Bengali goat curry with fried puffed bread (kosha mangsho with luchi)

The secret to this curry is toasting and grinding the spices, essentially making garam masala from scratch with bay leaves, cinnamon, green and black cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves and chillies. It's quick and makes all the difference.

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  1 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Goat marinade

• 750 g goat (shoulder or saddle), on the bone, cut into 4 cm pieces (see Note)
• 125 ml (½ cup) natural yoghurt
• 2 tbsp ginger paste
• 2 tbsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp dried red chilli powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp roasted ground cumin
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 2 tbsp mustard oil (see Note) 

Curry

• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3 cm piece cinnamon stick
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 2-3 green cardamom pods
• 8-10 black peppercorns
• 4 cloves
• 4 dried red chillies
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 250 ml (1 cup) mustard oil
• 4 medium Spanish onions, finely chopped
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 large tomato, finely chopped
• 4-5 long green chillies
• ¼ cup chopped coriander, for garnish 

Tomato chutney

• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• 1½ tsp panch phoron (Bengali five spice blend) (see Note)
• 1½ tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 3-4 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 110 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 60 ml (¼ cup) water (optional)
• 1 tbsp dried chilli flakes, to taste 

Mixed salad (kachumber)

• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes, finely chopped
• 1 large cucumber, finely chopped
• 4-5 red radishes, finely chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• ¼ cup (heaped) coriander leaves, thinly sliced
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice

 

• Bengali fried puffed bread (luchi), to serve

Marinating time: 30 minutes

Resting time: 30 minutes

Instructions

For the goat marinade, combine all of the ingredients, tossing to coat the goat well and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the curry, in a small frying pan over medium heat, toast the bay leaves, cinnamon, green and black cardamoms, peppercorns, cloves and chillies for about 1 minute or until aromatic but be careful not to burn them. Transfer to a spice grinder and grind to a fine powder. Set aside.

Sprinkle the turmeric and salt over the potato and toss to coat evenly. Heat 60-80 ml of the mustard oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook the potato till it turns golden. Remove and transfer to a pressure cooker.

Heat the remaining oil in the same saucepan, add the onion, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon sugar and cook until the onion has softened.

Add the tomato and cook until the oil rises to the top.

Add the goat pieces, reserving the marinade. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until browned.

Add the green chillies, ground spice powder and the reserved marinade and season with salt. Cook for about 10 minutes.

Transfer the goat curry to the pressure cooker and add water (if necessary) so that there is at least 2 cm liquid at the base. Seal the pressure cooker according to the manufacturer’s instructions and cook on high pressure for 45 minutes or until the goat is tender.

When ready, release the steam and unseal the pressure cooker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with accompaniments.

For the tomato chutney, heat the oil in small frying pan over until almost smoking, add the panch phoron and when the seeds begin to crackle, add the ginger and cook for about 1 minute but do not allow it to burn.

Add the tomato and cook until beginning to break down.

Add the salt, sugar and water and simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens.

Stir in the dried chilli flakes, remove from the heat and allow to cool.

For the mixed salad, combine the ingredients in a bowl and adjust the seasonings to suit your tastes.

Cook’s notes

• You can replace the goat with lamb or mutton, if you prefer.

• Mustard oil is available from health food stores or Indian grocers.

• Panch phoron (Bengali five spice blend) is available from Indian grocers.

Photography, styling and food preparation by China Squirrel. 

This recipe is from The Chefs' Line - a brand new series airing weeknights at 6pm on SBS. Can the passion of a home cook beat the skills of a professional chef? Missed all the action? Catch-up online and get all the recipes #TheChefsLine.

This recipe has been edited by SBS Food and may differ slightly from the series.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.