When I finish a long week of work, self doubt, frustration of dealing with people and finally when the weekend comes, I feel cooking something new in the kitchen gives me that much needed happiness and kick, something I truly love and put my heart into. Standing by the hot stove, hearing the spices sizzle, getting that perfect tadka aroma, searing the beautiful portion of meat, watching it transform into that beautiful delicious gravy which tantalizes your tastebuds, I think that's my happy spot. Basking in the joy of creating something wonderful is a weekend well done. 

Today I am trying my hand at making the super famous Champaran Mutton Or Ahuna mutton. A few days back one of my friends shared a reel about a joint in Pune serving Champaran mutton. From the time this dish became viral I had been meaning to try it out somewhere but didn't find any good restaurants around my place. When I saw that reel, I was pretty tempted to try that out but it was quite some distance from my house. And as I said at the beginning, after a grueling week of dealing with humans I was not in a mood for a long ride navigating through the terrible weekend traffic. 

But once the craving sets in, you need to do something about it, so I thought why not give it a shot at home? In addition, I also have a Bihari neighbor who has treated me time and again with her dishes both veg and non veg so I could say I had a fair enough idea about typical Bihari flavors. Thus I accepted the challenge. After all it looks like a pretty easy recipe and the key to perfection is slow cooking in an earthen pot, sounds simple and that's what I needed at the moment. The small problem was that I didn't have an ideal pot or Ahuna for cooking the meat. The earthen pot I had was flat and without a lid. But necessity is a mother of invention so I brought out my deepest kadai and decided to go for it. I did have a big doubt whether the mutton will cook without any water or not, but surprisingly the mutton was falling off the bones by the end of the hour. 

One more update, a few weeks later after I cooked this dish at home finally I had also got the chance to taste the food of the restaurant from that viral reel. Now I can say all the food that the Instagram Influencers try to influence us with are not that great. I found their Handi cooked Champaran chicken quite underwhelming. Which makes me double proud that I could nail the flavours right at my home which tasted much better than the restaurant version.

Ingredients :

For Home Made Garam Masala

• Coriander Seeds - 1 tbsp
• Cumin - 1 tbsp
• Clove - 1/2 tsp
• Green Cardamom - 10
• Black Cardamom - 2
• Black Pepper - 1 tsp
• Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
• Stone Flower / Dagad Phool - a small handful
• Red Chilli whole - 3
• Mace - 1
• Nutmeg - 1/4 (grated)
• Salt- a pinch

For Mutton Gravy

• Mutton (Shoulder Portion ) - 500 Gm
• Onion - 250 gm ( sliced)
• Coriander Powder -  2 tsp
• Red Chili Powder (Kashmiri) - 1/2 tsp
• Spicy Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
• Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
• Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala (Homemade) - 1 tsp
• Whole Red Chilis - 2
• Bay Leaf - 1 or 2
• Black Pepper - 6 or 7
• Cinnamon - 1/2 inch
• Green Cardamom - 3
• Black Cardamom -  1
• Fresh ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsp
• Green Chilli - 2
• Fresh Coriander Leaves - small handful (finely chopped)
• Whole Garlic - 2
• Mustard Oil - 1/2 cup 
• Salt - To Taste

Procedure :

1. Heat a tawa and once its medium hot, roast all the spices till fragrant stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes. Take them off into a plate and let them completely cool down. Once cooled, in a mixer grinder add all the roasted spices, add grated nutmeg and salt and blend them into a fine powder. Now take a strainer and strain the ground masala to remove any big chunks. We will need a small amount of this homemade garam masala. You can store the rest in an air tight jar.

2. Wash & drain the water from the mutton. Keep aside.

Tip : Prefer shoulder cut from the mutton as they cook faster and are more tender.

3. Heat Mustard oil in a kadai. Once its steaming hot, switch off the flame and let the oil cool down completely. 

4. Take a large mixing bowl and add the sliced onion, Kashmiri chili powder, spicy chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, homemade garam masala, broken dry red chilis, cinnamon, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves, black pepper (whole), bay leaves, ginger garlic paste, slit green chilies, 2/3rd or 60% of the smoked and cooled mustard oil, salt, chopped coriander leaves and mix everything very well with your hands. Mash the onions nicely so that some of its juices come out and the onions look slightly wilted.

5. Now add the washed mutton to the bowl and rub in all the mixture nicely. Massage the mutton with your fingers so that the spice rub is well incorporated. Do this for at least 2-3 minutes. Cover and let it marinate for about an hour.

Ahuna / Earthern Pot Method :

6. You need to first prep the earthen pot as per instructions or soak the pot overnight in water before cooking.

Now add the remaining of the mustard oil in the pot and spread it inside the walls of the pot. 

7. Nicely spread the marinated mutton inside the pot and place two whole Garlic bulbs inside. Now close the lid and secure the edges of the lid with dough. Make a small whole in the dough for the steam to escape. Now place the pot on a gas stove on a very low flame or preferably a sigdi (hibachi) with charcoal. Cook it on the lowest flame for an hour. Every 15 minutes pick up the pot and give it a slight shake so as to evenly cook the mutton. 

Tip: Cut the bottom of the garlic bulb so that the juices are absorbed into the whole garlic.

Kadai Method :

6. Take a deep and heavy bottom Kadai or a deep pressure cooker. Heat it on low flame. Once warm add the remaining of the mustard oil and then add the marinated mutton. Add a little water to the bowl where you marinated the mutton and scrape off any leftover masala into the water. Add this water into the kadai. Now place two garlic bulbs in the mutton and cover it with a heavy lid. Start cooking on the lowest heat. 

Tip: Cut the bottom of the garlic bulb so that the juices are absorbed into the whole garlic.

7. Every 15 minutes open the lid and give the mutton a good stir, checking for any masala or mutton getting stuck to the bottom. Repeat this for a good hour or till the mutton is falling off the bones. 

Remember patience is the key to making a perfect Champaran mutton. So you have to diligently keep a watch on the mutton and keep stirring the mutton every 10-15 minutes for a uniform cook on the meat. After an hour you will see oil has separated and  floated on top. With a fork check the doneness of the mutton. If there is still some rubberiness you can keep repeating the process till the meat is done. Give everything a good stir and your are ready to serve.

Serve this with white rice or Indrayani Rice ( sticky fragrant rice found in Maharashtra). Squeeze out the buttery soft garlic cloves from the bulb and enjoy it with every bite you take. It will be as divine as it sounds!

P.S. For everyone wondering how I served the mutton while I didn't have a suitable earthen pot, the pot in which the mutton is served is very shallow so I couldn't use it for cooking but for serving purpose it ticked the right boxes!