This Bengali Mutton Curry recipe, cooked without onion and garlic is often cooked to be offered to the deity as ‘bhog‘. Spiced with Indian spices like black peppercorn, cinnamon, and cardamoms, this mutton curry of niramish pathar mangsho is a highlight of Bengali food.

Here in this post, apart from sharing my family’s niramish pathar mangshor jhol recipe, I will tell you why this Bengali mangshor jhol is called ‘niramish‘ and what is the purpose of this kind of cooking. Let’s start with understanding the concept of ‘niramish‘ cooking in Bengali ranna.

Find the video recipe for this Bhoger Niramish Mangsho or recipe of Bengali Mutton Curry without onion & garlic below in the post.

What is ‘niramish ranna’ (নিরামিষ) in Bengali cuisine?

The term ‘niramish‘ basically stands for vegetarian, meaning devoid of anything ‘amish‘ (pronounced as ‘aa-mish’) or non-vegetarian food items. In Bengali cuisine, non-vegetarian food has a much wider meaning. Apart from meat, fish, and eggs, anything that is thought to be a heat-producing food falls into this category. Hence, the list of non-vegetarian food items in Bengali cuisine is much wider.

As I said meat, fish, and eggs are considered ‘amish‘ or non-vegetarian food items. There are some plant-based foods on this list as well. For instance, in Bengali cooking both onion and garlic are considered non-vegetarian ingredients. So, our নিরামিষ niramish recipes would be completely devoid of these two vegetables.

Similarly, red lentils or masoor dal is also not used in Bengali niramish ranna recipes.

Now coming back to my Niramish Pathar mangsho recipe or VEGETARIAN mutton curry!! A bit of an oxymoron, right? Allow me to share a bit more about the origin of this niramish mangshor jhol and how it became an integral part of our family menu.

Kalipujor Bhoger Pathar Mangsho – Bengali Goat Meat Curry without Onion and garlic

Although discontinued in practice now, earlier every major festival would witness ‘pantha boli‘ where the sacrificial lamb or goat would be sacrificed and offered to the deity to gain blessings. This lamb meat or goat meat would be cooked by the temple’s priest or ‘purohit‘ using a recipe somewhat similar to this one. A mutton curry recipe without any onion or garlic.

In most cases, this offering of mutton curry would be then passed on to the priests and their families as ‘prasad’.

My family’s special: Bhattacharjee bari’r niramish mangsho

My thakuma or paternal grandmother never allowed chicken meat to enter her household, let alone the kitchen. You see in earlier days, it was considered impure and beneath the ‘brahmins‘ to consume chicken. However, mutton or lamb meat was always considered appropriate and hence relished on special occasions.

It was only after she and the rest of the family were ordained into the school of the principles laid by the renowned hermit Lahiri Mahasaya, that several lifestyle changes were adopted. One of such rules was shunning the use and consumption of onion and garlic. Henceforth, my grandmother’s kitchen practices were altered and several Bengali recipes in a niramish or vegetarian format were adopted for everyday cooking

My mother didn’t receive any such instruction to alter food preparation or cooking styles. Hence, we grew up eating everything, but whenever we would visit my grandma during vacations, she or my aunt would make this special niramish pathar mangshor jhol.

So, this niramish mangsho ranna or mutton curry would be made whenever it is offered to a deity as an ‘offering’ or when the consumption of onion and garlic is forbidden for some reason. It could be religious, dietary, or anything.

Instructions on how to make Niramish Pathar Mangshor Jhol

• Pressure cook the mutton with ½ cup Water, Salt, Turmeric Powder, and whole Peppercorns.
• Meanwhile coarsely crush the whole spices like Cardamoms and Cloves and grind the ginger and tomatoes into a paste.
• Heat some ghee in the pan and add the hing or asafoetida. Give it a stir before adding the Mustard Oil and let it heat up.
• Add the Bay Leaf, Cumin Seeds, Cinnamon, and coarsely crushed spices. Let the spices sizzle for a couple of seconds before adding the ginger-tomato mix.
• Fry the mix till it reduces to half. Once you see the oil separating at the edge, add the pre-cooked mutton pieces and mix everything.
• Adjust the seasoning, and add Salt if needed. Add the Red Chili powder as per taste and Garam Masala powder.
• If needed, add more water for gravy as needed.

This pathar mangshor jhol or mutton curry recipe calls for usual Indian spices, like cardamoms, cinnamon, peppercorns, etc., and tomatoes and ginger. It is a straightforward recipe that requires no marination and very little preparation.

I pressure-cooked the mutton pieces with some salt, freshly crushed peppercorns, and water to reduce the cooking time. Later, I finished the rest of the cooking in a heavy bottom pan.

In the original recipe, the ratio of ghee to mustard oil is 2:1. However, I reversed it and made it slightly less fatty.

Many people fear that without onions and garlic, there would be a strong odor of the goat meat in this dish, however, I can 100% assure you that you won’t find anything unpleasant with this recipe, except that you will not stop cooking this once you have had this! There is simply no going back to the regular Mangshor Jhol or Bengali Mutton Curry.

Durga pujo bhog menu also comprises khichuri, which is the Indian counterpart of Italian Risotto made up of rice and lentils. There is a bhoger khichuri recipe on my blog which is again niramish (vegetarian), gluten-free, and paleo diet-friendly. 

Check out some more Chicken & Meat based Bengali recipes: 

• Kosha Mangsho│Bengali Mutton Pot Roast Recipe
• Instant Pot Bengali Mutton Curry Recipe
• Kosha Murgir Mangsho | Bengali Chicken Kosha Recipe (Instant Pot & Stove Top Method)
• Mangsher Ghugni Recipe
• Instant Pot Bengali Mutton Curry Recipe
• Murgir Jhol | Bengali Chicken Curry Recipe
• Chicken Rezala Recipe
• Kolkata Chicken Egg Roll Recipe
• Bengali Moglai Porota | Mughlai Parantha Recipe
• Bengali Mutton Keema Aloo Matar Recipe

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Video recipe for Niramish Pathar mangshor recipe:

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