 kg mutton chops
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp garam masala
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 cup coconut milk
• ½ tsp haldi or turmeric powder
• 2 tbsp black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp chilly powder
• 1 tbsp dhania or coriander powder
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• Few curry leaves
• Few green dhania or coriander or cilantro leaves
• Salt to taste
• A few cherry tomatoes, for serving

Method

• Wash the mutton and rub a little of the pepper powder, chilly powder, turmeric powder, some of the ginger-garlic paste and a little salt into it and set aside for 30 minutes.
  Pressure cook the mutton for 3 whistles with 1 cup of water.
• Heat the oil and fry the onions for a few minutes and then add the remaining ginger-garlic paste.
  Saute.
  Add the chopped tomatoes, chilly powder, coriander powder and garam masala.
  Cook for 5 minutes, add the coconut milk and the chops.
  Cook till tender and when the masala dries up add the remaining pepper powder and the curry leaves.
  Serve hot with a few cherry tomatoes on the side and steamed rice or rotis or iddiappams.

Note: You might consider using ghee instead of oil for a more special flavour.

Pepper Masala Mutton Chops pairs well with Divya Nair's Kerala Potato Ishtu.

Excerpted from Ammi by Prasanna Pandarinathan with kind permission from the publishers Rupa Publications India.

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