Rajasthan’s Laal Maas is one of India’s spiciest mutton recipes. Nowadays, the dish is usually prepared with Mutton (goat meat), Mathania chilies & yogurt. The name is symbolic of the meat used (Red meat {Laal = Red in Hindi}) as well as the final color of the preparation.
Origins of Laal Maas
Think Non-veg food in Rajasthan, the first image likely to come to mind is a portion of beautiful fiery red Laal Maas served on your table. The origins of Laal Maas is a centuries-old tale. It started its path with the name Junglee Maas – preferred by huntsmen & travelers in the jungles of Rajasthan probably more than 7 to 8 centuries ago. At that point, the choice of meat was either wild boar or deer as the dish was more a survival dish in the woods.
Just as how dogs descended from wolves, Laal Maas – dish came from Junglee Maas. Junglee Maas is the more rugged and earthy version of this recipe. As it gained popularity and became a household dish of the royal families, the choice of meat skewed mostly towards Mutton / Goat meat. Both Junglee Maas and Kachar Maas are now considered cousins of Laal Maas – if we are to draw a family tree.
Creative liberties we have taken to prepare this dish
Since it’s a favorite among royals – all the ingredients are also rich in flavor and instead of oil, we used Ghee (clarified butter) here, which works beautifully with the native fat of the meat to bring out an aromatic dish. *Apart from Mathania chilies, we used a little bit of Kashmiri Red Chilies to balance out the heat from the chilies without compromising the color of the recipe. Please see the recipe card below for all ingredients and methods we suggest. You can alternatively watch our video recipe on YouTube as well.
Laal Maas Recipe
Laal Maas recipe
Ingredients
- 500 gram Mutton (Bhed ki Maas)
- 2 Mathania chilies (Mathania mirch)
- 4 Kashmiri Red Chilies (Kashmiri Laal mirch)
- 3 Dried Red Chilies (Sukhi Laal mirch)
- 1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns (Sabut Kali Mirch)
- 6 Cloves (Long)
- 1 Black Cardamom (Moti Elaichi)
- 6 Green Cardamom (Choti Elaichi)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds (Sabut Dhania)
- 1 Bay leaves (Tez patta)
- 2 medium bark Cinnamon (Dalchini)
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric powder (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhania powder)
- 20 cloves Garlic (Lehsun)
- 2 inch Ginger (Adrak)
- 3 medium Onions (Pyaz)
- ½ cup Curd (Dahi)
- ½ cup Ghee (clarified butter)
- Salt – as per taste (Namak)
Instructions
Precook
- Take a bowl and soak the 3 types of Chilies in Luke warm water (Mathania, Kashmiri & dried) for about an hour
- Grate Ginger to take out about 2 tablespoons. Crush The Black Cardamom in a mortar & Pestle & separately crush 10 cloves of Garlic & keep aside for later
- In a grinder jar, add 10 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 teaspoon Black Peppercorns, 5 Cloves, 3 Green Cardamoms, 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds, 1 teaspoon Coriander seeds, 1 medium stick of Cinnamon & grind down to a coarse mixture
- In a separate grinder jar, add the soaked chilies (Mathania, Kashmiri & dried) and add 1 cup water (we used the same water we used for soaking). Grind down to a paste. Once the paste is done, add the spice mixture we prepared in the last step to mix with the Chili paste in the grinder jar and give it a spin to mix together.
- Put the washed Mutton pieces in a bowl/plate, add salt as per taste, 1 teaspoon Turmeric paste, ½ cup curd, the Chili-spice mixture we had prepared earlier. Marinate Mutton with all the ingredients, cover the bowl/plate with a cling wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for 1 hour
Finale
- Place a kadai (wok) & turn on the gas. Add ½ cup Ghee (clarified Butter) & let it heat up. Once the ghee heats up, add 1 Bay leaf, 1 medium stick of Cinnamon, 3 Green Cardamom, 1 Black Cardamom, 10 crushed Garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon grated Ginger & give it a stir
- Add 3 medium sliced Onions, salt as per taste, 2 teaspoon Coriander powder, mix thoroughly & cover with a lid to cook for 7 minutes
- Meanwhile take out the marinated mutton from the refrigerator. After 7 minutes, if the Onions appear to have softened, add the marinated Mutton & mix together. Cover with a lid & cook for 60 minutes (Check every 15 minutes to give it a stir & flip the mutton pieces).
- After 60 minutes Laal Maas should be ready
Video
Notes
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I like the liberties you have taken to change the recipe here and there to make it more delicious on the taste buds. Also Thank you for sharing the story of laal mass with us. This recipe looks really very tasty and mouth-watering. I will surely make this recipe at home and also share this post with my family and friends. I will surely add this recipe to my repertoire of recipes. It was a really very interesting dish you have shared with us.
Thanks for the compliments. We look forward to hearing from you about how you enjoyed cooking Laal Maas.
Fantastic wiht steps photos, I love it, and the recipe looks very good i’ll try at home. tk
Thanks Tina
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Nice… Just one question. Can we use other red meats for this recipe?
Yes. The original recipe in old days used to be made from deer meat or wild boar meat. So yes, it should work. Let us know how it goes.
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