Rogan josh

Created by Kumar Mahadevan

Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 25 min(s)
Cook Time: 1 hr(s)
Serves 4–6

Kumar Mahadevan's recipe for this famous Kashmiri Indian lamb curry is a winner. The lamb becomes meltingly tender and the spices smell enticing as you’re cooking them. The choice of saucepan is very important – the ingredients should fill no more than a quarter of its depth, so you need quite a deep pan with a heavy base to retain an even temperature.

Ingredients

3 tbsp - vegetable oil
3 - bay leaves
2 tsp - cloves
3 - brown cardamom pods
1 tbsp - green cardamom pods
piece of cassia bark
1 tsp - fennel seeds
4 - small dried chillies
1 kg - red onions, sliced
salt
½ tbsp - crushed ginger
½ tbsp - crushed garlic
1 tsp - turmeric
1 tsp - chilli powder
3 tsp - ground coriander
1 tbsp - crushed fresh chilli
2 - tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp - tomato puree
1 kg - cubed lamb (from a leg or shoulder)
2 tbsp - chopped coriander leaves

tomato wedges and coriander sprigs, to garnish

Preparation

Level of difficulty: medium

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan until almost smoking. Add the bay leaves, cloves, brown and green cardamom pods, cassia, fennel seeds and dried chillies and cook until sizzling (the brown cardamom is the most fun – it always explodes and all its flavours go into the oil). Add the onion and ½ teaspoon of salt and fry until the onion is brown and sweet.

Stir in the crushed ginger and garlic and then the turmeric, chilli powder and ground coriander. Stir in the crushed fresh chilli and add a little water to stop the spices from burning. Add the tomato, tomato puree and a good pinch of salt and stir well to combine. Turn the heat up to high and add the meat, searing all over and coating in the flavours. Add a little more water. Cover with a lid and cook for 35–40 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the chopped coriander. Garnish with tomato wedges, julienned ginger and coriander sprigs.

SBS cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55–60 g, unless specified.