Name: Mutton Dak Bungalow
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 95 min
Ingredients: 500 grams Mutton ((cut and cleaned properly)); 2 tablespoons Curd; 5 pieces Potatoes ((peeled and cleaned properly)); 4 pieces Eggs ((boiled)); 3 pieces Onions ((sliced thinly)); 1 tablespoon Turmeric Powder; 1 tablespoon Red Chili Powder; 1 tablespoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder; 3 tablespoon Mustard Oil; Salt to Taste; 2 pieces Dry Chilies; 1 piece Cinnamon; 6 pieces Green Cardamom; 1 piece Black Cardamom; 4 pieces Cloves; 1 piece Bay Leaf; 15 pieces Black Pepper; 1 tablespoon Whole Coriander Seeds; ½ tablespoon Whole Cumin Seeds; ¼ piece Nutmeg; ¼ piece Mace; 1 inch Ginger; 2 pieces Garlic

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I had my experience of Mutton Dak Bungalow at a friend’s place in Kolkata. I remember wondering how come I had never had it before. This colonial-era curry born in the kitchens of the dak bungalows has a certain elegance that is lost in those that use store-bought masala. I must admit, I have made a few changes to her recipe. It is my preferred version, made with hand-ground spices and mustard oil.

Table of Contents

Before You Start:

Mutton Dak Bungalow is a flavorful dish made with a blend of specific spices and potatoes in a thick mutton gravy.
The dish is not very hot but has a subtle sweetness from onions.
Dak Bungalows were government buildings and resting places for travelers during the colonial times, and the dish is named after them.
The recipe includes marinating the mutton, frying potatoes and eggs, and cooking the mutton with spices until tender.
From start to finish, it takes me around 1 hour and 45 minutes to cook this dish.
Mutton Dak Bungalow can be served with accompaniments like paratha, steamed rice, pulao, or bread to enhance the meal. It is spicy, savory, tangy, and fragrant, appealing to meat lovers.
If you like this, I would suggest you to try mutton kosha, mutton curry, and mutton rogan josh for a variety of taste experience.

The Ingredients:

Mutton: 500 gms (cut and cleaned)

Curd: 2 tablespoons (Properly Whisked)

Ginger-Garlic Paste: 1-inch ginger and 2 Big Size Garlic Cloves

Potatoes: 5 (Properly Peeled and Washed)

Eggs: 4 Boiled

Onions: 3 (Sliced)

Turmeric: 1 tablespoon

Red Chilli Powder: 1 tablespoon

Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder: 1 tablespoon

Mustard Oil: 3 tablespoons

Salt to Taste

Whole Spices:

Dry Chilies: 2

Cinnamon: 1 Stick

Green Cardamoms: 6

Black Cardamom: 1

Cloves: 4

Bay Leaf: 1

Black Pepper: 15

Whole Coriander Seeds: 1 tablespoon

Whole Cumin Seeds: ½ tablespoon

Nutmeg: ¼ piece

Mace: ¼ piece

How to Cook Mutton Dak Bungalow (Step by Step Images)?

1. Add curd, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, Kashmiri red chilli powder, 2tbl tablespoons of mustard oil and salt to the mutton.

2. Mix everything, cover the marinated mutton, and leave it for half an hour. Proper marination is important so that flavours of spices penetrate mutton pieces.

(Pro Tip: If not in a hurry, I suggest overnight marination in the fridge. It deepens flavour far better than 30 minutes.)

3. Dry roast the whole spices and grind them to make a fine and distinctly flavourful blend.

4. Put a cooking pan on the gas stove to heat up.

5. Add oil as needed to the pan and fry the whole potatoes. Make sure the potatoes are forked at different places so that salt easily gets into them.

(Pro Tip: I sometimes soak forked potatoes in salted water for 10 minutes before frying. It makes them crispier.)

6. After the potatoes turn red on both sides, take them out of the pan.

7. Now fry the boiled eggs in oil and take them out in a pan.

8. Pour more oil (if needed) into the pan.

9. As soon as the oil is heated up, add onion and fry it until it gets brown.

10. Add marinated mutton to the pan.

11. Mix well in the pan and place a lid on the pan. Make sure to cook the dish on a high flame.

12. After a few minutes, remove the lid and add 1 tablespoon of roasted spices.

13. Mix well and place the lid once again. You don’t need to add water at this stage as marinated mutton will release enough water.

14. Wait for 10-15 minutes and remove the lid. Mutton has already started releasing oil and gravy is getting thick, which means it’s time to turn off the oven.

15. Transfer the mutton into a pressure cooker and pour hot water (as per your requirement) into the cooker.

16. Pressure cook the mutton until meat is enough tender (2-3 whistles).

17. Open the pressure cooker carefully and let the steam go out completely.

18. Add fried potatoes, stir well and cook for a few minutes (3 whistles).

19. Turn off the flame. Carefully open the lid.

20. Retransfer the Button Dak Bungalow to the cooking pan.

21. After the gravy comes to a boil, add fried boiled eggs and give a good stir. Place the lid and let it cook for 5 minutes.

22. Remove the lid and add roasted spices for final flavor and stir.

23. Mutton Dak Bungalow is ready. Serve it with steamed rice, pulao, paratha, luchi, naan, roti, or bread.

Simple Recipe Twists

Sometimes I substitute mustard oil with ghee for a richer gravy.
I had also added a dash of radhuni once for the authentic Bengali flavor.
I used slit green chillies often in place of dried red chillies.
I make this with chicken too. It tastes equally nice.
I added a handful of fenugreek leaves towards the end once, which gave it a nice bitterness to cut through the richness.

Mutton Dak Bungalow Recipe Easy Remedies

Q: My gravy has become too runny. Do you know what went wrong?

A: I think you probably added some more water than required in Step 15. In future add just enough water to cover the mutton as marinade also contains a lot of water.

Q: The mutton is still tough even when pressure cooked. What to do now?

A: Cook for 1-2 more whistles in Step 16. Sometimes I have had to do this if the mutton pieces are thick.

Q: My curry is too spicy. What can I do to make it less spicy?

A: I sometimes experience this. I add a boiled potato or a spoon of curd in Step 21.