Jungli Maas Recipe
Jungli Maas is a 100-year-old Rajasthani recipe in which goat mutton is cooked with just seven ingredients. For a traditional meal, serve it with phulka, bajra roti, or makki roti.
If you want to try a few more Rajasthani recipes, here are some of my favorites: Baati, Panchmel Dal, Mirchi Ke Tipore, and Haldi Ki Sabzi.
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Table of Contents
About Jungli Maas
Jungli Maas is a 100-year-plus-old traditional mutton curry from the royal state of Rajasthan. It is pretty popular and is often prepared conventionally in royal kitchens.
To make this fiery mutton curry, succulent pieces of goat mutton are cooked in ghee with whole dry red chilies and garlic.
Jungli means “forest,” and maas means “meat,” so “forest meat.” Jungli Maas was prepared with fresh catch (mostly deer or wild boar) after the king’s hunting expeditions. The meat was then cooked for hours in a clay pot. That’s how it got its name, “Jungli Maas.”
The hunting teams used to camp in the jungle for many days. Carrying a lot of ingredients was not feasible, so they invented recipes using the bare minimum, and this jungli maas is a classic example.
It uses just seven ingredients, and all the ingredients have a long shelf life. Dry chilies and garlic are added to this dish to hide the pungent odor of the game meat.
I learned this recipe from a chef and am now passing it on to you. I hope you like it!
Ingredients
Ghee – This fiery red hot curry is prepared only in ghee. Do not use any oil as the taste will not be great then.
Mutton – Use bone-in goat mutton to make this curry. If it’s not available, then replace it with lamb.
Dry Red Chilies – This curry uses a lot of them, making it fiery and spicy. It was traditionally made with Mathania dry red chilies (native to Rajasthan), but you can also use Kashmiri red chilies.
Garlic is one of the key ingredients that enhances the taste of this curry. Use freshly peeled garlic for the best flavor.
Others – Kashmiri red chili powder, salt, and coriander seeds are other ingredients used. I prefer to use Kashmiri red chili powder, as it gives the curry a beautiful red color without making it too spicy.
How To Make Jungli Maas
Step 1: Heat 5 tablespoon ghee in a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
Step 2: Once the ghee is hot, add the following ingredients and cook for 3-4 seconds.
- 2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
- 10-12 peeled garlic cloves
- 10-12 whole Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
Step 3: Add the following ingredients and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- 2 pounds (1 kg) bone-in goat mutton (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon salt
Step 4: Add ½ cup of water and mix well.
Step 5: Now reduce the heat to low.
Step 6: Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 90-120 minutes, until the meat is well-cooked. Stir a few times while cooking.
Step 7: Add water if the mutton is drying out while cooking.
Check for salt and add more if needed.
Step 8: Serve hot with any Indian bread.
Jungli Maas FAQs
Yes, you can. Follow the steps until the mutton is added to a pressure cooker. Add ¼ cup water. Pressure cook for one whistle on high heat. Now reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid and serve.
Follow the steps until you add mutton to the Instant Pot. Add ¼ cup water. Close the Instant Pot lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Press PRESSURE COOK, then set the timer to 20 minutes at high pressure. Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. Release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid and serve.
Yes, you can, but the cooking time for chicken will be much less than that for the mutton.
Jungli Mutton Curry can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Reheat well in a pan or in a microwave before serving. Add some water if the curry has thickened a lot after refrigeration.
Serving Suggestions
This curry tastes best with traditional Rajasthani bread like Bajra Roti, Makki Roti, etc. But you can also serve it with Butter Naan, Lachha Paratha, etc.
For the best flavor, make the curry a day in advance. The flavors will develop over a day, and your jungli maas will taste even more delicious.
Other Mutton Recipes We Recommend
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Jungli Maas Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons ghee
- 2 teaspoons coarsely crushed coriander seeds
- 10-12 cloves peeled whole garlic cloves
- 10-12 whole Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
- 2 pounds goat mutton (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces) (1 kg, or lamb)
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
Instructions
- Heat ghee in a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add crushed coriander seeds, garlic cloves, and chilies and fry for 3-4 seconds.
- Add mutton, red chili powder, and salt, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add ½ cup water and mix well.
- Now reduce the heat to low.
- Cover the pan with a lid and cook for 90-120 minutes until the meat is well cooked. Stir a few times while cooking.
- Add some water if the mutton is getting dry.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
- Serve hot with any Indian bread.
Can I use chicken on the bone instead of mutton?
Yes sure. The cooking time will be much less though.
Tastes great. But after cooking it, I’m kind of feeling guilty eating it. It’s super rich.
It’s for occasional indulgence 🙂
Tried this today, simple and incredibly tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
Thnx for trying 🙂
Hi, I was going through the internet looking for some mutton recipes and stumbled upon your website. I really like the way the recipe tastes and that is why am really thankful. However I have a suggestion for you, the description of the cooking requires us to add some ingredients, the quantity of which is not mentioned in the ingredients list, e.g. Cloves, red chilli etc., which makes the cooking process a bit of guessing.
Thnx for your appreciation. I am really sorry the ingredients measurements got missed out. Will update the recipe. Thnx again.
All your recipes are healthy and fantastic. ????????
Thnx 🙂