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Easy peasy : ★
☆
☆
Can freeze : ★
★
★
Spicey : ★
★
★
4 ServingsPreparation time approx 70 minutesCooking time 5 hours 40 minutes
| Summary
“It’s been more than 50 years since I had my first curry. On that occasion my friend Roy, somewhat predictably, recommended that I should try the chicken vindaloo,
and as you might expect, I found it a little on the spicey side, and Roy enjoyed his little joke!
Having lived and worked in many parts of the UK, I’ve visited quite a number of Indian style restaurants since.
I’ve tried many dishes, but I had never had a lamb rogan josh that I wasn’t a little disappointed with. I therefore decided to devise my own recipe and make this curry from scratch.
Basically, different elements of the dish need cooking for different lengths of time, whether to create the right texture, maximise the flavour, or both.
My approach is a phased one; (i) Marinate the meat, (ii) Cook the meat slowly so that it melts in the mouth, (iii) Make a basic curry sauce, and finally
(iv) Bring everything together and serve. Although this process is quite protracted, it's not particularly labour intensive, and you can have a break between phases.
I can guarantee the results will be well worth the effort.” Tom Mackay
Click to watch video
| Summary
“It’s been more than 50 years since I had my first curry. On that occasion my friend Roy, somewhat predictably, recommended that I should try the chicken vindaloo,
and as you might expect, I found it a little on the spicey side, and Roy enjoyed his little joke!
Having lived and worked in many parts of the UK, I’ve visited quite a number of Indian style restaurants since.
I’ve tried many dishes, but I had never had a lamb rogan josh that I wasn’t a little disappointed with. I therefore decided to devise my own recipe and make this curry from scratch.
Basically, different elements of the dish need cooking for different lengths of time, whether to create the right texture, maximise the flavour, or both.
My approach is a phased one; (i) Marinate the meat, (ii) Cook the meat slowly so that it melts in the mouth, (iii) Make a basic curry sauce, and finally
(iv) Bring everything together and serve. Although this process is quite protracted, it's not particularly labour intensive, and you can have a break between phases.
I can guarantee the results will be well worth the effort.” Tom Mackay
Click to watch video
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Ingredients
- Marinade ...
- Lamb Neck Fillet: 600g
- Oil: 4 Tbs
- Turmeric: 2 tsp
- Hot Chilli Powder: 1 tsp
- Grind of Black Pepper
- Braising Liquor ...
- Water: 800ml
- Onions (small): 500g
- Garlic: 4 cloves
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Curry Sauce ...
- Oil: 3 Tbs
- Tomato Puree: 2 Tbs
- Ginger: 30g
- Paprika: 2 tsp
- Hot Chilli Powder: 2 tsp
- Turmeric: 1 tsp
- The Rogan Josh ...
- Greek Yoghurt: 100g
- Tomatoes: 3
- Red Peppers: 2
- Green Chillies: 2
- Cashew Nuts: Small handful
- Garam Massala: 1 tsp
- Cumin Powder: 1 tsp
- Ground Fenugreek: Good pinch
- Coriander: Small bunch
| Method
To marinate the lamb: (Minimum of 1 hour)
- Make a marinade of 4 Tbs oil, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp hot chilli powder and a good grind of black pepper.
- Using a sharp knife cut the neck fillet into cubes of approx. 5cm in size (they are likely to shrink during the slow cooking process so don’t cut them too small).
- Put the lamb cubes into the marinade, mix until each cube is covered, and leave for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in a fridge.
To slow cook the lamb: (5 hours)
- You need around 500g weight of small to medium sized onions, I find 4 onions is about the right weight.
Do not chop the onions but keep them whole (for a reason that will become evident later) and remove any brown outer skin and, with a very sharp knife,
shave off a small piece of the root end so that it is clean. Put the onions in a cooking pot.
- Peel and crush the 4 cloves of garlic with the side of a knife and put them into the pot with the onions.
- Add 700ml of water to the pot, bring the pot to a boil on the hob, add 1 tsp of salt, and reduce to a simmer.
- Turn on your oven to warm up, 170 degrees centigrade (160 fan).
- In a hot frying pan (you shouldn't need any oil), lightly sear the marinated lamb cubes until just evenly browned.
Don’t overfill the pan, instead do a batch at a time, and then transfer to the braising liquor in the pot.
- When all the meat is seared and in the pot, add 100ml of water to the frying pan to deglaze it, and then pour that water into the pot.
- Give the pot a stir and bring to the boil, put a lid on, and transfer to your preheated oven, for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn the oven down to a low setting so that the liquor is barely bubbling.
- After a further 30 minutes (ie after the pot has been in the oven for an hour), remove the onions from the pot and keep them to one side for later.
Now stir the pot gently and repeat every 45 minutes or so for a further 3.5 hours,
adjusting the oven temperature if and as necessary – remember, the contents need to be bubbling very very gently.
- After 4.5 hours total in the oven, remove the pot and skim off any residue from the surface.
- Gently remove the cubes of cooked lamb and keep to one side (refrigerate if cooking at a later time).
- Do not discard the braising liquor - we need it for the next step!
To make the curry sauce base: (25 minutes)
- When sufficiently cooled, decant the braising liquor into a pan or large jug, leaving any sediment behind in the pot.
This is also a good time to spoon off any excess fat from the surface if preferred.
- Peel the ginger, and finely slice. Add the reserved onions to a blender. Add 500ml of the clean liquor to the blender
(if there is less than 500ml the difference can be made up with water).Finally, add the ginger to the blender and blend for 1 or 2 minutes until the blended mix is smooth.
- In a clean wok (or large sided frying pan), add 3 Tbs of oil and heat. Add 2 tsp of paprika, 2 tsp hot chilli powder and 1 tsp turmeric and stir until smooth and sizzling gently.
You should now be able to smell the spices cooking.
- Add about a 300ml of the blended onion and liquor mix to the wok, and stir with the oil and spices until smooth. Keep the wok hot throughout.
- Add 2 Tbs tomato puree and mix thoroughly with the other ingredients in the wok.
- Gradually add the remainder of the blended onion and liquor mix, continually stirring and keeping the wok hot throughout.
- Bring the wok to the boil, and then reduce the heat to simmer gently for 15 minutes. This is the base of the curry sauce.
Bringing everything together: (12 minutes)
- Remove the pot of yoghurt from the fridge, give a good stir, decant 100g into a suitable bowl (a cereal bowl is ideal), and leave the bowl to one side (not in the fridge)
to allow to reach room temperature.
- Roughly chop 2 red peppers, and cut 3 tomatoes into quarters. Finely chop 2 green chillies and measure out a small handful of cashew nuts.
- Bring the base of the curry sauce to the boil. Add the peppers, tomatoes, green chillies and the cashew nuts and heat through until everything is boiling.
Now carefully add the cooked lamb, heat through, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Add the 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ground cumin, and a pinch (about a quarter of a teaspoon) of ground fenugreek and stir into the sauce.
Taste to see if any more seasoning is required, then simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Remove the wok from the heat. Give the yoghurt a good stir while in the bowl and ladle about 100ml of the hot curry sauce into it, and stir again.
Slowly pour the yoghurt into the wok gently stirring all the time. When the yoghurt is thoroughly mixed into the sauce, the curry is ready to eat.
- Serve with some chopped coriander leaves on top for a vibrant garnish.
|
Method
To marinate the lamb: (Minimum of 1 hour)
- Make a marinade of 4 Tbs oil, 2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp hot chilli powder and a good grind of black pepper.
- Using a sharp knife cut the neck fillet into cubes of approx. 5cm in size (they are likely to shrink during the slow cooking process so don’t cut them too small).
- Put the lamb cubes into the marinade, mix until each cube is covered, and leave for at least an hour, but preferably overnight in a fridge.
To slow cook the lamb: (5 hours)
- You need around 500g weight of small to medium sized onions, I find 4 onions is about the right weight.
Do not chop the onions but keep them whole (for a reason that will become evident later) and remove any brown outer skin and, with a very sharp knife,
shave off a small piece of the root end so that it is clean. Put the onions in a cooking pot.
- Peel and crush the 4 cloves of garlic with the side of a knife and put them into the pot with the onions.
- Add 700ml of water to the pot, bring the pot to a boil on the hob, add 1 tsp of salt, and reduce to a simmer.
- Turn on your oven to warm up, 170 degrees centigrade (160 fan).
- In a hot frying pan (you shouldn't need any oil), lightly sear the marinated lamb cubes until just evenly browned.
Don’t overfill the pan, instead do a batch at a time, and then transfer to the braising liquor in the pot.
- When all the meat is seared and in the pot, add 100ml of water to the frying pan to deglaze it, and then pour that water into the pot.
- Give the pot a stir and bring to the boil, put a lid on, and transfer to your preheated oven, for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, turn the oven down to a low setting so that the liquor is barely bubbling.
- After a further 30 minutes (ie after the pot has been in the oven for an hour), remove the onions from the pot and keep them to one side for later.
Now stir the pot gently and repeat every 45 minutes or so for a further 3.5 hours,
adjusting the oven temperature if and as necessary – remember, the contents need to be bubbling very very gently.
- After 4.5 hours total in the oven, remove the pot and skim off any residue from the surface.
- Gently remove the cubes of cooked lamb and keep to one side (refrigerate if cooking at a later time).
- Do not discard the braising liquor - we need it for the next step!
To make the curry sauce base: (25 minutes)
- When sufficiently cooled, decant the braising liquor into a pan or large jug, leaving any sediment behind in the pot.
This is also a good time to spoon off any excess fat from the surface if preferred.
- Peel the ginger, and finely slice. Add the reserved onions to a blender. Add 500ml of the clean liquor to the blender
(if there is less than 500ml the difference can be made up with water).Finally, add the ginger to the blender and blend for 1 or 2 minutes until the blended mix is smooth.
- In a clean wok (or large sided frying pan), add 3 Tbs of oil and heat. Add 2 tsp of paprika, 2 tsp hot chilli powder and 1 tsp turmeric and stir until smooth and sizzling gently.
You should now be able to smell the spices cooking.
- Add about a 300ml of the blended onion and liquor mix to the wok, and stir with the oil and spices until smooth. Keep the wok hot throughout.
- Add 2 Tbs tomato puree and mix thoroughly with the other ingredients in the wok.
- Gradually add the remainder of the blended onion and liquor mix, continually stirring and keeping the wok hot throughout.
- Bring the wok to the boil, and then reduce the heat to simmer gently for 15 minutes. This is the base of the curry sauce.
Bringing everything together: (12 minutes)
- Remove the pot of yoghurt from the fridge, give a good stir, decant 100g into a suitable bowl (a cereal bowl is ideal), and leave the bowl to one side (not in the fridge)
to allow to reach room temperature.
- Roughly chop 2 red peppers, and cut 3 tomatoes into quarters. Finely chop 2 green chillies and measure out a small handful of cashew nuts.
- Bring the base of the curry sauce to the boil. Add the peppers, tomatoes, green chillies and the cashew nuts and heat through until everything is boiling.
Now carefully add the cooked lamb, heat through, and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Add the 1 tsp garam masala, 1 tsp ground cumin, and a pinch (about a quarter of a teaspoon) of ground fenugreek and stir into the sauce.
Taste to see if any more seasoning is required, then simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.
- Remove the wok from the heat. Give the yoghurt a good stir while in the bowl and ladle about 100ml of the hot curry sauce into it, and stir again.
Slowly pour the yoghurt into the wok gently stirring all the time. When the yoghurt is thoroughly mixed into the sauce, the curry is ready to eat.
- Serve with some chopped coriander leaves on top for a vibrant garnish.
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