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Bhuna Gosht

Tanvi Srivastava
Bhuna gosht is a delectable north indian braised meat dish made with meat(goat, mutton or lamb), browned onions, fragrant spices and yogurt.
5 from 1 vote
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 6
Calories 472 kcal

Equipment

  • Pressure Cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 mustard oil or any cooking oil you use at home
  • 2 large bay leaves
  • 2 inch cinnamon
  • 2 large onions 300g sliced onions
  • 2 lb (~964g) goat meat or lamb
  • 1 tablespoon garlic minced
  • 2-3 green chillies I use indian green chillies (hot), use Serrano, adjust to taste
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric powder haldi
  • 1.5 teaspoon red chilli powder (hot),adjust to taste
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (for color)
  • 1 tablespoon coriander powder
  • 1.5 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 2 tablespoon yogurt plain, whole milk, not too sour

Dry Roast And Grind (Fresh Garam Masala to finish)

  • 1 large black cardamom(seeds only) moti elaichi
  • 3 cloves laung
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds jeera
  • 12-15 black peppercorn kali mirch

Instructions
 

BROWN THE ONIONS

  • You can do the below steps on saute mode in an Instant Pot.
    Place a pressure cooker on low medium flame on stove. Add mustard oil and let heat up for a minute and a half to do away its raw smell. If using oil or ghee, you don't need to wait that long.
  • On low flame, add the bay leaf and cinnamon stick to the hot oil. Stir around using a cooking spoon for 30 seconds taking care not to burn.
  • Add the sliced onions next. On low to medium flame, for the next 8-10 minutes we will fry the onions to golden brown. You can stir intermittently to make sure that onions are not burning or getting too dark or black.Please refer to images in the blog post to see different stages of browning onions. 
    Pro Tip - Browning onions is key to the taste of bhuna gosht, please don't rush this step. Avoid stirring too much else the onions will start steaming or breaking down instead of frying.

BHUNO THE GOSHT & BROWNED ONIONS

  • Add the goat meat, ginger juliennes and green chillies(if using). Stir around to mix the meat with the onions. For the next 6-8 minutes, bhuno(fry) the meat with browned onions. The meat will change color, its pink color will fade and slowly it will start browning. We have initiated the bhuna process. Depending on the quality and quantity of meat, you will start noticing some moisture and heat little sizzling sounds. 
  • Introduce the garlic paste (or ginger garlic), salt and powdered spices at this stage. Again stir around to coat the meat and continue to bhuno. You will notice that by 12 or 14 minutes, the meat will be much darker and the sizzling sounds will be loud. There will be liquid releasing from meat. Continue to bhuno the meat for up until 15 minutes.
    Tip - As the name "bhuna" suggests, the cooking process involves continuous stirring. Keep stirring the meat regularly to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to develop deep flavors.

PRESSURE COOK MEAT & FINISH WITH SPICES

  • Add little hot water (¼ to ½ cup) now. Don't add lot of water, just enough so that meat is not going to dry while pressure cooking. Bhuna gosht is commonly dryish with thick masala.
  • Close the lid of the pressure cooker or turn IP to pressure mode. Cook on low medium flame for 3-5 whistles or until the meat is 85-90 percent cooked. Switch off the heat and let pressure come down. For IP, cook for high pressure for 6 minutes, let pressure release naturally for 7-8 minutes and then release manually.
    Pro Tip - During pressure cooking, we don't want to cook meat completely. Meat should be soft and tender but not be falling off the bone. This is because we will bhuno it more with yogurt in next steps.
  • Make fresh garam masala for finishing - While the meat is pressure cooking, in a small sauce pan dry roast the cumin seeds, black cardamom seeds, black pepper corns and cloves. Dry roast until slightly smoky. Cool slightly and then grind into a powder using spice blender.
  • Open the lid of pressure cooker or IP. Return cooker to stove or start saute mode for IP. On low flame, add the whisked yogurt to the meat and stir around. On low medium heat, bhuno the meat with yogurt for 6-8 minutes. Cover the cooker (without pressure) for 7-8 minutes or until the meat is tender, looks shiny and the yogurt has cooked off. You will notice oil separating from meat at this stage.
  • Sprinkle the fresh ground spice mix that we made and mix.(image 20) Bhuna gosht is ready
  • You could garnish bhuna gosht with fresh chopped cilantro, mint or more ginger.

Video

Notes

    • Nutrition will vary based on portion sizes, quality of ingredients and choice of meat. 
    • Choosing Meat - I personally find the taste to be better when I use bone in meat like mutton or goat meat. However if you cannot find, boneless lamb will work too.
    • Don't skimp on oil - Else the taste from bhunai will not come through. Plain and simple, you need oil to bhuno meat. That said, the oil quantity mentioned in the recipe card is for goat meat which tends to be leaner. If using lamb, use less oil.
    • Use a Heavy Bottom Pressure Cooker- A heavy bottom cooking pot or cooker maintains even heat distribution and prevents the meat from sticking or burning during the bhunai. Though the instant pot gets the job done, I personally favor the pressure cooker or stove top pot for this dish.
    • Bhunai and slow cooking - Even though we use pressure cooker to tenderize the meat, a lot of deep flavors develop in the meat while we bhuno it. This long and constant bhunai or frying makes this dish different from usually goat or lamb curry.
Serving suggestions
  • Traditional Indian way to serve bhuna gosht is with tawa roti, roomali roti or paratha (indian bread cooked on griddle). However, we love it with doughy naan too. Add sliced onions, a fresh salad like kachumber, boondi raita and green chutney to brighten up your indian meal spread.
  • You could definitely serve with steamed basmati rice.
  • If you are making bhuna gosht with boneless meat like lamb, you could shred the lamb using fork and pile on top of dinner rolls.
  • A tangy side such as a pickle - garlic achaar or tamarind chutney will also balance the taste of this dish
 

Nutrition

Calories: 472kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 26gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 16gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 111mgSodium: 735mgPotassium: 464mgFiber: 2gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 247IUVitamin C: 6mgCalcium: 63mgIron: 3mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!