lamb rogan josh
serves 4
an 8 cm piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated
8 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
4 tablespoon natural yogurt
1 teaspoon crushed black peppercorns
1kg lamb shoulder cut into big cubes
5 medium red onions peeled and halved
2 red peppers halved and deseeded
1 tablespoon cardamom pods
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
4 small dried red chillies
vegetable oil
2 teaspoons paprika
G tinned chopped tomato's
sea salt
optional:sliced fresh chili, coconut flakes, chopped herbs to serve
THE NIGHT BEFORE:
mix your ginger and garlic together and put into a bowl thats big enough to fit all the cubed lamb in, add the turmeric, yogurt and black pepper to the bowl and mix through. Tip the lamb into the bowl and stir it around, until its well coated with the yogurt and spices.
cover and leave overnight in the fridge to marinate.
THE DAY OF COOKING:
Prue-heat your oven to 170 C/ 325 F/gas 3. chop your onions and peppers roughly and whiz them in a food processor with the fresh red chillies. Get yourself an oven proof pan and put it on the hob. on a medium heat, toast the cardamom pods, Cinnamon and coriander seeds until they go a shade darker in colour.Then put them into a pestle and mortar and grind up with the dried red chillies.Keep the pan on the heat and add a splash of vegetable oil add the whizzed onion, pepper and chili paste from the food processor with the ground up spices and the paprika. cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. by now, lots of delicious curry smells will be coming out of the pot.
Add the tomatoes, marinated lamb and 300 ml of water, and stir well. When the curry comes to the boil, add half a teaspoon of salt, cover tightly and place in your preheated oven. You can basically forget about it now; and all the hard work is done. Just wait 2 hours and carefully take the pot out of the oven. Taste it, and if it needs salt, add a little. If its too hot, add a little yogurt, to cool it down. You can garnish with extra fresh chili, coconut and herbs, serve with rice, your favorite indian bread such as paratha, naan or chapati, and lots of cold beer-your going to need it!