Bihari mutton curry (Champaran mutton)

The cuisine of Bihar is as yet unknown to me. I keep hearing about it from friends, and I am anxious to eat and learn about these dishes. This is a classic dish I've heard rave reviews about, so I began seeking out a recipe for it.

Bihari mutton curry is also called Champaran curry or Ahuna mutton. It hails from Motihari, Champaran district. The dish highlights village-style cooking, traditionally made in earthen pots called "ahuna," which gives it its alternative name. The meat was slow-cooked with the earthen pot sealed with dough, so no moisture or flavour escaped. This technique, called "dum cooking," hails from Mughal heritage. About 200-300 years ago, Bhojpuri labourers relied on slow cooking; they would set up these pots, attend to farm work, and at the end of the day return to a full and hearty meal. The addition of whole spices and no pastes highlights the rustic nature of the dish.

This is a robust curry. The spices are strong, the chillies make it both a fiery red and set your palate on fire. I have visited these friends before and had this curry at their home. I asked Neehara if she would allow me into her kitchen to learn this recipe from her cook.

Muntun was shy at first, but then he did his magic. I asked him to make the curry the way he makes it at home, not the tapered-down version, and he was immediately more enthusiastic. We cooked slowly, Muntun explaining the steps to me in sequence. I asked if we could not pressure-cook the curry for speed, but slow-braise it on the stove. I have always believed that the flavours are much better.

The curry was superb, and Muntun was also happy. The bold curry, paired with the soft meat, was a feast over rice. I wanted nothing else to distract me from the spice. The slow-cooking method highlighted the smokiness of the curry, the meat fork-tenderness and the spices had time to come together into a splash of flavour. It is spicy for sure, but you can tone down the chillies to your palate.

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Ingredients:

For the Bihari garam masala:

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

5-6 green cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

4 cloves

3-inch cinnamon stick

For the spice paste:

1/2 cup mustard oil

8 onions, thinly sliced

6-8 dried red chillies, or to taste

2 bay leaves

2-inch cinnamon stick

6 green cardamom pods

15 black peppercorns

2 black cardamom pods

4 cloves

2 heads of garlic, kept whole in the skin

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

For the mutton:

2 lb bone-in mutton

1 1/2 tablespoons ginger paste

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic paste

1 tablespoon Kashmiri chilli powder

1/2-1 teaspoon spicy chilli powder

1 tablespoon ground coriander seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 teaspoons Bihari garam masala

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 large tomatoes, pureed

Salt, to taste

3 cups water

Start by making the Bihari garam masala. Dry-roast all the spices individually in a dry frying pan until aromatic and slightly darker in colour. Cool completely. Grind to a fine powder in a spice mill. Store in a dry bottle for up to a month.

Heat the mustard oil until it smokes. Cook for an additional 2 minutes on high heat. Add the onions, dried chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, green cardamom, black peppercorns, black cardamom, cloves, cumin, and whole garlic in skin, and fry on medium heat until very dark brown and well caramelised. This step takes at least 15 minutes.

Add the mutton and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, turning the ingredients in the pot often. You want the meat to seal and the spices to coat the meat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes until the ginger no longer smells raw.

Add the spices, Kashmiri chilli, spicy chilli, coriander, turmeric, Bihari garma masala, and nutmeg and toss well, taking care not to burn the spices. Add the pureed tomatoes and salt, and cook for 15 minutes until the tomatoes have dried out and the oil begins to pool in small bubbles. The curry should be a very dark maroon colour.

Add the water and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 90 minutes, until the meat is very soft and can be easily shredded with your fingers. Alternatively, cook the dish in a pressure cooker for 6 whistles. I strongly prefer the stovetop method for a better flavour. When the dish is ready, taste for salt and adjust as needed.

Serve hot with rice or bread of your choice.