Spicy Meat Curry | Mirch Kaliya Recipe | Easy Recipe

Mirch Kaliya, a spicy meat curry recipe, ticks off all the boxes for a weekend feast followed by a siesta. Delightfully delicious, packed with flavour, aromatic with ghee and whole spices, this mirch kaliya recipe is our go-to preparation when we want an indulgent meal. It is an easy mutton curry recipe that requires hardly any effort to make with superb results. Just prep the spicy mutton curry ingredients, place them in a pressure cooker, and you will be rewarded with a marvellous meal in 30 minutes.

Thanks to Uzma Shaikh who has been kind enough to share this family recipe from Moradabad. It has quickly become a favourite at home and is the recipe I now share when somebody asks me for a spicy mutton curry Indian style.
 

Time to taste the best spicy mutton curry recipe - Mirch Kaliya

Spicy mutton curry ingredients

The most important ingredient is the mutton itself. Ask your butcher to give you a mutton curry cut (about 1½-inch pieces with bone) from the shoulder. The better the meat, the better this dish will be. The other important ingredient in this meat curry recipe are the green chillies. It’s your choice which chillies to use – the small sharp ones if your palate can take intense heat, the large mild ones if you want mild heat, or a mix of the two for a slight kick. You will also need bay leaves (tejpatta), cinnamon, green cardamom pods, black cardamom pods, black peppercorn, cumin seeds, sliced onion, garlic paste, ginger paste, turmeric powder, coriander powder, and salt for this mirch kaliya recipe. To finish the dish, coriander leaves, mint leaves, oil, and ghee will be required too.
 

Add whole spices and finely sliced onion to the pan
 

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Add powdered spices including turmeric to the onion and then stir to mix

What is kaliya?

A kaliya can be defined as a simple meat curry prepared with turmeric which has vegetables added to it. It is believed that kaliya or Qaliya originated during the reign of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq. Food scholars are of the thought that the 'kaliya' and 'do pyaza' dishes are predecessors of the qorma found in Mughal kitchens.
 

Pour 1 1/4 cups water over uncooked mutton and onion and spice mixture
 

Meat preparations were common in muslim households of yore and when vegetables were introduced to simple meat dishes for home consumption, such dishes came to be known as kaliya. Kaliya is made with seasonal vegetables and examples of kaliya include lauki gosht, aloo aur gosht ka kaliya, bhindi gosht, chana gosht etc. Turnips, beetroots, and carrots can also be added to the kaliya. Kaliya is typically a family dish and is best consumed at homes of people and the dish hardly makes an appearance on restaurant menus.
 

Cook in a pressure cooker for 10 to 12 minutes on medium low heat
 

Another kaliya dish, one of the best mutton curry recipes, is the mutton taar kaliya or Taar Gosht from Rampur. Kundan kaliya on the other hand is a golden lamb curry in which the word kundan refers to the golden colour of the dish (due to the addition of turmeric, yellow chilli powder, and saffron) while kaliya refers to the meat. This royal dish was a hit with the nawabs and edible beaten gold was added to it too for the Mughal rulers. The beaten gold was also recommended by the royal hakims due to its medicinal properties. Kundan kaliya also finds a mention in the memoir of Begum Jahanara Habibulla titled Remembrance of Days Past: Glimpses of a Princely State During the Raj.
 

Transfer mirch kaliya to a pan and add coriander and mint leaves

Kaliya in West Bengal

In West Bengal, Kaliya dishes are believed to have been introduced by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah who was exiled in Metiabruz in Kolkata. Macher Kaliya refers to a gravy-based dish cooked with large filets of fish and potato (thus completing the definition of a kaliya) and is typically eaten with rice. The flavour of the fresh catch is the highlight of Macher Kaliya.

Chaman kaliya is a fine example of a vegetarian kaliya. The dish is prepared in Kashmir and has paneer or cottage cheese cooked in a very light and flavourful milky gravy.
 

Cook the mutton curry for 15 minutes till it thickens

How to make Spicy meat curry well

Each cut of mutton has its own significance in the dish in which it is being used. For our spicy meat curry recipe, I prefer a shoulder cut with bone into 1½-inch pieces – a basic mutton curry cut.

To make the green chilli paste, I have used a variety of large chillies which are mild yet pack in flavour and some mild heat. As mentioned above, the choice of chillies depends upon your - use smaller hot green chillies if you want your dish very spicy, or a mix of the two chilli varieties if you want some heat in your mutton curry. The original mirch kaliya recipe from Uzma calls for 10 to 12 small-sized, hot green chillies.
 

Garnish the mirch kaliya with juliennes of green chillies

Though I have made this dish in a kadhai for better visibility in the images and video, this easy mutton curry recipe can be made from start to finish in a pressure cooker. This will save you some effort and minimize the number of utensils that need to be cleaned later. Once the pressure is off and the cooker has been uncovered, you can continue to cook in the uncovered pressure for an additional 15 mimnutes or so till the curry has thickened and is redy to eat.

Most kaliya dishes have the consistency of a thin curry, howoever, our mirch kaliya recipe yields a fairly thick curry. If you want you can adjust the consistency to your liking.
 

Mirch Kaliya - Spicy Meat Curry ready to eat and served at the table

Fun fact: In earlier times, powdered rice was sometimes added to kaliya to thicken the curry.

Learn how to make spicy meat curry (mirch kaliya) at home with the step by step recipe, pictures, and video, and with all ingredients and cooking method right here.

Serving Suggestions for our Spicy Mutton Curry Recipe

Serve mirch kaliya hot after garnishing with green chilli juliennes. The dish goes well with chapati, khameeri roti, tandoori roti, or fresh naan.