Suthriyan is a delicacy enjoyed by the south indian muslim community in Chennai. It is a sumptuous one pot meal made with hand made pasta and meat cooked in a coconut and yogurt based sauce which is so delicious!
Suthriyan is a traditional indian muslim pasta dish mostly made with lamb/beef/veal or shrimp. Whenever I make it here in Canada, it brings back to me vivid memories of my past of how we enjoyed eating Lamb Suthriyan at our family get togethers and picnics, how we would all sit together around the pot of Suthriyan, heap up our plates and eat to our heart’s content till we wiped off the pot all clean. Oh, so delicious indeed were the lip smacking Suthriyan with the chunks of lamb melting in your mouth!
What are Suthriyan
Suthriyan are diamond shaped pasta hand made with wheat flour or maida especially among the south indian muslim community in Chennai, India.
How to make Suthriyan
Suthriyan (indian pasta) are made with white flour and are available in the stores in Chennai. There is another kind of suthriyan made with chappati flour (finely ground wheat flour) which are made at home by rolling out flat breads, cutting them into diamond shapes and then drying them on a piece of clean cloth spread on the table or in the sun. These are a bit chewy and not as soft as the white suthriyan which melt in the mouth.
How to cook Suthriyan
Suthriyan should be first cooked in boiling water and to which coconut milk is added after draining them before mixing in the gravy. This cooking technique not only enhances their flavour but also keeps them separate (does not make them stick together in clusters). If you add them directly to the gravy to cook them, they will not cook evenly and you will be left with some cooked and some half cooked ones. So it is sometimes better not to take short cuts.
How to choose the cut of lamb for making them
The cut of lamb that you choose is also important. It is preferable to add a few pieces of lamb breast along with the lamb shoulder with the bones for this recipe. The excessive fat on the top should be trimmed off leaving the thick wedge of edible fat (which is hard and doesn’t peel off) under which is the layer of soft meat on the bone and it should be cut into single short rib pieces. The soft and succulent shoulder pieces blend with the softness of the suthriyan pasta and melt in the mouth. The lamb breast is also soft and chewy and it adds more meaty flavour and taste. So delicious and yummy!
Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients
1.5 kg lamb Shoulder Shoulder meat plus some pieces of lamb breast
1 kg Suthriyan (hand made indian pasta
1 cup vegetable oil
5 large 1lb thinly sliced onions
4 large 400gmtomatoes quartered
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup cilantro
6 whole green chillies
1/2 a fresh lemon
200 gm ginger garlic paste
1 cup yogurt 3.5% or home made from whole milk.
2 cans coconut milk “Aroy D Coconut milk” or extract milk from 1 fresh coconut.
2 litres of water for boiling suthriyan
10 cloves
10 green cardamoms
2 X 2″ cinnamon sticks
1 tsp turmeric powder –
1/2 tsp red chilly powder optional
Salt to taste.
1 small sliced onion for tempering
2 tsp ghee Clarified butter
Instructions
1. Remove the skin, trim the fat, clean and wash the lamb pieces well and set aside.
2. In a pot heat the vegetable oil, add the whole spices – cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks to the oil immediately followed by the sliced onions. Sauté them on medium heat.
3. When the onions turn golden brown add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and red chilly powders.
4. Mix the spices then add the lamb pieces and roast them in the masala till they turn opaque and tighten a bit.
5. Now add the quartered tomatoes, whole green chillies, salt followed by thick whisked yoghurt, mint leaves and chopped cilantro. Mix well and pressure cook for 15 mins or cook on low medium heat on the stove top for 45mins – 1 hour till the lamb is soft and tender. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon after the lamb is cooked and let it simmer.
6. Add 1/2 a can of coconut milk (reserve the other half for later) and leave to simmer on low heat till the sauce thickens a bit and the oil comes to the top (another 10 minutes).
7. Meanwhile bring to boil 2 litres of water in a big pot. Add the Suthriyan slowly little by little while you keep stirring gently to keep them apart. Add 1 tbs of salt and 1 tbs of vegetable oil to the pot. Cook till just al dente. Switch off the stove. Drain the water not completely but retaining just one cup and then quickly add the the 2nd can of coconut milk.
8. Now add the cooked lamb with the sauce to the cooked Suthriyan. Simmer the pot on low while stirring gently from the bottom to mix well and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
9. Add more chopped cilantro and the reserved 1/2 can of coconut milk, mix well and let it simmer for sometime. Adjust the consistency – simmer longer if too thin and if too thick add a little water. It thickens very fast so avoid cooking on high heat after adding the Suthriyan to the sauce.
10. The final seasoning is done with a tadka or tempering. Sizzle the sliced onion in hot ghee (clarified butter) till golden brown and pour it over the Suthriyan in the serving dish. Garnish with mint and cilantro. Serve hot with some mint chutney on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
1. The Suthriyan are also available at the chinese grocery stores. But they are all made of white flour (maida/all purpose flour). The home made ones are the best as they are made of wheat flour and not rolled so thin, so they have some texture and consistency which I love.
2. Be careful not to overcook them while boiling, remove from stove once they are al dente because they continue to cook as long as the pot is hot. So when they cool down and are warm enough to eat, they have the right texture.
3. Use pure coconut milk without any preservatives or guar gum. I use Aroy – D because it is pure coconut milk extract and water and absolutely no preservatives. You can also use any other brand but which has no preservatives. This is because it affects the flavour and taste and also not a healthy choice.
Recipe
Lamb Suthriyan ( Indian pasta )
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg lamb Shoulder Shoulder meat plus some pieces of lamb breast
- 1 kg Suthriyan (hand made indian pasta
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 5 large 1lb thinly sliced onions
- 4 large 400gmtomatoes quartered
- 1/4 cup mint leaves
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 6 whole green chillies
- 1/2 a fresh lemon
- 200 gm ginger garlic paste
- 1 cup yogurt 3.5% or home made from whole milk.
- 2 cans coconut milk "Aroy D Coconut milk" or extract milk from 1 fresh coconut.
- 2 litres of water for boiling suthriyan
- 10 cloves
- 10 green cardamoms
- 2 X 2" cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp turmeric powder -
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder optional
- Salt to taste.
- 1 small sliced onion for tempering
- 2 tsp ghee Clarified butter
Instructions
- Remove the skin, trim the fat, clean and wash the lamb pieces well and set aside.
- In a pot heat the vegetable oil, add the whole spices - cloves, cardamom and cinnamon sticks to the oil immediately followed by the sliced onions. Sauté them on medium heat.
- When the onions turn golden brown add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric and red chilli powders.
- Mix the spices then add the lamb pieces and roast them in the masala till they turn opaque and harden a bit.
- Now add the quartered tomatoes, whole green chillies, salt followed by thick whisked yoghurt, mint leaves and chopped cilantro. Mix well and pressure cook for 15 mins or cook on low medium heat for 45mins - 1 hour till the lamb is soft and tender. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon after the lamb is cooked and let it simmer.
- Add 1/2 a can of coconut milk (reserve the other half for later) and leave to simmer on low heat till the sauce thickens a bit and the oil comes to the top (another 10 minutes).
- Meanwhile bring to boil 2 litres of water in a big pot. Add the Suthriyan slowly little by little while you keep stirring gently to keep them apart. Add 1 tbs of salt and 1 tbs of vegetable oil to the pot. Cook till just al dente. Switch off the stove. Drain the water not completely but retaining just one cup and then quickly add the the 2nd can of coconut milk.
- Now add the cooked lamb with the sauce to the cooked Suthriyan. Simmer the pot on low while stirring gently from the bottom to mix well and to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
- Add more chopped cilantro and the reserved 1/2 can of coconut milk, mix well and let it simmer for sometime. Adjust the consistency - simmer longer if too thin and if too thick add a little water. It thickens very fast so avoid cooking on high heat after adding the Suthriyan to the sauce.
- The final seasoning is done with a tadka or tempering. Sizzle the sliced onion in hot ghee (clarified butter) till golden brown and pour it over the Suthriyan in the serving dish. Garnish with mint and cilantro. Serve hot with some mint chutney on the side. Enjoy!
Fouzia Husainy
Thanks. Yes they taste yummy with shrimp as well.
Food Meanderings
Looks delicious! I am not a lamb girl, but I love the sound of this with shrimp!