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Mutton Curry

A stew of mutton pieces simmered with onion, curry powder, and optional vegetables in stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,706 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Mutton Curry

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Heat the butter in a saucepan until very hot.

  2. Add the mutton pieces and fry until slightly browned, then remove them.

  3. Fry the onion and curry powder in the same pan.

  4. If using carrots, tomatoes, or apples, fry them separately in a little extra butter.

Simmer

  1. Return the fried meat to the saucepan with the onion and curry, adding the vegetables if using.

  2. Pour in the stock slowly and let it simmer for two hours, adding more stock if it gets too dry.

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. Butter + appletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + appletop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,206 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long simmer.
Onion
Builds a sweet, savoury base as it softens in the butter.
Curry powder
Supplies the spiced aroma that defines the dish.
Stock
Forms the liquid that cooks the meat slowly and makes the sauce.
Butter
Carries the spices and adds richness while frying.

The step that matters

Frying the curry powder with the onion. Spices bloom and release their aroma when fried in hot fat, but they can scorch and turn bitter if the pan is too hot or they are left unstirred. Keep the heat moderate and keep the mixture moving.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, butter):

  1. Coconutfits better
  2. Grapefits about as well
  3. Pumpkinfits about as well
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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