Spicy and packed with full of flavour. This chettinad mutton kulambu is a delicious curry made using freshly roasted masala.
Chettinad Mutton Kulambu Recipe
I am up with a special curry from chettinad, i love their cuisine, they are spicy, flavourful, full of freshly roasted masala and spice powders.
No ready ground spice powders are allowed in the kitchen. How cool is that. This curry is a perfect example for that. It has tons and tons of flavours packed in it. Just give this a try and let me know how it turned out for you.
Chettinad Masala Powder Recipe
This is the recipe for chettinad masala powder or chettinad spice mix. You can double or make a big batch of the spice mix and store in your pantry.
Dry Red Chilli - 6 to 8 or to taste
Whole Coriander Seeds / Mullu Malli - 4 tblspn
Cinnamon Stick / Pattai - 5 cm stick
Fennel Seeds / Sombu / Saunf - 1 tblspn
Whole Peppercorns - 1 tblspn
Cumin Seeds / Jeerakam - 1 tsp
Cardamom Pods / Elakai - 5
Star Anise - 1
How to Make Chettinad Mutton Kulambu
- Grind coconut and fennel seeds to a smooth paste by adding some water. Set aside till use.
- Heat a kadai. Dry roast all the spices given till they are golden. Remove them to a blender and make into a fine powder. Set aside till use.
- Heat oil in the same kadai or a pressure cooker. Add in the whole spice and let them sizzle for a min.
- Add in shallots, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute till light golden.
- Now add in ginger garlic paste and saute for a couple of mins. Add in salt and turmeric powder and mix well.
- Add in tomatoes and saute till they are completely mushed up.
- spice powder and toss well. Add in the washed mutton pieces and add some water.
- Now if you are making this in pressure cooker then cover it up and cook for 5 whistle to 7 whistle. Turn the heat off and let the pressure go all by itself.
- Now open the cooker and add in coconut masala, more water if needed and mix well.
- Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 mins till the oil separates on top.
- Add in coriander leaves and mix well.
- Serve this curry over rice or roti.
In the mean time, check out other chettinad recipes.
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @[email protected] and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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📖 Recipe

Chettinad Mutton | Chettinad Mutton Gravy | Chettinad Mutton Kulambu
Ingredients
- Oil - 3 tblspn
- Shallots / Sambar Onions - 20 sliced thinly
- Green Chilli - 2 slit
- Curry leaves - 2 sprigs
- Ginger Garlic Paste - 2 tblspn
- Tomatoes - 3 large chopped finely
- Salt to taste
- Turmeric Powder / Manjal Podi - 1 tsp
- Mutton / Lamb - ½ kg / 500 grams
- Water as needed
- Coriander Leaves a handful finely chopped
- Whole Spices:
- Cinnamon / Pattai - 1 inch stick
- Cardamom pods / Elakai - 2
- Cloves / Krambu - 3
- Fennel Seeds / Sombu / Saunf - 1 tsp
- For Chettinad Spice Powder:
- Dry Red Chilli - 6 to 8 or to taste
- Whole Coriander Seeds / Mullu Malli - 4 tblspn
- Cinnamon Stick / Pattai - 5 cm stick
- Fennel Seeds / Sombu / Saunf - 1 tblspn
- Whole Peppercorns - 1 tblspn
- Cumin Seeds / Jeerakam - 1 tsp
- Cardamom Pods / Elakai - 5
- Star Anise - 1
- For Coconut Masala:
- Coconut - 1 cup
- Fennel Seeds / Sombu / Saunf - 1 tblspn
Instructions
- Grind coconut and fennel seeds to a smooth paste by adding some water. Set aside till use.
- Heat a kadai. Dry roast all the spices given till they are golden. Remove them to a blender and make into a fine powder. Set aside till use.
- Heat oil in the same kadai or a pressure cooker. Add in the whole spice and let them sizzle for a min.
- Add in shallots, green chillies and curry leaves. Saute till light golden.
- Now add in ginger garlic paste and saute for a couple of mins.Add in salt and turmeric powder and mix well.
- Add in tomatoes and saute till they are completely mushed up.
- Add in the spice powder and toss well. Add in the washed mutton pieces and add some water.
- Now if you are making this in pressure cooker then cover it up and cook for 5 whistle to 7 whistle. Turn the heat off and let the pressure go all by itself.
- Now open the cooker and add in coconut masala, more water if needed and mix well.
- Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 mins till the oil separates on top.
- Add in coriander leaves and mix well.
- Serve this curry over rice or roti.
Chettinad Mutton Kulambu with Step by Step Pictures
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Take coconut and fennel seeds in a blender |
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transfer the whole thing to pressure cooker NOTE: THIS ENTIRE RECIPE CAN BE MADE IN COOKER, I USED KADAI, SO YOU CAN SEE CLEARLY |
nayana
I love fiery spicy chettinad cuisine ur mutton dish looks too inviting
Hamaree Rasoi
Delicious and lovely looking mutton curry recipe. Excellent preparation.
Deepa
Rani Vijoo
Curry looks delicious...love your presentation....superb..
Vimala Nantha
Nice presentation.
pksudarsan
Looks yummy! Must try!
Anonymous
add recent comment tool so u can help them by answering on relevent post, u hav more 1000 post,
and choose by recipe tool, bcz by i cant find ur old recipe,
Anonymous
Perfect Mutton Curry , for all those who enjoy high quality food """Gourmet""" south Indian style of cooking rocks...
Yogini Gunabalan
Gonna try this recipe now. It looks yummy 🙂 will post you once i finish cooking.
Vairavan Ramaswamy
We tried it in our home. it was very tasty
Vairavan Ramaswamy
We tried it in our home. it was very tasty
Vairavan Ramaswamy
We tried it in our home. It was very tasty 🙂
Anonymous
Hi
We do not get sambar onions. Can we use normal onions? How many should I use?
Thanks a lot. I love your blog!
Aarthi
@Anonymousyes use 2 large onions
mobile2day
Good presentation
Anonymous
Superb!!!!!
Anonymous
Not good. I tried as said but doesn't come good.
Aarthi
@AnonymousI am sorry that it didn't turn out good for you, what problem did you face
Rajesh Kumar
Good recipe with nice presentation.Delicious and wonderful looking very nice and yummy..
chowringhee satya niketan
Anonymous
Nice
Anonymous
Very yummy
Anonymous
Superb n mouth watering taste..tq fr d recepie
Shannon Mathew
@nayana
Agreed, fantastic recipe! thanks so much. I cooked mine in a pure clay pot. it turned out much better than a pressure cooker or a non-stick tawa. I got my pure clay pot from Miriams Earthen Cookware (online).
Erik
It's on the stove now! My house smells delicious already! Can't wait to eat it!
Neeharika Raj
Hi Aarthi ..we made it for dinner yesterday night..turned out gr8 .....Thank you for the recipe 🙂 !
Anonymous
wow. yummy taste. the smell spreads all over the street. thank you.
Mythily
I tried it in home, it was very yummy and tastes delicious.. Thanks for giving such a superb recipe.. 🙂
Unknown
Joy
Hi Aarthi I tried out this recipe it came out awesome and tasted good... It was my first try with mutton.. Thanks for sharing it...
I
If u add mace in the recipe it will give more authentic flavours...
Kishore Kesani
Iam weekend coock in my home. I love cooking. This chettinad muttin curry turned to be awsome. My kids really enjoyed and my wife liked it immediately. It is a excellent tasty revipie. I have followed the instructions exactly. The flavour texture taste all are awsome. Thanks for the recipie,
Kishore kesani
Bernice Joy
Hi me again... Couldn't help posting this comment.. The dry spice powder of this recipe I had some leftovers and I used for other gravy dishes sprinkling it at the end.. It simply took the dishes to another level thank you... I always see to that I have some of this aromatic , tasty masala with me...
Priya
Hi arthi mam. I am a beginner in cooking...it was my first try with mutton..I coudnt believe that I made it..jus followed what you did...u won't believe it came out paakkkaaaa!!!!!thank you soooo much for posting this
Purnima Selvamurugan
I tried this noon Aarti. It came out perfect. Your Blog makes my cooking easier and yummy..
LIFE...
I tried the recipe today at home and it turned out really well. I really like your cooking style.
Anonymous
hi.... can i skip tomatoes if i am allergic ???
Unknown
Ah..mazing! Thank you!
palak bhatti
wow awesome recipe thanks for sharing
Anonymous
Hi mam.. i tried your squid curry recipe and it was extremely delicious..my dad keeps asking me to make it for him frequently.. if I want to use this recipe for 1 kg mutton should I just double all the ingredients? Please reply
Nanthini Nanthakumar
I cooked this mutton curry today. It was so yummy. The aroma was filled in the kitchen. My family liked it so much.
Thanks for sharing Aarthi.
Nanthini Nanthakumar
How can I upload the photo? 😊😊
Arul
How long should we cook in the pressure cooker? For how many whistles?? (after adding the mutton that is)
latha
really nic presentation mam .very useful for newcomers of kitchen
Abirami Irungovel
Tried this for today's lunch...liked it a lot....It was good and tasty....Thank u for ur fine recipe aarthi.....
Alex
Wow.
It looks so easy. But I think it must be very delicious.
Shivaram Venkatesh
Hi Aarthi - could you mention the time/no of whistles for each step. I am a beginner cook and want to get it right.
Aarthi
If you are using young meat, it will cook in 4 to 5 whistle. Little older meat takes 7 to 8 whistle to cook.
Sundaram
முழு மல்லி nu படிக்காம முள்ளு மல்லி nu படிச்சுட்டேன் 😀