Tender Goat Meat along with Veggies, simmered in a Mild n Creamy Coconut Milk based gravy, this Kerala Style Mutton Stew (Ishtu) makes a Lip-Smacking Side Dish with Appam that will blow you away…!
Mutton stew is quite famous among the Christian families of Kerala, and is served for festivals like Christmas, Easter, and special occasions like weddings. Creamy and light on masala, this dish stands out for its unique & versatile flavors which you would not be expecting in Indian style mutton curry dishes.
The uniqueness of the recipe unlike other Indian dishes is, it does not use garam masala or chilly powder. Green chilies and freshly crushed peppercorns play a crucial role, giving the adequate spice (heat) and uplifting the flavors of the dish.
The recipe is quite similar to that of Kerala style Chicken Stew, with the only difference being its cooking time as mutton takes longer to cook. Tender goat meat with loads of whole hearted veggies, in a lightly spiced and absolutely creamy coconut milk gravy, a curry which is every Malayalee’s pride!
Straight from my Amma’s cookbook, this recipe is a family favorite and we love to savor it with Appam (rice hoppers). It also makes a great side dish with Idiyappam, Bread, Naan or Malabar Paratha.
Enjoy, Happy Cooking…!
Don’t forget to check out my Fish Molly recipe, it is a variation of mutton stew with fish as the hero of the dish.
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Tender Goat Meat along with Veggies, simmered in a Mild n Creamy Coconut Milk based gravy, this Kerala Style Mutton Stew (Ishtu) makes a Lip-Smacking Side Dish with Appam that will blow you away…!
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamom pods
- 3-4 black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 star anise
- ½ kg {1.2 lb} mutton (pref. soup cut)
- 1 medium sized onion (sliced)
- ½ inch sized ginger (crushed)
- 3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
- 3-4 green chilies (slit)
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 1 cup water
- 1 carrot (cubed)
- 10-12 beans (sliced)
- 1 potato (cubed)
- ⅓ cup frozen green peas
- 1 cup thin coconut milk
- ½ tsp fennel powder
- ½ cup thick coconut milk
- 1 tsp crushed peppercorns
- Oil (as required)
- Salt (as required)
- 1 tbsp ghee/butter
- 3-4 pearl onions (sliced)
- 1 sprigs of curry leaves
- 5-6 cashews
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Prepare mutton: Clean and cut mutton into medium size pieces. For this dish I would prefer using mutton bone-in with fat on it. Equal portions of shoulder cut and soup cut would be ideal.
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Cook mutton: In a pressure cooker, heat some oil and add the spices; cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn, bay leaf, and star anise. Sauté until fragrant. Add 1 sprig of curry leaves, crushed ginger, garlic and slit green chilies. Once the raw smell of ginger and garlic subsides, add sliced onions along with a pinch of salt, sauté until translucent.
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Follow by adding turmeric powder, coriander powder, pepper powder, sauté and mix well.
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Add mutton pieces along with water and salt, close the lid and cook for 4 whistles. Turn off the flame and allow the cooker to sit until all the pressure is released. Open the lid and you may continue the rest of the cooking either in the pressure cooker itself or after transferring it to a separate pan as per your convenience.
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Cook the veggies: Add potato, carrot and beans, along with thin coconut milk to the cooked mutton. Close the lid and allow it to cook on a low flame. Once the stew starts boiling, add the frozen green peas and fennel powder.
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As the dish starts boiling again, check for the veggies to be cooked perfectly and once done, reduce the flame to a low and add the thick coconut milk. Do not allow the stew to boil after this stage.
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Top the stew with freshly crushed peppercorns and check for salt. Swirl the pan once and cook for another 2 minutes on a low flame. Turn off the flame.
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Prepare the tempering: Heat ghee/butter in a separate pan, sauté pearl onions until they are lightly brown, then add cashews and curry leaves and sauté. Add this tempering to the prepared mutton stew, mix well. Close the lid and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
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Serve hot with Appam, idiyappam, bread, naan or any roti.
1. Use of coconut oil is ideal for all Kerala recipes.
2. Adjust the quantity of green chilies and pepper you use for this recipe according to your choice of spice level.
This is fabulous Akhila…it is such a mouthwatering recipe…and mutton is one of favorite. I will trying to making this from your recipe…Thanks for sharing…..!
Thank You Macy.. I really hope you love this!!
I am looking at that spread and absolutely craving for it. I love appam more than dosa but sadly I never learnt to make it at home. That stew looks really good Akhila.
Thank You Kankana 🙂
I love the pictures, especially the first one! I also love anything with coconut milk gravy <3
Wish I could make this someday for you 🙂 Thank You Makos, its really delicious!
I have tried this recipe and it came out really well…. This is the first time I tried cooking mutton. Stew was so yummy 😋 😋, it was a huge hit among our friends. Thanks for this wonderful recipe and for all the tips😁😁
So glad you still loved this Ammu 🙂 Thank You so much for this wonderful comment!!!
Hi. I didn’t know this was a Christian dish. We used to have chicken stew with appam for easter and of course beef fry, mathi, fish molie, etc but mutton stew I’ve never heard of. That said, when I was in Madras, we used to go to the little restaurants run by Kerala Muslims and have mutton korma with kerala parotta. That’s something I’ve been trying to get again but no luck. Your stew looks a lot like the korma, same color, creamy, perhaps the only difference is the korma didn’t have any veggies and was thicker. Maybe they used thick coconut milk and ground cashew paste to make it thicker? Anyway, your pics as usual look so yummy.
Oops, I posted earlier but forgot to rate it. I’d be interested to know the difference between this and the muslim mutton korma/kurma. While both look the same in terms of color and creaminess, the latter is thicker and lacks the vegetables. I’m still trying to replicate it.
Thank You Ron for stopping by and sharing your experience. Yes, this is basically a Chritsian style stew with a lot of similarities to Chicken Stew which we usually makes with Appam.
I personally had no idea about the muslim mutton korma, so I asked a friend of mine and she replied that it’s their nombuthora (Ramdan feast) speacial. Like you said, there won’t be any other vegetables added except for potato (some people use it). For creaminess, grated coconut paste is used along with corainder powder. Chili powder and turmeric powder are not used, and the dish goes well with ghee rice and porotta.
We tried out this recipe and it turned out amazing!!! The mutton cooked to perfection with “fall off the bone” consistency. And yes, we did try it with “El Appam” which made it even more extraordinaire!!!
Yaay..so glad you made it!Thank you so much Josna for trying out my recipe 🙂