Multi-Purpose Mutton Soup (Broth / Stock)

Winter is coming (hehehe – not everyone will get this, but that’s okay 😉) and what better than a piping hot, robust soup/broth to sip on. I saw a mug of soup on my friend Khuzaan’s Insta stories and the soup looked so yum that I could not help but reach out to ask for the recipe.

The recipe belonged to his gym trainer, Murtaza’s mum, Mrs. Irfana Nasir. She ever so kindly sent the recipe within minutes (via Khuzaan). I gave this a try the very next day. This is one of the easiest broth/stock recipes you will ever come across and yet, the broth turns out so darn flavourful. I’ve now made so many times that I’ve kind of lost count. Yes, this is that good a recipe. It is such a simple recipe that even a newbie in the kitchen can whip this up within minutes.

I will always follow a recipe to the T the first time around and subsequently put my own tiny twist on it when I remake it. I’ve adjusted the ingredients a teeny-tiny bit and the recipe I’m publishing is the one I’ve customized, but this recipe belongs to Mrs. Irfana Nasir. I lay no claim to it at all.

Mrs. Irfana Nasir, Murtaza, Khuzaan: Heartfelt thanks for sharing this recipe with me.

Ingredients:

Half kilo mutton (on bone)
10-12 black peppercorns
1-inch cinnamon
2 heaped teaspoons ginger-garlic paste
1 large onion, chopped into big pieces (easier to fish out later)
2 tomatoes, quartered (easier to fish out later)
1 green chili, keep whole, do not chop
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
Salt to taste
1 litre water 

Method:

1. Add all the above ingredients in a pressure cooker.
   
   
   
   
   
2. When the pressure builds up and the cooker releases the first whistle, lower the flame. 
3. Continue cooking for 8 more whistles on LOW heat. This low heat cooking will lend robustness to the soup. (Take Mrs. Nasir’s and my word for it) 
4. When done, take the cooker off the stove and allow the pressure to release on its own. 
   
   
   
   
   
5. Once cool, fish out the mutton pieces.
   
   
   
   
   
6. Strain the soup in a colander or a stainless steel sieve if you want a clearer soup. I used a colander as I did not have Gordon Ramsey judging me. 😉
   
   
   
   
   
7. Mash the vegetables to extract all the goodness and discard the mashed veggies.
   
   
   
   
   
8. This yields approximately 1250 mils of broth. Use as desired. (We usually add a squeeze of lime, an extra dash of pepper powder and sip on it. At times, I portion it into 500 ml containers and freeze it for the dishes that require stock) 
   
   
   
   

Chef Notes:

1. You may chop the onions and tomatoes small but fishing out the mutton from the soup gets a tad messy hence I prefer to cut them into large chunks. The first time I recreated this recipe, I cut the veggies small, as mentioned by Mrs. Nasir. At all other times, I’ve cut them into large chunks.
2. Use the mutton for sandwiches. You may also shred the mutton and add it to the strained soup. 
3. Yes, Google has lots of explanations with regard to the terms soup, stock, and broth. Let’s not debate or argue over that. Let’s keep it simple; let’s cook up this deliciousness and enjoy it, yeah?? 😊 
4. Mutton on-bone is what you use for this soup. If you’re opting for boneless mutton, the soup will be yum but, it will lack that beautiful robustness, and that’s what this soup/broth is all about. 
5. The original recipe uses only 1 teaspoon of ginger-garlic paste and no green chili. I like my soup with a bit of zing hence adjusted these ingredients. Feel free to go with whatever suits your palate. 
6. As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs Mrs. Irfana Nasir. The photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.
   

Some more photographs: