Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Chippa Gosht
Chippa Gosht (Lamb Cooked in a Clay Pot)

Chippa Gosht

Lamb Cooked in a Clay Pot
Non-vegetarian●●●Origin HyderabadPrep 10 minutes, plus marinating timeCook 1¼–1¾ hours

Tender chunks of lamb slow-cooked in an earthenware pot with warming aromatics and finished with a sharp squeeze of citrus.

Marinade aromatics

25 gCombined with salt to coat the lamb (step 1)
Mix together into a uniform wet paste.

Everything else

01
2.5 g½ teaspoon
vegetable
02
Lamb · Goshtcut into 5-cm / 2-inch pieces
1000 g
meat
03
114 g125 ml
oil/fat
04
15 g1 tablespoon
souring agent
05
to taste
salt
06
~1 gsprig
herb

Method

  1. In a shallow dish, stir together the marinade aromatics with salt to taste. Add 1000 g lamb, tossing thoroughly to coat every piece evenly. Cover and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 1½ hours.
  2. Set an earthenware pot or heavy casserole over low-medium heat and warm 114 g vegetable oil. Tip in the marinated meat and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all released liquid has evaporated.
  3. Pour in 125 ml of water, cover tightly, and gently simmer for 1 to 1½ hours until the lamb is fully tender, splashing in a small amount of additional water if the pot turns dry.
  4. Stir through 15.3 g lemon juice and scatter over 1 g chopped coriander leaf just before serving.

Don't have something?

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Chilli powder
  • Red chilli powder

    Use 100% of the weight. Provides direct, sharp heat and red colour in equal measure.

  • Kashmiri chilli powder

    Use 150% to 200% of the weight if matching colour, but add a pinch of black pepper or hot chilli if you need equivalent fiery heat.

  • Cayenne pepper

    Use 75% to 100% of the weight. Offers a sharp, clean heat with slightly less earthy depth and less crimson colour.

Ginger paste
  • Fresh ginger

    Use equal weight; peel and grate very finely on a microplane or pound to a fine paste in a mortar.

  • Ginger

    Use equal weight; mince finely and crush with the flat of a knife before frying.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% of the weight; add directly with the dry spice powders, though it yields an earthier, less pungent profile.

Garlic paste
  • Garlic

    Use equal weight; crush or finely grate to a smooth pulp to replicate the same fresh, pungent moisture in your base gravy.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 20 to 25% of the weight; mix with a teaspoon of water before adding to oil so it does not burn, noting it lacks the fresh bite.

Raw papaya paste
  • Green papaya paste

    Use the same weight; blend peeled green papaya. Very close, but may be slightly weaker as a tenderiser.

  • Unripe papaya paste

    Use the same weight; blend peeled unripe papaya. Similar, with a little more sweetness.

  • Raw papaya

    Use the same weight; peel, deseed and blend to a paste. Fresher and stronger than a stale paste.

Lamb
  • Pork

    Use equal weight of pork shoulder or collar; cut into identical cubes and braise, reducing cooking time by 15-20 minutes.

  • Chicken

    Use equal weight of bone-in chicken thighs; curry simmers in roughly 25 minutes instead of over an hour, with a much lighter sauce.

Vegetable oil
  • Peanut oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Handles high-heat frying identically and introduces a very subtle, pleasant nuttiness.

  • Ghee

    Use 1:1 by weight. Yields a much richer, authentic aroma and a glossy, heavier mouthfeel.

  • Mustard oil

    Use 1:1 by weight. Heat until smoking, then cool slightly before cooking to temper its intensely pungent, sharp mustard kick.

Lemon juice
  • Lime juice

    Use equal volume or weight; delivers almost identical sharp acidity with a faintly more aromatic, bitter-edged profile.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use 25% of the weight (about 1 g amchoor for 4 g juice); provides clean fruity tartness without thinning the sauce.

  • White vinegar

    Use 75% of the volume; gives direct sourness without any citrus floral fragrance.

Coriander leaf
  • Coriander

    Use equal weight finely chopped; this is the exact same fresh herb.

  • Mint

    Use half the weight finely chopped; provides vibrant green freshness, though the flavour profile becomes noticeably cooler and sharper.

Similar dishes

Bhuna Keema
Roasted Minced (Ground) Lamb
Bhuna Keema tastes more pungent, herbaceous, and sharply acidic than this dish due to the fresh green chillies, mint, and extra lemon juice, balanced by the sweetness of browned onions.
  • Same: Bhuna Keema uses the same base of lamb cooked in vegetable oil with turmeric, chilli powder, ginger, garlic, coriander leaf, and lemon juice.
  • Different: Bhuna Keema uses dry-fried ground lamb instead of clay-pot-stewed meat chunks, incorporating a large amount of sliced onions, fresh green chillies, mint, and twice as much lemon juice.
Bhuna Gosht (I)
Spicy Roast Lamb
It tastes more savory and naturally sweet from caramelized onions, lacking the sharp citrus tang of this dish.
  • Same: Bhuna Gosht (I) also slow-cooks lamb in vegetable oil using ginger paste, garlic paste, ground turmeric, and chilli powder.
  • Different: It adds a large base of onions and reduces the sauce dry rather than cooking in a clay pot with lemon juice and fresh coriander.
Tala Gosht
Fried Lamb
Tala Gosht is richer and more intensely browned with crisp edges, lacking the tart citrus brightness found in this dish.
  • Same: Tala Gosht also features lamb seasoned with ginger paste, garlic paste, ground turmeric, and chilli powder cooked in vegetable oil.
  • Different: Tala Gosht is pan-fried in twice as much vegetable oil rather than slow-cooked in an earthenware pot, and it omits the lemon juice and coriander leaf.
Rarha Meat
Pot-roasted Lamb
Rarha Meat tastes richer and tangier from yogurt and whole spices, with a thick clinging gravy, while this dish is sharper from lemon and simpler in spice.
  • Same: Rarha Meat shares lamb, turmeric, chilli powder, ginger paste, garlic paste, salt and coriander leaf with this dish, and both are slow-cooked lamb dishes.
  • Different: Rarha Meat uses yogurt as the souring agent, ghee or vegetable oil, whole cinnamon, black cardamom and bay leaf, plus onion, tomato and garam masala; it lacks this dish's lemon juice, raw papaya paste and clay-pot cooking.