Gongura Mamsam

Ingredients

• 800 g bone-in mutton or goat, cut into pieces
• 300 g gongura (sorrel) leaves, picked from the stems
• 3 onions, sliced
• 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
• 4 green chillies, slit
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp oil
• 240 ml water
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 4 dried red chillies
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 sprigs curry leaves

Before you cook

• Pick the gongura leaves off their stems, wash them well and drain.
• Slice the onions and slit the green chillies.

Steps

1. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a pressure cooker and fry two of the sliced onions for six minutes, until golden.
2. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and fry for two minutes.
3. Add the mutton and sear it over high heat for five minutes, until the surfaces brown.
4. Stir in the turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder and salt.
5. Pour in 240 ml of water, close the cooker and cook for six whistles, then let the pressure drop on its own.
6. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a wide pan and add the gongura leaves with a pinch of salt.
7. Cook the leaves for six minutes, pressing them down, until they collapse into a dark pulpy mass and lose their bright green colour.
8. Mash the cooked gongura roughly with the back of a spoon and set it aside.
9. Add the last sliced onion to the same pan and fry for five minutes, until soft.
10. Tip in the cooked mutton with its stock and boil for eight minutes, until the liquid thickens around the meat.
11. Fold in the mashed gongura and the garam masala.
12. Simmer for ten minutes, stirring often, until the curry turns dark and the oil rises to the top.
13. Heat the last tablespoon of oil in a small pan and crackle the mustard seeds, cumin, dried chillies, crushed garlic and curry leaves.
14. Pour this tempering over the curry, stir once and serve with hot rice and a spoon of ghee.