Lamb rogan josh is an aromatic curry dish that hails from Kashmir – the northernmost part of the Indian subcontinent, popularly referred to by locals and those who have visited as ‘heaven on Earth’, thanks to its breathtaking natural beauty.
A culinary favourite in this exotic Indian paradise is rogan josh, an authentic medium-heat lamb curry that’s distinguished by its thick, flavourful red sauce and tender fall-off-the-bone meat.
Rogan means red in Hindi or oil in Persian, while josh translates as fiery or hot — this dish delivers both in spades, as it’s all about cooking your curry in an oil-based sauce over intense heat.
Lamb rogan josh is a spicy feast – a rich tomato, yoghurt-based curry that imparts a beautiful sauce that is thick with aromatic abundance.
It’s one of the most loved dishes of Kashmiri cuisine, and one of the most popular curries for all palates, due to the fact that it’s not too spicy but very succulent and flavoursome.
Lamb rogan josh flavours develop more by day after cooking, but be warned: you probably won’t have even a teeny bit left.
Some good advice is to double up on the recipe, so you have extra portions for the next day to serve in wraps, with basmati rice, or with pappadums and sambals. You won’t be sorry.
Lamb Rogan Josh
Ingredients
For the paste
- 2½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1½ tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 8 cardamom pods seeds only
- 3 cloves garlic
- 30 g piece of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp paprika
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
For the Curry
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 kg lamb chump chops with bone in cut into large chunks
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 cloves
- 400 g diced tomatoes
- 500 ml chicken or vegetable stock
- 100 g natural yoghurt
- 2 to 3 tbsp fresh coriander chopped
Instructions
- Heat a dry frying pan until hot add the cumin, coriander, fennel and cardamom seeds
- Fry for about a minute, moving or tossing around until toasted and aromatic
- Remove to a mortar and pestle and grind up
- Transfer to a blender together with the remaining paste ingredients plus 2 tablespoons of water and blend until smooth
- Set aside
- Heat the oil in a heavy based pan
- Add the lamb in batches until brown transfer to a plate until all the lamb has been browned
- Return all the lamb to the pan and add the bay leaf and cloves mix together well
- Add the paste and. stir to coat the lamb thoroughly
- Cook for 3 minutes
- Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil
- Lower the heat and simmer gently for about and hour and thirty minutes
- Or until the lamb is tender, making sure there is enough liquid, add a splash more stock if required
- Stir in the yoghurt and coriander just before serving and season to taste
Notes
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