Lamb Rogan Josh
Meat Dishes Lamb Gluten-Free Recipes Indian
I was watching the Julia series on HBO, fascinated, and in one scene, Judith, her editor, cooks Rogan Josh for dinner. I imagined the best Rogan Josh that could have brought tears to Julia Child's eyes. After a brief research, Rick Stein's recipe seemed the most interesting - after all, he traveled all over India in search of the perfect curry. I made it last night and you can see what a marvel came out. I served it with coriander marinated onion salad, my latest addictive discovery. Last year it was ginger marinated onion that I sprinkled over everything, and this year I decided to change... and how glad I am! So 99.99% Rick Stein and 0.01% us - I'd say we could have impressed Julia.
Ingredients
750g lamb (leg)
3 tablespoons oil (or 40g ghee)
1 cinnamon stick about 5cm
5 green cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 large onion
3 large garlic cloves
15g ginger
2 level tablespoons Kashmiri chili (or equal mix of sweet and hot paprika)
1 level tablespoon ground coriander
1 level tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon tomato paste (or 4 tablespoons passata)
300ml water
50ml cooking cream (20%)
125g natural yogurt
salt
Coriander Marinated Onion
1 small red onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
salt
How to prepare lamb rogan josh
- In a wide pan, heat the oil and add the cardamom pressed with the flat of a knife to expose the seeds, cinnamon, and cloves. Saute for 1 minute.
- Add the thinly sliced onion and continue sauteing for 5-10 minutes over very low heat, until very soft and just slightly browned.
- Add the crushed garlic and grated ginger and saute with the rest for 1 more minute, until a pleasant aroma comes from the pan.
- Make space in the middle, add the tomato paste and saute for another 2 minutes, until it darkens slightly.
- Add the ground spices (from chili to turmeric) and mix with the rest.
- Add the meat cut into 3-4cm cubes and mix to coat well with the spices in the pan.
- Add the water and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 1 hour. Stir once during this time. After an hour, check if the meat is cooked and if not, leave it until a fork goes in easily. Mine took 1 hour and 15 minutes. After this time, the sauce has reduced a bit but is not dry.
- Add the fennel seeds crushed in a mortar. Pour in the cream and stir, then bring to a boil once more. The sauce will thicken slightly, becoming somewhat creamy. Taste for salt. In Rick Stein's recipe, the yogurt is added to the curry together with the cream, but I preferred not to spoil the color of the curry and served the yogurt alongside.
- For the onion, slice it into thin scales or small fish-like shapes. Sprinkle with salt and leave for 5 minutes to soften. Add the lemon juice and coriander and leave for another 10 minutes to marinate. Finally, add the chopped parsley and olive oil and mix.
- Serve the curry warm, topped with the onion salad, alongside yogurt and cooked rice.
