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Madras Sheep's-head Curry

A curry made from a boiled sheep's head, brains, and tongue, flavored with ghee, onions, and a blend of Madras curry spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Ghee and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 28% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,310 recipes. The science ↓

Madras Sheep's-head Curry

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the head

  1. Clean the sheep's head thoroughly.

  2. Check for and remove any maggots.

  3. Remove the brains.

  4. Soak the brains in 1 cup of cold water.

  5. Set the soaked brains aside.

Boil the head

  1. Boil the head in 5 to 6 cups of cold water over high heat.

  2. Skim off the scum.

  3. Reduce heat.

  4. Simmer until the meat is cooked and nearly falling off the bones.

  5. Remove the head.

  6. Strain the broth.

  7. Set the broth aside.

  8. Carefully cut the meat from the boiled head.

  9. Place the meat on a plate.

  10. Peel the thick skin off the tongue.

  11. Cut the tongue in half lengthwise.

Make the curry

  1. Heat the ghee until boiling.

  2. Add the sliced onion and brown well.

  3. Add the ground or pounded curry spices and salt.

  4. Fry until fragrant.

  5. Pour in the strained broth.

  6. Cover and boil until the curry smell dissipates.

  7. Add the cut meat and the cleaned brains.

  8. Simmer on low heat until the ghee rises to the surface.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ghee + oniontop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sheep's head
Provides the main meat and gelatinous body for the curry.
Ghee
Carries the spices and gives the curry its rich fat and aroma.
Onion
Browns in the ghee to add sweetness and depth to the sauce.
Curry spices
Provide the aroma and heat that define the Madras flavour.

The step that matters

Fry the spices until fragrant. Frying spices briefly in hot fat releases their fat-soluble aroma compounds. Burning them turns the flavour bitter, so they need constant attention over moderate heat.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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