Tried This Traditional Nepali Slow-Cooked Meat Curry? Recipe Inside

The beautiful and profound mountain ranges of Nepal is home to multiple native communities such as the Maithili. This community, that inhabits the warmer regions between Nepal and India in a region known as Terai as well as known for their sugarcane, mustard and paddy cultivations. Due to being the residents of regions where temperatures are known to run high and the heat feel intense, various traditional dishes were created in order to ensure that the appetites were on course.

The katiya, a slow-cooked mutton curry flavoured boldly with spices and aromatics, is cooked in a clay pot sealed with a wheat flour dough over coal fires. Originating from the Maithili-speaking town of Katahariya, in Rautahat district, this warmly spiced mutton curry is also a staple dish amongst other communities like Rajbanshi, Bhojpuri and Tharu. A one-pot recipe, Similar in flavours to the robust champaran meat from Bihar, the dish is best enjoyed with beaten rice (poha), a bowl of yoghurt and rotis. While recreating this recipe at home, it is best to use low heat and keep a check on how the curry comes together after partially cooking it with just the lid on.

• 500 grams mutton
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 3 red chillies, broken
• 1 black cardamom pod
• 3 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 3 tablespoons coriander powder
• 2 green cardamom pods
• 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 2 teaspoons red chilli powder
• ½ tablespoon crushed black pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons mustard oil
• Salt, to taste

Method

• Wash and pat dry the mutton and cut into cubes. Add all the whole spices, ginger-garlic pastes, onion and season heavily with salt.
• Use your hands to mix everything together and let the spices permeate the meat. Add the mustard oil right at the end and let it marinate for 20-25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the vegetable oil to an earthen cooking pot and coat the inner surface entirely. Add the entire mutton mixture into the clay pot and place it on a low heat with a lid on.
• Use a long-handled spoon to mix in-between intervals and let the mixture cook equally for 30 minutes. Make a dough using wheat flour and water and shape it into a long tube to attach at the mouth of the pot.
• Seal it with a lid and let it cook for an hour and 15 minutes over a low heat. Let the pot rest once the cooking is complete for 10 minutes, before you use a knife to cut open the dough seal.
• Serve the mutton curry hot, with rice and yoghurt on the side.