Mutton Paya Soup Recipe
Make this delicious mutton bone soup with simple ingredients and easy-to-follow steps. Discover the secret to extracting all the rich flavors from the goat shanks, resulting in a nourishing mutton soup that tastes the same as the traditional slow cooked soup, but much quicker.
Author: Sheeba
Ingredients
Mutton soup masala
- 1 tablespoon toor dal (split pigeon pea or yellow lentils)
- 2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 2 pods cardamom
- 2 cloves
- 1 star anise
- 1 inch cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
STEP BY STEP IMAGES
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Instructions
Make mutton soup masala
- In a pan, dry roast 1 tablespoon toor dal (split pigeon pea or yellow lentils)on low flame for 5 minutes.
- Add whole spices:2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, 2 pods cardamom, 2 cloves, 1 star aniseand 1 inch cinnamon.Roast for a couple of minutes.
- Add 1 teaspoon fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon cumin seeds. Roast for another 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let them cool.
- Blend the dal and spices in a spice blender into a fine powder. Keep aside.
Sauté
- Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large pan. (You can also directly sauté in a pressure cooker or instant pot). Sauté 2 bay leaves and 2 onions, finely chopped until the onions turn translucent.
- Add 1½ teaspoons ginger-garlic paste. Sauté until roasted and the raw smell disappears.
- Add 2 tomatoes, finely diced. Sauté until they are cooked to a mushy consistency.
- Place 1 kilogram mutton bones in the pan. Sauté for a few minutes until the flesh attached to the bones are no longer pink.
Add spices and water
- Add 4½ cups of water. (Add 1 cup of water first. Stir and add more.)
- Sprinkle ½ teaspoon turmeric, 1½ teaspoons salt and the blended ‘mutton soup masala’. Mix well without any lumps.
- Alternatively, you can mix the ground spices with a little water and add. That will make it easier to stir.
Pressure-cook
- Transfer the contents to a pressure cooker (if you’ve not been using one from the start).
- Cover and pressure cook on high flame. After the first whistle, reduce the flame and simmer for 45 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally.
If using instant pot
- Sauté according to the above instructions (in sauté mode). Once you stir in the mutton bones, add water and ground spices and cover with the lid.
- Choose pressure-cook mode and set the timing to 45 minutes.
- Wait for natural pressure release.
Garnish and serve
- Taste the soup and adjust water, salt and pepper. Stir the soup and serve in bowls.
- Garnish with ¼ cup chopped mint leaves and ¼ cup chopped coriander leaves.
Video
Notes
- Mutton: Bones give flavor to this soup. However, you can choose the ones with flesh so that the soup has some meat, too. This recipe is best suited for mutton legs, but you can use other bone-in cuts, too.
- Mutton ribs: You can use mutton ribs instead of mutton legs. In that case, the simmering time can be reduced to 30 minutes.
- Dal: Toor dal (split yellow lentils) is traditionally used for mutton soup masala. It gives body, flavor and additional nutrients to the soup. You can also use moong dal (split and skinned mung beans).
- Substitution for whole spices: Cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and star anise can be replaced with ½ teaspoon of garam masala. You can use 1 teaspoon ground coriander, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ teaspoon fennel powder and ½ teaspoon cumin instead of the whole spices.
- How to replace with ground spices: Add them to the roasted dal after step 1 to make the soup masala and turn off the flame immediately. Stir for a couple of minutes in the warm pan. (The residual heat is enough to roast the ground spices.)
- Ginger-garlic paste: Grate 5 cloves of garlic and 1-inch piece of ginger.
- Herbs: Be generous with mint and coriander leaves. They add even more flavor to this soup. You can use double the amount of mint leaves if you don’t have coriander leaves.
- Mutton soup masala: This spice blend can also be used for recipes like vegetable kurma, mutton curry, chicken curry or chicken soup. It enhances the flavors and adds body to the soup or curry.
- Extra spice: If you like to add a spicy kick to the soup, add a dried red chili (or ½ teaspoon of chili flakes) while roasting the spices for the soup masala.
- Cook time: The simmering time depends on the size and quality of the mutton bones. If you’re not sure, stick to an hour. Overcooked soup still tastes good. The flesh might fall off the bones and disintegrate into the soup. In other words, it gets more delicious.
