The market · Meat · South Asia, The Middle East, Northern and Central Europe

Mutton

Meat from sheep over two years old — darker, deeper and more gamey than lamb, and the traditional meat of rogan josh, Kashmiri yakhni and many north Indian and Persian dishes.

gamey · deep · fatty

What to do with it

Rosa Ibarra's Clarified milk punch, mezcal and pineappleMutton would soften its edgeIbu Sari's Sambal ijoMutton would soften its edgeKenji Hara's Milk punch, with hojichaMutton would soften its edge
Classics built on it
KashmiriRogan joshMutton on the bone, browned in hot fat and simmered with yoghurt, fennel, dried ginger and Kashmiri chilli into a deep red gravy that's fragrant more than fiery.No one here has made it yetKashmiriKashmiri yakhniMutton simmered in a pale, gently sour gravy of yoghurt scented with fennel, dried ginger and cardamom — no chilli, no turmeric.No one here has made it yetKashmiriGushtabaLarge, soft balls of mutton pounded smooth with fat, simmered in a spiced yoghurt gravy — traditionally the last meat course of the wazwan.No one here has made it yetRajasthaniLaal maasMutton cooked in ghee and yoghurt with a great many dried red chillies, garlic and whole spice — fiery, deep red and often smoky.No one here has made it yetRajasthaniMohan maasMutton cooked slowly in milk and cream with cardamom and ground cashews — the mild, rich dish of Rajasthan's royal kitchens.No one here has made it yet

Goes with

yoghurtfennel seedcumin seedonion

Knowing it

Where to buy
Halal butchers and specialist farms. Goat is what Indian recipes often mean by mutton.
Worth knowing
It needs long, slow cooking. Brown it hard first, and give it time.

Kitchens that keep it in

Beijing and the northern plain, northern ChinaBeijingA wheat-and-mutton kitchen of the dry north, salty and savoury with fermented bean pastes, where palace banquets and street snacks grew up side by side.8 classicsKashmir and Jammu — the Kashmir Valley and the hills below it, in India's far northKashmiriLamb, saffron and fennel in a high valley ringed by mountains: meat slow-cooked in yoghurt or red with Kashmiri chilli, greens from the lake, and kahwa against the cold.9 classics

More meat

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