Lamb Rogan Josh with Cheat’s Pilaf

As the weather begins to cool, we’re drawn towards comforting slow cooked meals, especially ones as versatile as this lamb Rogan Josh. While we may be chasing more warming comforting dishes, we may occasionally find many slow cooked meals too heavy on our digestion. If this is the case for you, you’ll find that this recipe can be easily lightened up by serving it with lightly dressed salad greens or some sauteed green instead of rice. Coupled with a big squeeze of lemon and handful of coriander leaves freshens the flavour and cuts through the richness.

If you’re looking for even more zing and freshness, serve with a raita for that extra special touch. When made from scratch at home you can easily adapt a basic raita recipe to your dietary needs. Can’t do casein or cow dairy? Try sheep’s yoghurt or a dairy free option like soy, almond or coconut yoghurt.

I find Rogan Josh to be a beautiful curry base that can be adapted easily to your tastes. As my kids are yet to develop any tolerance for spice, I leave chilli out of most of my cooking, though feel free to add to your liking. For those that prefer really more depth in their curries, feel free to up the quantity of spices to taste.

It freezes well too, so this a brilliant one for your batch cooking repertoire. You make it once and you have dinner covered and leftovers for the freezer for those busy days.

If you make this we’d love to know what you think.

A winter-warming Lamb Rojan Josh recipe

Ingredients

Lamb Rogan Josh
1.5 kg lamb leg
2 cups natural coconut yoghurt
Juice one 1 large lemon (or 2 lemons if not super juicy)
2 teaspoons salt (optional, to taste)
4 large onions
1 cup ghee or olive oil
8 cloves garlic
1 large piece ginger, peeled (about 1/3-1/2 cup chopped)
1 1/3 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
5 cardamon pods
4 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons cumin powder
2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1-1 1/5 teaspoons garam masala
1 teaspoon black pepper ground
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes or chopped fresh tomatoes
Scant ½ cup tomato paste

Cheat’s Pilaf
1 red onion, finely diced
½ bunch rainbow chard, washed, stems sliced finely and leaves shredded
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 cups cooked rice
2 tablespoons Ghee, olive or coconut oil
¼ cup chopped almonds (optional)
½ cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped
Salt to taste

Method

Lamb Rojan Josh

1. Remove the bone from the lamb and cut into pieces about an inch cubed.
2. In a large container (enough to fit the lamb), mix the coconut yoghurt, lemon juice and salt. Add the lamb and stir well. Cover and place in the fridge to marinade over night, ideally 24 hours.
3. When you’re ready to cook, slice the onions and fry in the ghee or olive oil until golden brown in a large heavy based saucepan.
4. Place the chopped ginger and garlic cloves in a food processor with 2/3 cup water. Blend until liquidised. Add the rest of the water and blend again.
5. Add to the saucepan with the golden onions and cook, stirring regularly for around 10 minutes.
6. Next add the dried spices, stir well and simmer for another 10 minutes.
7. Add the tomato paste and stir for 5 minutes.
8. Finally, add the marinated lamb, a tin of diced tomatoes and cook gently for 1 1/2 -2 hours, stirring every now and again so it doesn’t stick and burn on the bottom, until the lamb is tender.
9. Serve with steamed rice or cauliflower rice, pappadums and steamed vegetables.

Cheat’s Pilaf

1. Heat a frypan and add the ghee.
2. Cook the onion until softened and translucent.
3. Add the mustard seeds, cumin and turmeric and stir well, releasing the flavour and aromatics of the spices.
4. Next add the rainbow chard stalks and cook until softened.
5. Add the rice, stirring well to cook through and coat with the onion and spice mix. add the nuts if using and stir through. Feel free to add a little water if needed if it seems a bit dry or your rice was a little dry/cold.
6. Finally add the leaves of the rainbow chard and ½ the coriander leaves. Stir well and cook until just beginning to soften but still retaining some bite and freshness.
7. Season with salt to taste. Add the remaining coriander leaves and serve with the curry.