Topic: Rogan Josh - Madhur Jaffrey

[tempest63]

Another of my favourites

Rogan Josh - Madhur Jaffrey

Ingredient
2 1" chunks fresh ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
8 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups water
10 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds boned lamb shoulder or leg, cut into 1" cubes
10 whole cardamom pods
2 whole bay leaves
6 whole cloves
10 whole black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
2 medium onions, peeled, finely chopped
1 teaspoon coriander seed ground
2 teaspoons cumin seeds ground
4 teaspoons red paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, ground (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
6 tablespoons plain yogurt
1/4 teaspoon garam masala (your favourite)
1 dash fresh ground pepper to taste

Put the ginger, garlic and 4 tablespoons of water into the container of an electric blender.  Blend into a smooth paste.

Heat the oil in a wide, heavy pot over a medium-high flame.  Brown meat cubes in several batches and set aside in a bowl.  Put the cardamom, bay leaves, cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon into the same hot oil.  Stir once and wait until cloves swell and the bay leaves begin to take on colour.  This only takes a matter of seconds. 
Now put in the onions.  Stir and fry for 5 minutes or until the onions turn a medium-brown colour. Put in ginger-garlic paste and stir for 30 seconds.  Then add the coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne, and the salt. 
Stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add the browned meat cubes and the meat juices.  Now put in 1 tablespoon of the yogurt and stir and fry for about 30 seconds until yogurt is well blended.  Add the remaining yogurt, a tablespoon at a time in the same way.  Stir and fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Now add 1 1/4 cups water and bring the contents of the pot to a boil, scraping in all the browned spices on the sides and bottom of the pot. 
Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for about an hour or until meat is tender.  Every 10 minutes give the pot a good stir to prevent burning. When the meat is tender, take off the lid, turn the fire to medium high and boil off some of the liquid, stirring all the time, until the sauce is thickened.

Sprinkle the garam masala and black pepper over the dish and mix them in just before you serve it.

[tempest63]

I cooked this recipe again today, but I only had about 650g of leg of lamb so I supplemented it with a tin of chickpeas. I used a 500ml bottle of lamb bone broth but the recipe only called for 250ml. Rather than waste what was left I put the lot in and added half a cup of toor dahl to add extra thickness. Finally I put in roughly 200g of baby spinach.

That's lunch for us both for two days this week.

[tempest63]

Knocking this up again today using ox cheeks from Sainsbury's. This is going to take a long and slow simmer. Couple of hours on a very low heat I reckon.
I'll let you know how it pans out.

I do cook this a lot, it is my default curry. Usually with lamb from the leg but I will always try it with other cuts.

T63

[tempest63]

Ox cheeks turned out beautiful. 3 hours on a low heat I ended up with a richness in the sauce that I have never achieved with lamb. Went down really well with wife and daughter who dropped by at just the right time.