Mutton dopyaza made with lots of onions, whole spices, yogurt and ginger-garlic paste. Unbelievably easy to make and super-tasty, this is an Indian stew that's simply tops!
Okay, this is one meat dish I’m seriously digging this winter. It’s my mother’s hand-me-down mutton stew recipe in an easy avatar. My mom’s dish tasted divine but also involved lots of cutting and chopping and frying. But me being me (read that LAZY), I wanted the same superb taste without having to do all the grunt work. So, I figured out a way and came up with this modified mutton stew recipe.
In my mom’s version of the dish, the onions (5 big ones, no less) had to be sliced fine and then fried golden brown, the ginger and garlic also had to be chopped fine and fried. Then the mutton was mixed with it and slow-cooked in a heavy-bottomed pan until it was tender and soft.
In my version, gone is all that slicing and dicing. I cut the onions thick (cut them as thick as you like … it doesn’t matter in the end, trust me) and don’t fry them at all. I use ginger-garlic paste so I don’t have to chop the stuff. And I’ve banished the heavy bottomed pan, I use my fast and trusty instant pot instead. (You can use a stove-top pressure cooker also). One step that I do make sure I follow is to brown the meat and onions on high heat after the cooker has opened. This is something I don’t want to skip if I want that lovely reddish brown, stewed look to the mutton. Who wants a pale, sickly looking meat broth with onion pieces floating in it?
The result is that what used to take hours to make is now ready in one without any compromise on taste! Pssst… my mother has also adopted my modus operandi of late but won’t admit it:)
Why this mutton dopyaza recipe works
1. It is an easy, hands-off recipe for the most part.
2. It is made using a few ingredients only.
3. It is a hearty and comforting meat stew that works like gangbusters with both naan and rice.
Ingredients in mutton dopiaza curry
- 650 grams or 1.4 ounce mutton cubes, bone-in - I prefer meat from the shoulder as it is the most tender. You can substitute mutton for lamb if mutton is not easily available for an equally flavorful lamb stew.
- 5 big onions, peeled and quartered.
- 3 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste - if chopping the ginger and garlic is easier for you, go ahead and do that.
- ¼ cups yogurt, whisked.
- Whole spices - bay leaf, dry red chillies, black and green cardamom, cloves, cumin and black pepper.
- ½ cup cooking oil.
Instant pot mutton stew recipe
Preparation (5 minutes)
1. Peel and quarter the onions.
2. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic - put equal quantities of both in a small blender along with a few tablespoons of water and blend to a get a smooth puree. Or chop the ginger and garlic finely.
Cooking (1 hour, 10 minutes)
1. On saute (normal) mode, add oil and whole spices in the instant pot and wait for them to sizzle and change color (1 minute).
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute (2 minutes).
3. Add the meat along with onions, yogurt and salt and cook (5 minutes).
4. Cancel the saute mode, close lid and select the pressure cooking (manual) mode with the vent in sealing position. Set the timer to 15 minutes. Wait 10 minutes before doing a quick pressure release (35 minutes including the time it takes to build pressure).
Note: do not add any water to the pot before securing the lid as all those onions will release a lot of water anyway. You will need to dry the liquid after you open the cooker.
5. Cancel the pressure cooking mode, open the cooker and set the instant pot on saute mode again. You will find that the mutton is cooked but it is pale pink in color with onion pieces floating around in lots of liquid. Cook this soupy mixture on medium heat, stirring every now and then until the liquid dries up, the onions caramelize and the meat acquires a reddish-brown look. At this point, the dopiaza is ready (20-25 minutes).
Serve hot with naan or rice.
How to make mutton dopyaza in a stove-top pressure cooker
Follow the exact same steps of preparing and cooking the stew. When you reach step 4, close the cooker and turn the heat to high. Wait for the pressure to build up and after 2 whistles, lower the heat and simmer for 12 minutes (as opposed to the 15 minutes in the instant pot). Switch off the heat and wait for the steam to release naturally. Open the cooker and follow the recipe again from step 5.
Other instant pot mutton or lamb recipes you might like
📖 Recipe
mutton stew
Ingredients
- 1.4 ounces or 650 grams mutton on the bone cut into small pieces
- 5 big onions quartered
- 3 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 green cardamom
- 2 black cardamom
- 4 cloves
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dry whole red chillies
- 8-10 peppercorns
- ½ cup cooking oil
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
Preparation (5 minutes)
- 1. Peel and quarter the onions.
- 2. Make a paste of the ginger and garlic - put equal quantities of both in a small blender along with a few tablespoons of water and blend to a get a smooth puree.
Cooking - instant pot
- On saute (normal) mode, add oil and whole spices in the instant pot and wait for them to sizzle and change color (1 minute).
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and saute (2 minutes).
- Add the meat along with onions, yogurt and salt and cook (5 minutes).
- Cancel the saute mode, close lid and select the pressure cooking (manual) mode with the vent in sealing position. Set the timer to 15 minutes. Wait 10 minutes before doing a quick pressure release (35 minutes including the time it takes to build pressure).
- Cancel the pressure cooking mode, open the cooker and set the instant pot on saute mode again. Cook this soupy mixture on medium heat, stirring every now and then until the liquid dries up, the onions caramelize and the meat acquires a reddish-brown look. At this point, the dopiaza is ready (20-25 minutes).
Cooking - Stove-top pressure cooker
- Heat the oil in a stove-top pressure cooker and put in the whole spices. Sauté for 1 minute.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the mutton, onion, yogurt and salt. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker, turn the heat on high and cook until one whistle.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove from the hot burner hob.
- Once all the steam has escaped and the pressure is released, open the lid and cook on high heat till the meat is browned and the water has evaporated. (around 20-25 minutes). Keep stirring the meat in between to avoid burning.
Notes
Nutrition
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Arshad says
Hearty and satisfying mutton stew! And the best part is that it's so easy to make. Loved it!
Sabika Zehra says
You are a life-saver! Your recipes help me replicate our ghar ka taste 😘😘😘
Saima says
Lol, Sabika! That's such a sweet thing to say!Thank you:)