Lamb Rogan Josh

This Indian dish has a lot of depth and spice but not too much heat. Also this recipe is fairly authentic as well as far as I am aware. That and the fact that Rogan Josh is one that I will chose if I am eating out .

Ingredients

5 tbsp vegetable oil
7 black peppercorns, left whole
6 green cardamom pods, left whole
4 cloves, left whole
1 cinnamon stick
1 piece of mace
6 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole
2cm/¾in piece ginger, peeled and cut in half
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground fennel seeds
½ tsp red chilli powder
1½ tsp garam masala
1 onion, finely chopped
750g/1½lb leg of lamb or mutton, diced
750ml/ 1½pt water or lamb stock
Salt, to taste
6 over ripe tomatoes, chopped, or one tin.
2 tsp tomato puree.
3 tbsp plain yoghurt, stirred
Handful chopped fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

First take the peppercorns, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and mace and place them in a mortar and pestle or some kind of bowl and a rolling pin. You do not want then to be completely ground to a powder, as you actually want to see the spices in the cooking so start to grind them together. Add the garlic and the ginger and most of the oil. Work this until you stat to get a lumpy paste. If you have to use a food processor then just plus it a few times.

Now add the rest of the oil to a sauce pan and heat it up to frying speed. Then add the lamb and the onions, as the lamb browns add the ground coriander, cumin, fennel seeds, chilli powder and garam masala. Slowly fry the powdered spices with the meat then add you blended spice mix to the cooking.

Once you have fully browned the meat and got all the spices frying to release the full flavours then you can add the tomato puree and chopped tomatoes. Cook this down and then add the water or stock, so that it covers the lamb. Now you either can finish this on the stovetop or in the oven but it will need another two to three hours slow cooking until the meat is tender. If you cook it on the stovetop keep an eye on it and make sure that it does not boil dry.

Once the meat has fully cooked then all you need to do is add the yoghurt and fresh chopped coriander and it is good to go. Just serve with some rice and a nama bread, or a salad with a lemon dressing, perfect.