Meat & Mutton Masala

Meat masala is a blend for red meat, usually darker and more heavily spiced than chicken masala, with more black pepper, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom to stand up to lamb, mutton and beef. The range includes all purpose meat and mutton curry masalas, blends for keema and kofta, achar gosht with its pickling spices, and Bangladeshi kala bhuna and mezbani beef, the slow-cooked dishes of Chittagong. An egg curry masala sits here too, since it suits the same rich gravy.

Pick an everyday meat masala for a weekday lamb or mutton curry, and a recipe blend when you are cooking a dish with its own identity, such as achar gosht, kofta or mezbani beef. Pakistani and Bangladeshi packets tend to be hot and salted, so adjust the salt in the recipe. For large family gatherings, tubs are easier than several small sachets.

Meat curries need time. Brown the meat well with onions before adding the masala and a little water, then cook gently until the oil separates and rises to the top, a sign the spices are fully cooked. A pressure cooker cuts mutton time considerably. See chicken masala for poultry, haleem and nihari masala for slow stews, and the other masalas.