Simple Mutton Curry

Last week while I was at the Farmer's market, I picked up some mutton. I have found it difficult to get the right mutton here in the US. Although it's easy to find complicated cuts like lamb shanks, mutton chops, ground lamb, rib chops or even lamb rib crown roast chops, it is difficult to find plain old mutton to make either a stew or mutton curry. I have found it a few times in Publix, but for the most part I rely on Pakistani mutton shops that sell Halal meat or the Mexican Farmer's market.
Ok, now after all my ranting about the inability to find the right meat cuts, let me get down to the topic at hand; the recipe for mutton curry.
I wanted to make a simple yet flavorful mutton dish today, without having to roast and grind too many masalas or babysit the meat as it took its own sweet time cooking. So this recipe calls for the simplest ingredients, which I hope are available in every Indian kitchen and is made using a pressure cooker.

Ingredients
•Mutton: 2 lbs, around a kilo
•Onions, chopped: 2 large
•Oil: 1 tbsp
•Ghee: 1 tbsp
•Bay leaves: 2
•Green cardamoms: 4
•Black cardamom: 1
•Cinnamon: 1.5 inch piece
•Cloves: 3
•Black peppercorns: 4
•Ginger Garlic paste: 2 tbsp
•Red Pepper/Chilli powder: 2 tbsp
•Turmeric powder: 1/2 tbsp
•Garam Masala/All spice powder: 1 tsp
•Yogurt/Curd: 3/4 cup
•Water: 2 cups
•Wheat flour/ Maida: for thickening (optional)
•Salt to taste

Kitchen Items Required
•A pressure cooker
•A clean colander to strain the meat
•Wooden Spatula

Method

1)Clean, wash and cut mutton into 1/2 inch pieces.
2)Place the pressure cooker on heat, add oil and ghee. Add chopped onions and fry till they become translucent. Now add the whole spices (cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamoms, bay leaves and pepper corns) and continue frying till the onions get golden brown.
3)Add in the ginger garlic paste and masalas (chilli, turmeric, all spice powders) and mix well till oil starts leaving the sides.
4)Drain the water in the mutton through a colander and add it to the cooking mixture. Keep mixing till the meat is well infused with the masala. Continue cooking for about 5 mins.
5) Add yogurt, mix it well and add about 2 cups of water into the mixture
6) Pressure cook the meat for about 15 -20 mins, or till it is done.
7) Open the lid and check for the consistency of gravy. Add salt to taste.
If you want a thicker gravy,just mix in a tbsp of wheat flour or maida in a cup of water and add it to the gravy. This is an optional step. Keep stirring till the gravy thickens.
8) Serve hot with Indian bread or Rice.

Note:
a)Needless to say, this recipe can easily be cooked even without a pressure cooker. The cooking time will increase. Keep the lid tightly closed when cooking the meat.
b)Another variation of this dish is to replace yogurt by finely diced tomatoes. Only, add the tomatoes after the meat is cooked, instead of cooking them earlier. The biggest difference here would be in the color of the dish. The taste is not affected much, since we replace one acid for another.
c)If the curd you have is very sour, reduce the quantity. You can always add a little vinegar in the end if the dish requires more acid.