This mutton bone broth soup has warm aromatic spices like ginger, black peppercorn, coriander, and curry leaves for a nourishing and brothy soup.
What is mutton?
Mutton in Indian cooking refers to goat. This can be super confusing because the term in the United States often refers to lamb instead of goat. However, in this recipe and in most Indian recipes, mutton = goat and NOT lamb.
How to buy mutton
The best place to source mutton, aka goat, is an Indian, Pakistani, or Halal meat store. If you go to an Indian store and don't see it readily available, ask the store clerk as they may have it in the back or may receive deliveries on certain days of the week.
For this recipe, you want to buy mutton bones that are about 1 inch cubes with a bit of meat on them. For really tender cuts of mutton, ask for pieces from the lower back and back leg with the bone in.
Substitutes for mutton
Mutton tastes similar to lamb, except it is less grassy and less intense than lamb. The best substitutes for mutton in order of preference is:
- Lamb - The flavor of lamb is a bit more intense than the flavor of goat. To compensate for that and to make the broth feel lighter, I filter more of the lamb fat out of this broth.
- Pork
- Beef
- Dark Meat Chicken
Instant pot vs. stovetop methodology
You can opt for a pressure cooker, an Instant Pot, or a stovetop method for this recipe.
- Stovetop method doesn't require fancy equipment, just a stock pot.
- Instant Pot method doesn't require you to look after the soup. You can simply punch in the time to cook and walk away. With the stovetop method, you want to make sure you check the pot occasionally to ensure that there is enough broth.
- Instant Pot method uses high pressure for faster cook time. The stovetop takes a bit longer to simmer the soup until the meat is tender.
Overall, I prefer the Instant Pot as I can add all the ingredients to one pot and then walk away to do other chores. However, I've included both methodologies in case you don't own an Instant Pot.
Mutton Bone Soup | Indian Bone Broth Soup
Product Reccs
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons (12 g) coriander seeds
- 2 tablespoons (16 g) black peppercorns
- 1 teaspoon (3 g) cumin seeds
- 3 inch (40 g) ginger , cut roughly into 1 inch slices
- 4 (10 g) garlic cloves
- 1 lbs 1 inch meaty mutton bones goat
- 8 cups water
- 1 medium yellow onion skin peeled off and cut in half
- 1 ½ tablespoon sea salt plus more to taste
- ⅛ teaspoon turmeric
Thalipu/Tadka
- 2 teaspoons oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried red chilis
- 20 curry leaves
Instructions
- Add 3 tablespoons (12 g) coriander seeds, 2 tablespoons (16 g) black peppercorns, and 1 teaspoon (3 g) cumin seeds to a small pan. Heat the pan to medium heat and dry roast the spices until the spices become fragrant or start popping. Remove the spices and set aside to briefly cool.
- Take a cheesecloth; add the toasted spices, 3 inch (40 g) ginger, and 4 (10 g) garlic cloves; and tie with butcher's twine to create a spice satchel. If you don’t have a cheesecloth, you can filter the spices out using a fine mesh strainer at the end of the broth making process.
- Stovetop instructions: Add spice satchel, mutton, water, onion halves, salt, and turmeric to a large stock pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover the pot and reduce heat to medium-low for 2-3 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone. Instant Pot instructions: Add all the ingredients to the Instant Pot and set on the high pressure setting for 50 minutes. You can release the pressure in the Instant Pot or allow it to naturally vent.
- Once the soup is done simmering, allow it to briefly cool. Take a large clean heat-proof bowl to pour the soup into. If using a spice satchel, simply remove the spice satchel and fish the big pieces of onions out. If you didn’t use a spice satchel, filter out the soup with a fine mesh strainer and use tongs to add the mutton pieces back into the filtered broth.
- Make the tadka/thalipu: When the soup is done with the long simmer, add 2 teaspoons oil to one side of a small sauté pan on medium heat. Add the ½ teaspoon cumin seeds into the oil and wait until they start dancing or popping in the oil. Once they do, add the 3 dried red chilis and 20 curry leaves. The curry leaves will pop in the oil, at which point you can turn off the heat. Pour the spices and infused oil on top of the mutton soup.
- Taste for salt and add more to your liking. Ladle bone broth soup into a bowl and drink on its own or with cooked basmati rice.
Notes and Tips
- Once the mutton soup has cooled, the fat will solidify at the top. If you want a fattier soup you can leave this in. Otherwise, you can skim the fat off the top of the soup.
- You can source mutton, aka goat meat, at your local Indian, Pakistani, or Halal meat store.
- A good substitute for goat is lamb. Lamb tends to be grassier and fattier than mutton (goat) so feel free to skim some of the fat off if you use this kind of meat.
Madi
Super delicious!! This was so straightforward to put together and the depth of flavor was incredible. We’ll definitely make it again. It would be great on a super cold day!
Shri Repp
Thank you so much for the kind words! I'm so glad that you liked the recipe 🙂