Gushtabaگوشتابہ
Video: Get Curried (YouTube)
Gushtaba is the dish that crowns every Kashmiri Wazwan feast — a large, lustrous meatball of hand-pounded mutton floating in a velvety yogurt gravy perfumed with fennel and dried ginger. It is served last at the Wazwan, signalling the close of the meal, and its appearance at the table marks the highest hospitality. The secret is in the pounding: the meat is worked until silky and almost paste-like, giving these meatballs their uniquely smooth, bouncy texture. Nothing about it is quick, and that is entirely the point.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
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Ingredients
- ▪boneless mutton shoulder, hand-pounded500g
- ▪mutton fat (suet or tail fat)75g
- ▪dried ginger powder (sonth)1½ tsp
- ▪fennel powder (mouri/saunf powder)2 tsp
- ▪black cardamom pods2
- ▪whole cloves4
- ▪green cardamom powder½ tsp
- ▪full-fat yogurt, whisked smooth500g
- ▪mustard oil2 tbsp
- ▪water700ml
- ▪saltto taste
- Outside South Asia, use bone-in lamb leg (not pre-ground mince): buy whole and pound at home. Pre-ground mince produces a softer, looser meatball that won't hold its shape in the gravy.
- Mutton tail fat gives the richest flavour; substitute with 75g cold unsalted butter or lamb fat from a halal butcher outside South Asia.
- Sonth, saunf powder, and black cardamom are available at South Asian or Middle Eastern grocery stores and online retailers like Patel Brothers or Spice Jungle.
Method
- 1Pound the mutton and fat together in a stone mortar (or pulse in a food processor without water) until extremely smooth and cohesive, almost like a paste. Season with 1 tsp sonth, 1 tsp saunf powder, green cardamom powder, and 1 tsp salt; mix in thoroughly.
- 2Wet your palms with cold water and shape the mixture into 6 large balls the size of a tangerine. Refrigerate for 20 minutes to firm up.
- 3Heat mustard oil in a wide heavy pot until smoking; reduce heat. Add black cardamom pods and cloves; let them sputter 30 seconds.
- 4Add 700ml water, remaining sonth and saunf powder, and 1½ tsp salt. Bring to a gentle boil, carefully lower the meatballs in, and simmer uncovered over low heat for 30 minutes without stirring.
- 5Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon. Raise heat and reduce the cooking liquid by half.
- 6Whisk yogurt well and add it in a slow, steady stream to the pot, stirring constantly over low heat — never let it boil hard or it will split.
- 7Return the meatballs to the yogurt gravy and simmer very gently for 15 minutes, basting occasionally, until the gravy coats a spoon. Serve with steamed Kashmiri rice.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.