Jungli Maas is a 100-year-old Rajasthani recipe where goat mutton is cooked with 7 simple ingredients. For a traditional meal, serve it with phulka, bajra roti, or makki roti.
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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 often conventionally prepared in royal kitchens.
To make this fiery and hot mutton curry, succulent pieces of goat mutton are cooked in ghee and whole dry red chilies and garlic.
Jungli means “forest,” and maas means “meat,” meaning 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 would invent recipes using bare minimum ingredients, and this jungli maas is a classic example.
It is made using just 7 ingredients, and all the ingredients used to make it have a long shelf life. A lot of 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 now passing it on to you. I hope you like it!
You can also make this recipe with bone-in chicken pieces, but the cooking times will be much less (40-45 minutes) than mutton.
Want to try a few more recipes from Rajasthan, then here are some of my favorites
- Rajasthani Bati
- Rajasthani Panchmel Dal
- Rajasthani Safed Maas
- Rajasthani Mirchi Vada
- Rajasthani Pitod Ki Sabzi
- Mirchi Ke Tipore
- Rajasthani Haldi Ki Sabzi
Ingredients
Ghee – This fiery red hot curry is prepared only in ghee.
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 dry red chilies, making it fiery red and spicy. It was traditionally made using Mathania dry red chillies (a native of Rajasthan), but you can use Kashmiri red chilies too.
Garlic – Garlic is one of the key ingredients that enhance 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
Heat 5 tablespoon ghee in a heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
Once the ghee is hot, add
- 2 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds
- 10-12 peeled garlic cloves
- 10-12 whole Kashmiri dry red chilies (stalks removed)
and fry for 3-4 seconds.
Add
- 2 pounds (1 kg) goat mutton (cut into 1 and ½ inch pieces)
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 teaspoon 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can. Follow the steps until adding mutton to a pressure cooker. Add ¼ cup water. Pressure cook for 1 whistle on high heat. Now reduce the heat to low and cook for 25 minutes. Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid and serve.
Follow the steps until adding mutton to an instant pot. Add ¼ cup water. Close the instant pot lid and set the valve to the sealing position. Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer for 25 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.
Serving Suggestions
Jungli Maas tastes the best with phulka, makki ki roti, or bajre ki roti.
It can also be served with other Indian bread such as tawa paratha, multigrain roti, jowar bhakri, etc.
You can also serve it with steamed rice, jeera rice, or a biryani of your choice.
Storage Suggestions
Jungli Maas will easily last for about a week in the refrigerator. Store it in a clean and dry air-tight container.
Reheat in a pan or microwave until nice and hot. Add a little water and adjust the consistency if the curry has thickened after refrigeration.
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Recipe Card
Rajasthani 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.
Annu
Can I use chicken on the bone instead of mutton?
Neha Mathur
Yes sure.
HG
Tastes great. But after cooking it, I’m kind of feeling guilty eating it. It’s super rich.
Neha Mathur
It’s for occasional indulgence 🙂
Jay
Tried this today, simple and incredibly tasty. Thank you for the recipe.
Neha Mathur
Thnx for trying 🙂
Brij raj
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.
Neha Mathur
Thnx for your appreciation. I am really sorry the ingredients measurements got missed out. Will update the recipe. Thnx again.
Shishirdube
All your recipes are healthy and fantastic. ????????
Neha Mathur
Thnx 🙂
Prathibha
Looks absolutely divine. Does this recipe also use mathania chillies?
Neha Mathur
There is no mention of Mathania Chillies in this recipe. But you can definitely use them.