Rogan josh

Ingredients

• Lamb on the bone — in pieces1 kg
• Yoghurt — whisked400 ml
• Kashmiri chilli powder3 tbsp
• Ground fennel2 tbsp
• Ground dry ginger1 tbsp
• Asafoetida1 pinch
• Black cardamom3
• Cinnamon stick1
• Cloves5
• Ghee100 g
• Basmati rice — to serve400 g
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Warm the cardamom, cinnamon and cloves in the ghee until fragrant, one minute.

   3 min

2. 2

   Add the asafoetida and the meat straight after, and brown it for ten minutes.

   12 min

3. 3

   Take the pan off the heat and stir in the Kashmiri chilli; over a flame it burns in seconds and turns bitter.

   3 min

4. 4

   Return it to a low heat and add the whisked yoghurt a ladle at a time, stirring between each.

   12 min

5. 5

   Add the fennel and dry ginger, season, and pour in a cup of hot water.

   5 min

6. 6

   Braise covered for an hour and twenty on a low heat, until the meat comes away from the bone.

   85 min

7. 7

   Uncover and reduce the sauce until oil rises to the surface. Serve with rice.

   15 min

About the dish

The red comes from Kashmiri chilli, which is intensely coloured and barely hot. Ordinary chilli cannot stand in: the colour would match but the dish would be uneatable.

The Kashmiri Pandit version contains no onion and no garlic at all. In their place go asafoetida, fennel and dried ginger, and that is what separates rogan josh from every other Indian curry.

The yoghurt goes in a little at a time, stirred constantly, over a low heat. Poured in at once it splits into curds and the sauce cannot be brought back.

Worth knowing

• — Kashmiri chilli is sold in Indian shops. Paprika gives a similar colour but not the flavour — an honest substitution, but a partial one.
• — Use yoghurt at room temperature, whisked smooth. Straight from the fridge it splits almost every time.
• — Oil on the surface is the sign of doneness. Until it appears the spices have not opened and the sauce still tastes raw.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

720 kcal

Protein

46 g

Fat

40 g

Carbs

44 g

More from India

• Dal tadka — A lentil stew finished by pouring sizzling spiced fat over it. That step is the dish.
• Butter chicken — Yoghurt-marinated chicken, roasted, in a tomato and cream sauce finished with fenugreek.
• Chicken biryani — Rice and marinated chicken finished together under a lid: the layers cook in steam rather than by stirring.