MUTTON VARUVAL (SOMA)

Ingredients:

(A)
1 kg mock mutton
2 onion chopped fine
2 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
2 tsp kas-kas powder
½ tsp tumeric powder
½ tsp aniseed powder
1 tbs chillie powder (more or less to taste)
2 red tomatoes very finely chopped
½ cup thick curds
Salt to taste

(B)
2 tbs ghee or oil
1 tsp aniseeds
2 small pieces of cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 sprig curry leaves
1 onion sliced

(C)
Little lime juice
10 cashew nuts roasted in ghee
1 sprig curry leaves

Method:

Clean the mock mutton.
Now mix all the ingredients in (A) nicely
Marinate the mock mutton in the mixed ingredients for an hour.
Do not use any water.

Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy bottomed wok, or non - stick wok.
Add in all the spices in (B) one by one.
Saute well till the onions are light golden in colour.

Now add in the marinated mock mutton with all the juices.
Give a good stir, and let it cook till the juices dry up.
You have to check always to see that it does not get burned.

Keep on stirring gently till the mutton is really dry.
Now sprinkle the lime juice, and garnish with the curry leaves
and the roasted cashew nuts. Your dry mutton varuval is ready.

NOTE: the same method can be used for normal mutton.
But you have to use water to cook the mutton mixture, as the mutton takes long time to cook.