Mutton Hingi/ Mutton Cooked with Asafetida

In Indian cuisine asafetida takes a very important part, it is popularly known as hing. These mutton dishes have a very unique flavor of hing and so it is named as Mutton hingi. Surprisingly once common in Europe during Roman times, hing is relatively unknown to the modern western palette but we Indian love this root sap. Hing is used as digestive aid it is also a powerful antispasmodic useful in cough, asthma. During winter months use of hing in cooking also have many benefits. But Mutton Hingi is a high calorie dish so relish once in a while with family and friends in this festive winter months.

Preparation 20 minutes
Cooking time 45 to 60 minutes
Serves 3 to 4

Ingredients 
1 kg goat meat / lamb
2 big onion thick sliced
4 to 6 cloves garlic chopped
1 tsp chopped ginger chopped
1tbsp grated green papaya 
1big onion paste 
1tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tbsp red chili powder or to taste
11/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder
1tsp turmeric powder
2 cup tomato puree
1 tsp or to taste hing/ asafetida powder
1tsp whole jeera/ cumin
2 tej patta/ bay leaves 
1 whole red chilly broken into halves
3 to 4 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
1 cup warm mutton stock or water
1/8 tsp sugar
Salt to taste
Final tempering
1tsp ghee 
a small pinch of hing powder
½ tsp garam masala powder

Cooking Methods

Wash and clean the mutton chunks. Now marinate it with salt, ½ tsp turmeric powder, chopped ginger garlic, onion, grated green papaya and one bay leaf for 20 minutes. Now take a pressure cooker add 5 to 6 cup water let it come to boil then add marinated mutton and cook till the mutton pieces are tender. Now strain the stock and keep the mutton pieces aside. Take a heavy bottom pan and heat ghee in it add the whole jeera, tej patta, broken whole red chilli and hing. When you get the flavor of hing then add onion paste and ginger garlic paste. Sauté for few seconds then add tomato paste, red chili powder, and turmeric powder, sugar and salt,  stir constantly in high heat for 6 to 8 minutes till the masala is bit dry. Now add the boiled mutton and mix in such way so that the masala get well coated. Now continually stir the mutton in this masala. If it gets too dried up add little by little warm stock and goes on frying for about 15 to 20 minutes. Now add 1 ½ cup of warm stock. Let it boil then cover and cook for 8 to 10 minutes till the mutton chunks are well cooked. On another tadka pan (small tempering pan) warm a teaspoon of ghee add pinch of hing and garam masala. Add it to the mutton. Stir well. Cook for few seconds, when the gravy gets thick and glossy and put off the flame. Cover and give 15 minutes standing time before serving.
This recipe is bit hot than regular recipes so adjust the chili powder accordingly. If you don’t want the flavor of Hing (asafetida) too strong then skip the hing on final tempering and instead of 1tsp of hing in the main cooking use half teaspoon but as the main flavoring component and spice is hing so don’t lessen it too much or it will blur the taste. With your loving touch I am sure this dish will reach a new height of deliciousness. Try and let me know.

Happy Cooking!