Name: Rogan Josh From Scratch
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Cuisine: British Indian Curry House
Ingredients: FOR THE MEAT (optional); 700g (24 oz) lamb leg meat, cut into bite sized pieces; 1 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil; 1 x 2.5cm (1 inch) cinnamon stick; 3 green cardamom pods, bruised; 2 cloves; ½ tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp paprika; 1 onion, peeled and quartered; 750ml (3 cups) water; FOR THE CURRY; 4 tbsp rapeseed (canola) oil; 2 onions, finely chopped; 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste; 2 1/2 tbsp smoked or unsmoked picante paprika; 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; 1 ½ tbsp Madras curry powder; ½ tsp each of ground cumin and ground coriander; 8 cashews; 200g (7 oz) tinned (canned) chopped tomatoes; 2 tomatoes, quartered; 3 tbsp plain natural yoghurt; 1 tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves); 1 tsp garam masala,; 3 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped; Chopped red onion to garnish

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Make BIR rogan josh from scratch without base sauce.

Many people want to make curry house style curries but can't be fussed with preparing the 'essential' base sauce. That smooth onion based sauce is used at curry houses around the UK to prepare everything from the mildest korma to the spiciest phaal. Here I would like to show you how you can make top quality, curry house style lamb rogan josh from scratch without the need to make a base sauce first.

You will also find links to many popular side dishes to enjoy your rogan josh with.

lamb rogan josh from scratch — Lamb rogan josh from scratch without the need of a base curry sauce.

What do you serve rogan josh with?

If you'd like to make this curry into a feast, you've come to the right place. You could just go for a side of Basmati rice or mushroom fried rice.

If you'd like to make naans, why not try one of these? Instant naans, Peshwari naans, stove top naans, keema naans, garlic naans, tandoor naans (if you have a tandoor oven), or if you're cooking outdoors, karahi naans.

You might also like to serve this rogan josh with easy tarka dal or slowly cooked dal makhani.

Want to start your rogan josh meal off with a bang? How about fried shop bought poppadoms or if you're feeling ambitious, make your own poppadoms from scratch and serve them with coriander chutney, red onion chutney, and/or tamarind chutney.

Which cut of meat?

I have used lamb leg meat for this recipe as it cooks faster than shoulder. If you use shoulder, it will take longer to become tender but the longer cooking will also produce a richer stock.

The idea here is to sear and then simmer the meat first and use the stock it produces in the curry for extra flavour.

Do I have to use lamb?

Absolutely not. Just like when you go to a curry house, you can add the protein of your choice. Add chicken tikka, paneer, whatever you like. In fact, if using precooked chicken tikka, lamb tikka or paneer, you will be able to cook this quick rogan josh from scratch even quicker!

If using pre-cooked tandoori chicken, paneer or seafood, you could add water instead of the lamb stock mentioned above. That or use chicken stock or another homemade stock of your choice.

Want to try this rogan josh exactly as it's made at curry houses?

No problem. Here's a good and authentic British Indian restaurant (BIR) recipe for you.

The above linked recipe and many other curry house classics are in my cookbook 'The Curry Guy Bible'.

Step by step photographs...

Ingredients for rogan josh from scratch — Always get your ingredients together before starting. It's a lot easier.

Cooking lamb in pan — Sear the lamb and then add the spices, onion and water.

Simmering lamb in stock — Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until the meat is tender. Strain and retain the meat and stock.

Frying onions in pan — Now fry the onions in the oil over a medium high heat.

A word about those onions...

When a curry house base sauce is made, the onions are simmered in water. The onions in that base sauce are the same for every curry.

Here I have fried them until golden brown. This is perfect for a rich curry like rogan josh. If you are frying onions for a lighter curry such as korma, you could fry the onions for a shorter time until soft and translucent but not yet browned. This is one way of achieving different tasting sauces for different curries.

Adding garlic and ginger, spices and cashews — Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and fry for 30 seconds. Then add the ground spices and cashews and stir them in.

Adding chopped tomatoes and stock to the pan — Add the chopped tomatoes and about 125ml (1/2 cup) of the stock from the lamb or water. Allow to cool slightly.

Blending rogan josh stock — Blend the cooled sauce until smooth.

Adding blended sauce to pan. — Pour the sauce back in the pan. It will be too thick so add about 250ml (1 cup) lamb stock or water.

Adding lamb to the pan — Add the meat to the sauce. If the sauce is too thick, add more stock. if too thin, just cook it down.

Adding tomatoes to the sauce — Add the quartered tomatoes. Remember to keep topping up the sauce with stock if too thick.

Adding yoghurt to the sauce. — Cook the sauce for a while. The longer you simmer it, the deeper red it will become. Stir in the yoghurt.

Garnishing the curry with coriander (cilantro) and red onion — Season with salt to taste and serve garnished with coriander (cilantro) and chopped red onion.

If you like this recipe for rogan josh from scratch, try some of these you can make without base sauce...

Chicken Chasni from Scratch

Yield: 4