Rogan Josh is a classic Kasmiri dish that includes tomatoes, onions and specific spices which gives it the unique flavour. Typically this is not a hot dish, and is quite mild so it does suit a lot of people. This dish is served with rice and naan bread.

This recipe comfortably feeds 3-4 people. If you want to feed more people just add more spices, meat and onions and you will stretch this to 6-7 people if needed. If you would like the dish to be hotter, simply add more chilli.

Ingredients

For the Sauce

• 4 cloves
• 2 Black Cardamon seeds, husks discarded and crushed
• 4 green Cardamon seeds, husks discarded and crushed
• 2 large onions
• 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of  ground mace
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 2 teaspoons of ginger and garlic paste
• 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil

For the Meat

• 600g of lamb (off the leg or shoulder is fine) chopped into bite sized pieces
• 1 birds eye chilli
• 1 teaspoon of cayenne chilli powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon of ground fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons of coriander powder
• 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
• 2 tablespoons of ground almonds
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Finally a large wok to cook in.

Start the process by ensuring you have all of the ingredients ready and prepared. This dish is much faster to make with a little preparation.

Get the spices ready for the sauce. Here we have the mace, cinnamon, cloves and cardamon.

Make sure the lamb is chopped up and any excess fat removed.

Prepare the spices for the lamb:

Now we are ready to start with the onions.

Chop up the onions ready to put into the pan.

Once the onions are ready, add the oil to the pan and heat for a minute on a high heat. Add the cloves, cardamon, cinnamon and mace to the oil and cook for 30 seconds.

Once the aroma has filled the kitchen (which will not take long) add the onion.

I used 4 medium onions for this recipe because I had to make extra sauce but 2 large ones will be fine. Add in additional oil if the onions are too dry but try not to overdo it. Cook for about 10-12 minutes or until they are golden brown and starting to soften.

At this point add in about 2 tablespoons of tomato puree. You can add in more if you like the tomato flavours.

Stir a few times and take off the heat. Transfer into a blender.

Add a small amount of water and blend the ingredients.

This is about the texture you want. Set this aside for later. We will use this to add to the lamb.

Next lets prepare the meat. Chop the birds eye chilli.

Put the oil into the pan and turn onto a high heat. Add the 2 bay leaves to the pan with the chilli.

Cook for 30 seconds and then add the rest of the spices.

Cook for another 30 seconds and then add the lamb.

Turn the heat down to medium. Cook the meat for about 10 minutes or until brown.

Add the sauce we made earlier to the dish.

Add a small amount of water so the consistency of the dish is not too thick. Let this simmer for an hour. If you can cover the dish I would recommend doing this. If you do not have a lid, keep an eye on the amount of water in here. you may need to add more in.

After 60 minutes your lamb should be nice and tender and ready to eat. Serve with rice and / or naan bread.

Enjoy.