Dalcha Recipe Hyderabadi with Mutton

Dalcha with mutton and kaddu is yet another Hyderabadi cuisine often made with meat or mutton mixed in bottle gourd (kaddu) and dal(lentils). It is the most common dish made in Hyderabad.

This recipe has been passed on since Nizam's era and will stay here forever.

Other recipes from the blog are mutton curry recipes, indian chicken drumstick recipes, dal gosht, and eid special biryani.

Jump to:

• About dalcha
• Ingredients
• Step-by-step procedure
• Recipe

About dalcha

Mutton Dalcha is usually prepared during lunchtime. It is a perfect combination with Bagara khana.

Not just mutton, but one can even add chicken or veggies and make chicken dalcha or veg dalcha.

To the Dalcha in Hyderabad, we generally add kaddu(lauki in Hindi or bottle gourd in English) as the combination of meat, lauki, and lentils(toovar dal)  along with spices makes the dish very tasty.

It is a dal gosht dalcha mixed with lentils, non-veg, and veg and combined to make a delicious side dish to be eaten with any rice recipe, mainly bagara rice.

Adding meat with bones in the  Dalcha Recipe gives a delicious taste as the juice extracted from the bones and mixed into the daal brings a delicious taste.

Dalcha also brings a tangy flavor as the tamarind pulp is added while making the dish. Another Hyderabadi dal that is incomplete without adding tamarind is the Hyderabadi khatti dal.

The accompaniment that can go well with this recipe is the mutton fry recipe, or it is also good with shami kabab or chicken shami kabab and rice.

Tamarind pulp is the main ingredient, as the recipe does not taste good without tangy tamarind pulp.

It is made on occasion and is a beautiful side dish with special rice delicacies.

Here in this recipe, I have made dalcha with toovar dal(yellow lentils)/ toor dal. The same dalcha can be made without the mutton and is called kaddu dalcha.

Dalcha can also be prepared with chana dal and mutton, and to know more about that recipe, read my dalcha recipe from the blog.

It is a do-try dish when someone visits Hyderabad, and it should be served with bagara rice and shami kabab.

 Check out the detailed step-by-step procedure below on how to make dalcha.

Mutton recipes or curries

Other mutton recipes or curries to try out on the blog are lamb pasanda, mutton sukka, mutton do pyaza, indian coconut chicken curry, etc.

Ingredients

Mutton: I am using mutton with bones here as dalcha tastes good and releases juicy flavors in the curry if bones attached to lamb or mutton are added.

Using boneless mutton is not preferred as it does not produce the required taste.

Dal or lentils: Using toor dal is fine, but other combinations that go into making this dalcha is chana dal and toor dal combined, which also is a great option.

Only chana dal, too, can be used instead of toor dal.

Bottle gourd or kaddu: Dalcha in Hyderabad is incomplete without adding kaddu and the shape of the kaddu is long and cut diagonally to give an appealing look.

Using fresh kaddu helps in tenderizing the bottle gourd quickly. If Kaddu is hard enough, then cooking for one whistle is enough.

Onions and tomatoes: To give the curry a gravy texture and the needed taste, these ingredients go hand in hand and cannot be made without these two simple and yummy veggies.

Dry spices: Basic dry spices and ginger garlic paste are added to give the dal a delicious flavor.

Whole spices: These spices include cardamom, cinnamon, shahi zeera, bay leaf, cloves, etc...which make the dalcha aromatic.

Tamarind pulp: The central part of making the recipe is adding the tamarind extract, which gives a slight tangy touch to the dal and is an essential ingredient in making this recipe.

Herbs: adding green herbs such as curry leaves, chillies, and coriander leaves makes the dalcha highly flavorful and give the plain dal gosht a pleasant aroma.

Step-by-step procedure

Cooking dal

• In a pressure cooker, add toovar dal, turmeric powder, curry leaves, water, and pressure cook until the dal is tenderized. Cook it for about 10 minutes or 5-6 whistles.

• Mash it well without lumps and keep it aside.

Cooking mutton and mixing dal

Heat 3 tablespoon oil and add one cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves, ½ teaspoon shahi zeera, and bay leaf.

Add one large onion, finely sliced, and saute the onions until they turn soft.

Add 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste and saute for a few seconds to eliminate the raw smell. Then add 500 gms mutton with bones.

Saute the mutton until the color of the mutton changes.

Add two tomatoes, finely chopped. Also, add salt as per taste, 1 teaspoon red chili powder, and ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder.

Mix well and cook until the tomatoes turn soft.

Add one glass of water and mix well.

Pressure cook until mutton turns tender(4-5 whistles on low heat).

Reduce the steam and remove the lid. Add one medium size bottle of gourd/ kaddu pieces(peeled and cut into diagonal long pieces).

Mix, cover, and cook until the kaddu turns tender(10-12 minutes). If the bottle gourd is hard and firm, pressure cook for one whistle.

Stir in between. Add 1 cup of tamarind extracted pulp.

Add 1 cup cooked and mashed toor dal.

Give a good mix without lumps. Add 1 cup water or as per consistency required.

Also, add 8-10 fresh curry leaves, 2 tablespoon coriander leaves, add 3-4 green chillies. Adjust salt as per taste.

Add ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder. Mix well.

Add ½ tomato but its optional. Cover and bring it to a boil.

Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Serve the dalcha hot with bagara rice.

Recipe