Peehu Style Mutton Curry :)

Ingredients 

• Mutton: 500 gms evenly cut pieces cleaned and washed properly
• Onion: 5 medium sized roughly chopped
• Garlic: 1 whole medium sized
• Ginger: 1 pc medium sized
• Dry chillies: 2-3
• Bay leaf: 3
• Cinnamon stick, Cardamom & clove:: 4-5 of each pitted a bit
• Turmeric powder: 2 tsp
• Red chilli powder: 1 1/2 heap tsp
• Cumin Powder: 1 1/2 heap tsp
• Coriander powder: 1 heap tsp
• Meat Masala : 3 tsp
• Garam masala powder: 1 heap tsp
• Salt to taste
• Mustard oil: 1 tbsp. for marination & 4 tbsp. for the curry
• Fresh coriander leaf: add as much as you like once it is ready. I was out of stock that day :)

Method:

• In a bowl take the washed mutton pieces and marinate with 1 tbsp. mustard oil, salt & 1 tsp turmeric and keep aside , marinate overnight
• Grind the onion, garlic, ginger in a grinder . Don't make a runny paste.
• Heat a deep bottomed kadhai/pan. Put the marinated mutton in it and mix well and keep it on medium flame stirring in between until and unless all the water from the meat dries out and  the mutton gets dry & take a dark brown colour. Once done keep this in a bowl.
• In the same kadhai/pan, heat the mustard oil. Add dry chillies, bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and allow them to splutter. Now add the onion  & ginger-garlic mixture into this. Fry  them until they become brown in colour. Don't skip this step please. Start adding the dry masalas - turmeric, coriander, cumin, red chilli powder and mix all well. Fry them till they release oil. Now add the marinated mutton, combine all well keeping the flame from low-medium. Cover with lid and let it cook slowly. Keep checking & stirring in between so that the mutton doesn't get stick to the bottom of the pan. This will really take a lot of time so you need to have patience at this stage, so don't add water to fasten the cooking process. After some time add the meat masala and mix all well. This will take you about say 15-18 minutes. This slow cooking process will help all the masala to go inside the meat and also slowly gives that colour to it.
• Add about 1 & 1/2 cup of water, stir and cover with the lid. Bring it to boil, add the garam masala , salt, mix and keep on medium flame for about another 1 and half hour minutes or until cooked.
•  Now if you want to thicken your gravy more, then transfer it to the pan/kadhai and keep on flame, keep stirring in between till you get the desired thickness of the gravy. I like it thick as it goes prett well with chapatis