Lamb Rogan Josh
My version of this famous Persian dish is what appears to be a common western variation of Rogan Josh, which is an exotic flavorful lamb curry heavily influenced with tomatoes. It is this combination of Lamb and Tomato that really seem to work for me, the flavors just seem to marry up perfectly to create this intense flavored dish that my crews find very satisfying. It is another one of those dishes that if a crew member asks what’s on the menu tonight and tell him or her Rogan Josh the word soon gets past around ship. Served with freshly cooked Naan breads mango chutney and any other standard curry accompaniments this is a truly spectacular dish.
Lamb Rogan Josh
Ingredients
- 4 kg Diced Lamb With the fat still on
- 1200 grams Chopped Onion
- 4 Green Chillies Sliced with Seeds
- 4 Red Chillies Sliced with Seeds
- 100 grams Chopped Garlic
- 100 grams Chopped Ginger
- 10 Star Anise
- 1 tbsp Tumeric
- 15 Cardamom Pods
- 3 tbsp Garam Masala
- 5 tbsp Cumin Powder
- 2 tbsp Paprika
- 5 tbsp Coriander Powder
- 5 tbsp Coriander Seeds
- 2 tbsp Cinnamon
- 4 tbsp Chile Powder
- 2 tbsp Cayenne Pepper
- 2 cups Vegetable Oil
- 8 tbsp Flour
- 500 ml Water
- 500 ml Tomato Juice
- 800 grams Tinned Peeled Plum Tomatoes with juice (chopped)
- 1 tbsp Salt
- 500 grams Frozen Mixed Vegetables
- 2 kg Fresh Tomatoes Rough Cut
Instructions
- Measure and weigh off your all ingredients before you start cooking this dish.
- Prepare the chillies and garlic etc.
- Prepare your tomatoes and spices.
- Place the oil in a large thick bottomed pot on the stove over a medium heat.
- Add the ginger, chilies, cardamom pods, star anise and garlic and fry gently for about 10 minutes without browning. Add the onions and continue to cook over a slow heat without colour for 20 minutes.
- Add the dried spice powders and mix in, the pan will become quite dry at this point and so it is important to keep the roux from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot, you can add a little extra oil if necessary, continue to cook slowly to extract maximum flavour from all the spices.
- Add the flour and stir in to cook the flour for a few minutes. before addling the fresh and tinned tomatoes.
- Have your tinned tomatoes and tomato juice ready to add to your sauce.
- Add the fresh chopped tomatoes, then add the tinned tomatoes and juice.
- Add the water if you feel the sauce is too thick at this stage to promote even simmering.
- Add the 1 tbsp of salt from your ingredients to your diced lamb ready to add to your sauce.
- Add the diced lamb and stir in bring to a rolling simmer, I always find this adding raw meat to a sauce without frying odd, but from my experience with Asian cooks this technic seems to work find as the end result will demonstrate.
- Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid or aluminium foil and place in the oven for 3 to 4 hours or until the meat is tender with the oven set at about 140°C TO 150°C.
- After 2 hours in the oven stir and check the sauce and then continue to check about once every hour stir, taste for flavour and tenderness of the meat and return to the oven, you will find as the lamb cooks it will release fat and this will appear on top of the sauce as oil, just keep stirring it into the sauce during the cooking as this can be corrected later.
- When the lamb is tender do a final check of the seasoning and consistency add salt as required to correct the flavor and correct the consistency of the sauce. This may involve skimming the oil off the top or adding a little cornflour and water to thicken the sauce and also capture any oil left on top of the sauce. Serve with steamed rice mango chutney and poppadum’s or Naan Bread.