Lamb Rogan Josh

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Lamb rogan josh‘Rogan Josh’ literally translated from Hindi means ‘red juice’, and this colourful Indian dish traditionally owes it’s redness from the bark of a locally grown Kashmiri tree called Rattan Jyoth. Nowadays, the hard to find bark has been replaced with beetroot, making a beautiful (beetiful?) and seasonal Indian dish.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

What You’ll Need:

  • 6 lamb shanks, each shank cut into three or four pieces on the bone (ask your butcher to do this for you)
  • 5 tablespoons corn oil or ghee
  • 2 black cardamom pods, lightly crushed
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 2 large onions, finely chopped
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 2 tablespoons Ginger and Garlic Paste
  • 1½ tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground coriander seeds
  • 200ml plain yoghurt
  • 400ml lamb stock or water
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala
  • 2 tablespoons cream
  • 1 tablespoon chopped coriander

Tempering (optional)

  • 1 tablespoon ghee
  • 2 sticks of rattan jyoth or half a crushed beetroot, to add colour

What To Do:

  • Pat the cut lamb shanks dry with kitchen paper and keep aside.
  • Heat the oil or ghee in a casserole dish that you have a lid for, add the crushed cardamom, cinnamon sticks and peppercorns and stir over a high heat for 30 seconds or so until they release their flavours into the oil.
  • Add the cut shanks and salt, and sear over a high heat for about 10 minutes, turning frequently to brown the meat on all sides.
  • Once browned, remove the meat and drain on kitchen paper.
  • Into the same pan, add the onions and salt, cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
  • Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for a couple of minutes.  The paste tends to stick to the pan, so keep stirring continuously.
  • Now add the fried lamb, chilli powder and ground coriander and cook for a further 2–3 minutes. Take care to handle the shanks carefully so the meat does not come off the bone at this stage.
  • Whisk in the yoghurt gradually, stirring continuously until it gets absorbed into the mix. Once all the yoghurt is absorbed, add the stock or water. Take care not to add all the yoghurt at once as it will lower the temperature of the sauce and the yoghurt will split.
  • Cover with a tight lid and cook over a low heat for 50–60 minutes until the shanks are soft (or around 2 hours if using whole shanks). You may need to add some more stock or water if the sauce is thick or it requires more moisture to cook. If you do not have a suitable pan, the pot-roasted and browned meat could be put in a braising tray with the liquid, covered with foil and braised in the oven (170ºC/Gas Mark 3) for about 2 hours.
  • Check that the meat is cooked; it should easily fall off the bone when it’s done. Sprinkle in the ground ginger, fennel and garam masala.
  • For a special finishing touch, tie up the rattan jyoth/beetroot in a muslin cloth. Heat the ghee in a pan, add the rattan jyoth/beetroot and let it infuse for a minute. Add the infused ghee to the shanks and simmer for 2 minutes. When the sauce turns dark red in colour, take out and discard the muslin.
  • Remove the meat from the sauce to a serving plate. Add the cream and chopped coriander to the pan and bring the sauce back to a simmer, then pour over the meat.
  • Serve with either steamed/ boiled basmati rice or a bread of your choice.

Spice at Home by Vivek Singh published by Absolute Press. Visit www.amazon.co.uk

Photography by Lara Holmes, 2014

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