Lamb Rogan Josh with Cilantro Rice
Serves 4-6
Adapted from Delish
For Paste:
½ teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garam masala
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon tomato puree
For Lamb:
1 tablespoon ghee (or butter)
1¼ - 1½ pounds (about 500 - 750 grams) boneless lamb leg, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large onion, diced
4 bay leaves
1 stick cinnamon (or ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon)
4 cloves
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 inch piece of ginger, grated
2 cups (about 400-500 milliliters) water
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
½ cup (about 100 milliliters) plain yoghurt
For Rice:
1 cup basmati rice, rinsed
¼ - ⅓ cup fresh coriander, chopped, plus more for serving
2 teaspoons lime juice
½ teaspoon salt
For Paste:
In a small bowl, combine all the paste ingredients. Set aside.
For Lamb:
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the ghee and let it melt. Once melted, add the lamp and brown it on all sides, about 5-7 minutes total. You may have to work in batches as you don’t want to crowd the pan. Set aside.
In the same pan, fry the onion, bay leaf, cinnamon, and cloves until the onion is soft and translucent, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant, stirring regularly, about 1-2 minutes.
Add the Paste and stir constantly, allowing it to blend with the other ingredients in the pan, about 2 minutes.
Add the lamb, water, and lime juice and mix everything together. Let everything gently simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Leave the lid off the pot to help thicken up the sauce, but I like to add the lid once the sauce is to my preferred thickness, usually during the last 15-20 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and gloves. Stir in the yoghurt and let it blend for an additional 5 minutes.
For Rice:
While the lamb is simmering for an hour, prepare the rice. If you have your own method, skip the next few steps and continue at Step #5. While everyone’s preferred rice cooking method varies, mine is as follows:
Add the rinsed rice and 1½ cups of water to a medium pot. Set the pot over medium-high heat and let it come to a simmer (you want most of the surface water to be bubbling rather than just a few spots).
Once simmering, put a lid on, drop the stove temperature to one of your lowest settings, but not the lowest, and let it continue cooking for 15 minutes.
Remove the pot from the stove and let it sit for an additional 15 minutes. DON’T REMOVE THE LID until after it has rested for those 15 minutes! This is key for the cooking process!
Remove the lid and fluff the rice. Add the cilantro, lime juice, and salt and fold everything together. Taste and adjust seasoning to your preference.
Serve alongside the Rogan Josh and garnish everything with additional cilantro.
Enjoy!