Hyderabadi Mutton Dalcha

DALCHA is a gravy dish which is made with dal and tamarind. There are a lot of different versions of dalcha.

Today, I have made the famous Hyderabad Mutton Dalcha. 

It is made with channal dal /kadala paruppu (chickpea), drumstick and bottlegourd.Dalcha do not taste good with boneless mutton so try buying mutton chaap 

Hyderabadi usually serve their dalcha with biriyani and raita,  but it makes a good side dish for dosai, chappati and simple rice pulao too.

Ingredients:

For mutton Curry:

 mutton - 250 grams
onions - 2 medium-sized
green chillies - 2
shahi jeera/caraway seeds - ⅛ tsp
mint - 1 spring
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
coriander powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
oil - 3 tbsp
cloves - 3
cardamoms - 2
cinnamon - 1/2 inch

For Dalcha:
chanadal/split bengal gram - 1/2 cup
tamarind - lemon-sized
shallots - 8 or 10
green chillies - 2
drumstick - 1
bottlegourd - 8 big pieces
tomato - 1
carrot - 1
mint leaves - 1 sprig
coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
red chilli powder - 1 tsp
salt - to taste
coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
shahi jeera - ⅛ tsp
fennel seeds/sounf - ⅛ tsp
oil - 3 tbsp
water - 500 ml

Method:

preparing tamarind juice:

1. Take a lemon sized tamarind and soak un a water for 15 minutes .
2. Next take a bowl with strainer placed over it .
3. Squeeze the tamarind  to extract the juice and pour into strainer .

4. Repeat the process till you make 500ml of tamarind juice .

cooking channa dal 

Take 1/2 cup of channa dal and wash for 2 -3 times .

put channa dal in a pressure cooker , add water thrice  the quantity of channa dal
pressure cook u to 5 to 6 whistles. 

do not open the lid until the pressure is reduces make dal into fine paste .
pour tamarind juice into  the dal paste, and mix well and keep  aside 

preparing mutton curry
Heat a pressure pan, add oil , then  add whole garam masala ( cinnamon, cardamom . cloves).Add chopped onions, green chilies and fry until soft. .
Add  mutton, mix well and cook for 5 mins . add ginger garlic paste and fry for 2 mins
Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, mix well and cook for 5 mins . after 5 mins , add 2 cup of water .next add a sprig of mint leaves, shahi jeera, just it a mix , cover  the pressure pan with lid and cook up to 5 or 6 whistles .wait until all the pressure  is gone . and keep aside .

Cooking dalcha

Heat u the vessel , add oil
when the oil hot, add bottlegourd pieces,shallots,drumsticks, green chilies,carrots,salt and mix well. cook until soft  tender .
next add  turmeric powder, red chilli powder, mix well add chopped tomato and cook until soft.
pour dal and tamarind juice mixture .
add  sprig of mint leave , shahi jeera , fennel seeds, mix it u bring to a boil.
when it starts to boil,add mutton curry , mix for once and cook till the oil oozes out .
add chopped coriander leaves and turn off the heat.

Recipes adapted from :foodvedam

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