Slowly Braised Rogan Josh Recipe With Lamb

My recipe for authentic Kashmiri Rogan josh is made using slowly braised lamb shoulder - it’s melt in your mouth tender. The dish is seasoned with spices- not onions, tomatoes or garlic-simmers in a vibrant, tangy yogurt based red sauce.It tastes even better the next day, and it’s a huge favorite in our home!

Traditionally, kashmiri rogan josh is served with steamed basmati rice, but you can also pair it with Indian flatbreads.

When it comes to meat dishes, on most days, a simple lamb curry or lamb potato meat stew is my go-to. Yet, there are times when I yearn for something different and that's when I turn to this delightful rogan josh made without the usual onion-garlic-tomato masala. It never fails to satisfy our cravings for a unique and flavorful meat dish.

About Rogan Josh

With roots in Persia, rogan Josh is a meat dish belonging to the beautiful Kashmir region of India. Kashmiri cuisine is renowned for its rich mutton dishes and rogan josh is truly at the heart of it.

Its name is believed to come from Persian, with "rogan" meaning "oil" and "josh" meaning "intensity" or "heat," which reflects the dish's rich, red color. Slow-cooking Rogan Josh is essential to allow the meat to braise in its own fat and juices so as to capture its deep, flavorful essence.

Without onion or garlic, authentic rogan josh relies entirely on spices for its depth of flavor. The warming taste comes from woody spices such as black cardamom, cinnamon, & cloves, while the fragrant aroma is enhanced by dry ginger, mace, fennel powder, and saffron.

In traditional rogan josh, the characteristic color is from "ratanjot", an herb & a natural food coloring that gives this famous dish its signature red color. However, at home, we will replicate the color using good ol kashmiri red chilli powder.

Why I love this recipe

• Authentic - This treasured recipe was handed down to me by my aunt, a proud Kashmiri. Before experiencing her authentic rogan josh, I must admit that I had been enjoying a version that didn't quite do justice to the original.
• Visual Appeal - They say we eat with eyes first. The rich sauce with a reddish brown hue surely appeals to the senses.
• Versatility- I use lamb in my recipe, though you can easily adapt it with other meats like mutton, goat meat, or beef. In fact, bone-in meats bring out even more flavor. Personally, I don’t recommend using lean meats like chicken, as they don’t do justice to the rich, intense character of this iconic dish.
• Fragrant, hearty and comforting - Slow braised meat is one of the most delicious things. The long period of cooking makes the lamb meat succulent while intensifying the flavors & aroma in the sauce.
• Customizable - The spices together give rogan josh a unique taste. That said, the recipe can be adjusted as per your liking for a mild or less spiced version.

Ingredients Needed for Lamb Rogan Josh

• Lamb/Goat Meat- I use boneless lamb shoulder or lamb leg because the meat from those areas cooks to super tender. You can also use the lamb stew meat available in the meat aisle. If using goat meat, I go for mixed pieces because that's the only kind I can find here. Cut the lamb in 2 inch pieces. You don't want to cut too small (the meat shrinks considerably).
• Spices - The soul of authentic rogan josh are the spices. You can find everything except a few spices like hing (asafoetida) and black cardamom in American stores. Instead of hing, add a chopped shallot or 1-2 smashed garlic during cooking.
• Yogurt- I always use plain whole milk yogurt in my cooking. Make sure that the yogurt isn't sour.
• Mustard Oil - Authentic rogan josh is cooked in virgin mustard oil. Mustard Oil is a very popular cooking oil in North Indian cuisine, and you will often see me using it in my punjabi dishes. I must admit though that it is an acquired taste due to its strong aroma and pungency. You can easily purchase it at most indian grocery stores. I suggest using any neutral cooking in place of mustard oil. Add 1-2 tablespoon of ghee for aroma.

How To Make Lamb Rogan Josh (Step Photos)

Preparation

1. Place lamb meat in a bowl and add ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ tablespoon mustard oil. Toss the lamb with oil and salt - I use my hands to do so. Set aside for 20 minutes.
2. Add yogurt to a bowl and thin out using water.
3. Place fennel seeds to your spice grinder and make a fine powder.
4. In a small skillet make the spice blend for finishing the curry. Dry roast the listed spices on low heat for a few minutes, cool off and grind to a powder using coffee grinder or mortar & pestle. Keep ready. Be sure to grind the fennel first, followed by the other spices for the finishing blend. This prevents the fennel's delicate aroma from being altered by stronger spices.

Bhuno (Fry) Lamb With Spices

5. Choose a heavy bottomed pot (I use my 2.5 qt braiser) for slow cooking. Use enameled cast iron pot or dutch oven. Heat up the mustard oil on medium flame. Mustard oil needs to be heated bit longer than the usual oil to do away the raw smell.
6. Heat till you start seeing ripples on the surface of oil. Reduce the stove to a very low flame or take the pot off the stove for a few minutes before adding spices to make sure that spices don't burn in next step.
7. Add bay leaf and green cardamom to hot oil followed by cumin seeds and hing. Saute the spices in oil for a 7-8 seconds. Wait for the aroma.
8. Introduce the lamb into the cooking pot. Add 1-2 tablespoon of water as soon as you add lamb. This will make sure that lamb won’t stick to the bottom of pot. Bump up the heat to medium and start stirring using a cooking spoon.
9. In 2-3 minutes, you will see that the lamb will start browning.Brown, or bhuno the lamb on medium heat for 7-8 minutes stirring regularly. We want all the pink to go away and deep brown edges to start appearing on the meat.

5. Now, reduce to low flame. Add about ½ teaspoon chilli powder at a time and immediately drizzle 1 tablespoon of yogurt mixture. Stir around gently for 30-40 seconds to incorporate.
6. Add more of the chili powder and yogurt and stir again. Do this in steps until all the chili powder and yogurt are exhausted, adding yogurt last. Keep the flame low so that the yogurt does not curdle and the chili powder does not burn. If at any point you feel that the pot is way too hot, take off the stove for a while and return back.

Slow Cook Rogan Josh

10. After about 2 minutes, bump up the heat to medium and sprinkle the dry ginger powder, ground fennel, coriander powder, red chili powder(hot) and salt. Keep stirring, you will see a lot of liquid in the pot but that's okay. Fry (bhuno) the meat for next 10-12 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.
11. Introduce ¾ cup hot water. Cover and let slow cook covered on low heat for about 50-75 minutes (or more, depending on how large the meat pieces are) till the lamb is almost 95% cooked. You will need to check the pot 3-4 times in between to ensure that it is not sticking to the bottom, add a splash of water as needed.

10. Once the lamb is 95% cooked, add the ground spice blend that we prepared at the very beginning. There will be enough liquid in the pot. Cover and let simmer for another 20 minutes till the lamb is cooked through(fork tender). 
11. Switch off the stove. Add saffron if using and let rest for 20-30 before serving. Garnish with chopped coriander, reheat and serve.

Recipe Tips

• Avoid Overcooked Meat - Lamb rogan josh tastes best when its fork tender. The meat should not fall apart while slow cooking. I recommend keeping a close eye during last 15-20 minutes of cooking to avoid overcooking.
• Intensely Spiced - We are not using any onions, tomatoes or garlic in this recipe and building the flavor base using just spices.So it is entirely possible to feel that the sauce is intensely flavored especially if you have less tolerance towards spices. In that case try the following
  • 1) you could add extra beaten yogurt (1 or 2 tablespoon extra) at the end or
  • 2) You could also counter the over powering taste using a tangy element (like lemon juice)
  • Dial down (or skip) the red chilli powder(hot)and reduce the quantity of dry ginger powder if you want it mild
• Too Oily - This can happen if the lamb wasn't trimmed properly to start with. A simple way to fix this is by skimming off the excess oil from the surface using a spoon.
• Runny Gravy- If you feel that the meat has cooked but the sauce is too thin, take out the lamb and cook off excess moisture from the sauce. Once its desired consistency, add back the lamb.
• Not Reddish Enough- Yes it‘s quite possible. The funny thing is that initially you will notice that the color is gorgeous red right after adding the yogurt and kashmiri red chilli powder. However, most of the time when I cook lamb josh, it turns reddish brown color by the end of cooking which is quite normal for a meat dish. I don't recommend adding any more paprika at this stage, it will make the sauce taste chalky.

Serving Lamb Rogan Josh

• Steamed Basmati Rice: Serve lamb rogan josh with aromatic steamed basmati rice. Plain rice truly soaked up the rich flavors of the curry.
• You could pair rogan josh with indian flatbreads like naan, tandoori roti or paratha.