Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls

Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls are deep fried minced mutton balls made with beautifully spiced masala. This is a famous dish from Tamil Nadu, a South-Indian state. It can be served as both an appetizer and as a side-dish.

This is a very simple recipe. Kola urundai has a unique texture, it is very crispy on the outside; and soft and flavorful on the inside. There are many variations of this Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls recipe, based on which district of Tamil Nadu you are from. The main difference between the recipes is the various whole spices used to make the mutton balls. For example, I add red chilis, fennel seeds, and poppy seeds but, Chettinad style (recipes that belong to a different district) calls for cinnamon, cloves, ginger-garlic paste etc.

This Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls recipe has been in my family for many generations and we are from the temple district, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India. My mom still remembers her grandmother making this dish. She tells me that her grandmother made mutton balls that were nearly the size of tennis balls!!

How to make Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls?

You need ten ingredients to make Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls: minced mutton, split bengal gram/kadalai paruppu, red chilis, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, onions, grated coconut or cocnut flakes, roasted bengal gram/ pottu kadalai, turmeric powder, and curry leaves. Minced mutton is not available to me, hence I chop my mutton (without bones) into very small pieces.

The first step is to gather all the required ingredients. Then clean the mutton and chop it into very small pieces (if you do not have minced mutton). The next step is to roast each of the following ingredients separately: split bengal gram, red chilis, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, and finally the minced mutton or mutton pieces. You can add a 1/2 a tsp of oil to the wok/kadai to roast all the ingredients.

Sauté the minced mutton in the wok/kadai until it begins to release a lot of liquid. Completely drain the liquid off the mutton and save it for later. Let all the roasted ingredients cool down before grinding. Now add grated coconut, curry leaves, onions, and turmeric powder along with the roasted ingredients to grinder/mixer; and grind them together to a fine, thick paste with salt. Do not add water while making this masala mixture, if you need to add water to make a fine paste, add the liquid/water released by the minced mutton that you saved.

Next step is to transfer the minced mutton masala mixture onto a plate and add the required amount of powdered roasted bengal gram/pottu kadalai to the ground mutton mixture and mix well. This step helps you make very crispy Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls.

Once everything is mixed well, begin making small balls by gently rolling the mixture between your palms. You can roll them to any desired size. If you find you masala mixture not thick enough to make balls, just add a little more powdered roasted bengal gram/pottu kadalai. Also, give it a taste to check if you have added enough salt before you begin frying. Finally, heat around 2 cups of oil for deep frying the mutton balls. Deep fry the balls until they turn brown on the outside. If you have left over minced mutton masala mixture, you can refrigerate it and use it the next day. Make sure you it is at room temperature before frying.

Serving Suggestions

Mutton Kola Urundai|Mutton Balls is loved by both kids and adults alike. You can serve this as an appetizer and also as a side-dish. It can be had with any non-vegetarian or vegetarian curry with steamed white rice. I usually make this as a side-dish to go with my mutton curry or my radish curry.

Try this recipe in your kitchen and let me know how it turned out.

Happy cooking!!

Directions with pictures

1.Add a tsp of oil to a wok/kadai an d heat it on medium-low heat.

2. Roast each of the ingredients listed under ‘Ingredients to be roasted’ separately. Begin with the split bengal gram, then red chilis, fennel seeds, poppy seeds, and finally the minced mutton

3. Sauté the minced mutton in the wok/kadai until it begins to release a lot of liquid. Completely drain the liquid off the mutton and save it for later

4. Let them cool down. Add all the roasted ingredients along with grated coconut, curry leaves, onions, and turmeric powder to grinder/mixer; and grind them together to a fine, thick paste with salt.

5. Do not add water for grinding. If you need water, just add the liquid released by the mutton when it was being roasted

6. Transfer the ground mutton mixture to a plate

7. Grind a tbsp of roasted bengal gram/pottu kadalai to a fine powder and add it to the ground mutton mixture and mix well

8. Heat oil in a wok/kadai on medium-high heat

9. Roll the mutton mixture between your palms into small balls (1½inch)

10. Deep fry them in oil until they are browned on the outside

11. Serve hot with white rice and mutton curry/mutton kuzhambu