Theres nothing quite like the smell of Mutton Soup, especially on cold days or when you’re feeling under the weather. Amma made soup fairly often. Special ingredients for this dish included ‘soup bones’- these were pieces of bone with a few ounces of meat still left on them.Old habbits die hard – I still ‘collect’ my soup bones. Everytime I buy a leg of lamb I ask the butcher to debone it and to cut the bones into smaller pieces, I store these in the freezer until I have enough for a pot of soup!
As kids, my sisters and I loved eating the bone marrow inside soup bones. In recent years soup has grown in popularity. It is not just easy to make but considered super healthy too. In wake of the Paleo diet and Carnivore Diet, the use of bones in soup is now common too. Bone broth, the end product of boiling bones with meat is nutritious and even available as a supplement to take.
How to Make Mutton Soup
Mutton in this recipe, refers to sheep meat. You can also use beef or lamb. If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know by now that I like browning meat, be it to make curry, biryani or soup! Not only does it look good but meat is also more tender when browned and it seals in flavours. In my opinion key ingredients to a good soup are browned meat, lots of onions and lots of black pepper. Unlike most of Amma’s dishes, soup does not contain much spice- just black pepper and onion for flavour. It does not contain any stock, making it one of the simplest soup recipes to make.
To make soup I start by browning the meat in a non stick pan, on high heat until I achieve the desired golden brown colour. I then add onions, to cook along with the meat until it caramelizes. I then move the meat to a heavy based pot. Add vegetables and water. Top with oinions then allow to simmer on low heat. To thicken the soup I use a grated potato or flour. Soup can be eaten on its own or served with dumplings or bread.
Mutton Soup Recipe
Mutton Soup Recipe
Ingredients:
- 2kg lamb or mutton meat including bones
- 2 onions sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon of black pepper corns
- 1 tablespoon thyme or 3 sprigs of thyme
- 2 cups of vegetables of choice (e.g peas, beans, carrots, cauliflower)
- 3 cups water
- Optional: Potatoes
- Thickener
- 2 tablespoon flour + half cup water combined
Instructions:
- Start by browning the meat. This will also determine the color of your soup-the more brown the meat the more brown the color of your soup. Add some onion (half). Make sure the meat ‘seals’ i.e. it’s is browned on both sides.
- Add pepper corns and thyme and let the onions caramelise
- Add a cup of water then add all vegetables. Add salt then let the soup cook until the vegetables are cooked. I like to add sliced onions while the soup is cooking, this gives the soup its rich taste.
- Once the potatoes are soft you can thicken your soup. If you prefer your soup weaker then omit the next step.
- To thicken the soup Amma used flour and water. Mix flour with water to form a thin paste. Pour this into your soup then mix well. Allow two minutes to boil then remove from stove. Serve while warm.
- Amma served her Mutton Soup with dumplings. She used to add them on top of the soup then turn the heat to low allowing them 10-12 minutes to cook.
Did you make this recipe?
More Mutton Recipes
Durban Mutton Curry
Mutton Biryani
