Mutton Leg Roast (Raan)

Name: Mutton Leg Roast (Raan)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 420 min
Ingredients: 1½ tablespoon red chii flakes; 1 tablespoon coriander; 1 tablespoon cumin; 1 teaspoon black pepper; 1 teaspoon garam masala powder; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 kg mutton leg; 4 tablespoon lemon juice; 1 tablespoon ginger paste; 1 tablespoon garlic paste; ½ cup yogurt; ⅓ cup cream; ¼ cup chilli garlic sauce or ketchup; 2 tablespoon oil; 1 tablespoon chopped garlic; ½ teaspoon cumin; 6 red button chilies; 12 curry leaves (optional)

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4.95 from 36 votes

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This is a super easy and delicious mutton leg roast recipe or simply raan recipe. The recipe is simple, the trick in making raan roast is the soft melt-in-the-mouth meat that you get from this recipe.

Mutton raan served in a plate over black background.

Raan is a feast to be enjoyed especially in Eid ul Adha. Amongst all meat, I'm a big fan of mutton and the melt-in-the-mouth tenderness of this meat. Follow this recipe to the dot and you'd love the result. I usually make mutton raan in a pot but many visitors asked for instructions in the oven and I can tell you both versions are delicious and tender.

The recipe might get slightly confusing as I discussed both methods. Watch the video for the baked version of this recipe. The stove-top version is pretty simple anyway. Mutton leg is called raan in Urdu. In this post, both terms are used interchangeably.

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Why does this recipe work?
Ingredients
How to make it?
Variation
Expert Tips
Recipe FAQs
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My other mutton recipes worth trying are Yakhni Pulao , Lamb Karahi, Aloo Gosht, Mutton Kunna, and Mutton Soup.

Why does this recipe work?

Tenderise: A great step for a flavorful soft and juicy raan recipe without using commercial tenderizers is marination. We are using lemon juice and yogurt as natural meat tenderizers. Give the mutton leg a good 6-12 hours of marination. And you'll have a soft yummy mutton leg roast to enjoy.

Wet heat: We use wet heat to cook the mutton leg (raan)in the oven or in a pot which makes the meat soft and juicy.

Tempering: Then we finish off with aromatic spiced tempering that makes it tasty and tempting.

Gravy: The creamy raan gravy step is optional but not to be missed. It makes a perfect feast that could be served with bread or rice.

Ingredients

The Ingredients of the mutton raan recipe are common Indian spices that you probably have at home or you can easily get at an Indian store. Remember you can always substitute ground for whole spice with a little compromise in taste.

Choice of meat: The most crucial ingredient in this recipe is the mutton leg itself. The meat of a mature goat is tough and difficult to tenderize. The same is true for wild mountain goats.
Getting meat from a younger goat (but at least 2.4 years old not kids) can be helpful. Ask your butcher for the right meat. In the above image, I ask the butcher to break the leg bone so it easily fits in the pot or pan.
Spice Mix: For this raan roast, I made a spice mix using cumin, coriander, chili flakes, pepper, and garam masala. You can make it a few days ahead. More optional add-ins for raan spice mix are 1 tablespoon desiccated coconut and ½ tablespoon fennel seeds (sauf).
Ginger and garlic: Both control the meaty odors and help enhance the flavors.
Yogurt and lemon are tenderizers as well as tanginess to the raan roast.
Tempering spices: Apart from cumin and garlic which are easily available you can use these button chilies or dries red chilies like Thai or Peri-peri.
Ketchup and creamy lighten the spices in the gravy and help thicken the gravy.

How to make it?

Prepare Spice Mix and make Marinade:

Heat a pan and dry roast cumin, coriander, and pepper for 30 seconds. Now, also add powdered spices that are red chili flakes, garam masala powder, and salt. Roast for 2-3 seconds and transfer to a food processor.
Grind spice into a fine powder. Pass spice mix through a fine sieve, if needed, and discard the remains. Spice Mix is ready.
Make the marinade by mixing spice mix, ginger, garlic, lemon, yogurt, and 2 tablespoons in a bowl. Set aside.
Poke holes in the mutton leg so the marinade can seep in easily. Also, apply deep cuts across the grains about 1 inch apart.

Roasting and cooking:

Rub the marinade all over the mutton leg and marinate it for at least 4-6 hours at room temperature or 12-18 hours in the fridge.
Instruction for the oven: Preheat oven to 170°C/335°F (standard) or 150°C (fan). Add thick slices of an onion and whole garlic cloves to the baking dish. This will help raise the mutton leg above water.
Place the mutton leg over the onion slices. And add about 1½ cups of water to the baking tray. Cover the baking tray with the foil and bake covered for 2.5 hr or until fully tender. Add extra water if it has almost dried up. Check after 1.5 hours. (Watch video)
Instructions for stove top: Add two cups of water and mutton leg in a large pot. Seal the pot tightly and cook on medium heat for 2-3 hours. Check at the interval of 30 minutes or as needed. Adjust heat and water as needed. Flip the mutton leg once while cooking. Meat should get fully tender. Do not dry all gravy. We will use it to make gravy.

Instruction for Oven continues: Now roast the mutton leg uncovered for 25-30 minutes until browned.
Remove the mutton raan from the baking tray and transfer the platter.
For Gravy: Mix cream and ketchup (or chili garlic sauce) into the gravy and heat in the oven for 5 minutes. Or if there is a lot of water in gravy consider simmering gravy in a pan on high then add ketchup and cream. If cooking in the pot adds ketchup and cream directly to the pot and mix well. Simmer mutton raan for 5-7 minutes on low heat until thoroughly heated. Then serve.
For Tempering: Heat oil in a small pan and add all ingredients of tempering. Cook for 1 minute on medium heat. Then pour tempering over the raan roast.

Add gravy to the plater and serve. So that is how yummy the goat leg roast turns out with the Pakistani recipe. In the Pakistani version, you would serve this leg without gravy, with a number of chutneys and salads to accompany it. That's why gravy is optional in the recipe.

Variation

Glazed leg without gravy: Mix ketchup and cream in a bowl. Instead of making gravy cover the leg with ketchup and cream sauce. And roast in a preheated oven at 300 F for 7 minutes. Finish with tempering.
You can use beef broth instead of water in the baking tray or pot to make more flavorful gravy.
You can add potatoes and carrots towards the end in the baking tray for some roasted sides.

Expert Tips

Roasting time:

Baking time will depend on the weight of the mutton leg and the age of the lamb. I recommend using the mutton leg that weighs about 1.5-2 kg for this recipe. The baking time would be 2.5-3 hr covered and 30 minutes uncovered. Add 30 minutes extra in covered time for every ½ kg. Cooking time in a pot on the stovetop is almost the same as baking time except you skip the uncovered cooking time. These times are estimates always check with the fork to be sure of tenderness.

The larger mutton leg has more meat on top. Partially submerge the meaty side in the water for quicker cooking. You'll need extra water in the baking tray for the larger mutton leg.

Cooking pan:

Use oven-proof glass or good quality metal pan for baking as iron or other metal pans can leave a metallic flavor in the gravy.

Recipe FAQs

What is a raan?

Raan is the leg of a goat also called a mutton leg.

Which cooking technique is best for mutton?

Marination followed by slow cooking in wet heat works best. In both methods, we employed wet heat so the results are similar. But the oven method gives golden roasted lamb while the pot version gives softer juicy lamb with gravy. The preference of texture is a personal choice so I thought to share both methods.

Hungry for mutton? Check these recipes!

If you try this mutton raan recipe, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

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4.95 from 36 votes (32 ratings without comment)