Lamb Curry

I remember the first time I started work, it was an international food week at the office. I decided to cook my family favourite, the lamb curry and three years later, my mates at the office still talks about that plate of curry I brought with me. And so tonight I meticulously measured the spices required for this mix for my friends so all they need to do is use the premixed spice when cooking their lamb curry...what are friends for right?

Rogan Josh literally means Red Curry and the deep red colour is achieved from the tomatoes. The curry is very versatile and can be served with plain rice or biryani or with the Malaysian Roti Jala/Lacy Crepe (I will post the recipe for this soon).

So here is the recipe and do enjoy!

Lamb Curry: Rogan Josh

* Around 500 grams lamb/beef curry cuts
* 1 tsp minced ginger
* 1 tsp minced garlic
* 1 teaspoons salt.
* 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
* 3 teaspoons garam masala
* 2 teaspoons ground coriander
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 dessert spoons of plain natural greek style yoghurt
* 1 teaspoon of red chillie powder (more if you like it hot)
* 2 medium onions - finely chopped
* I can of peeled plum tomatoes

Throw in the finely chopped onions and stir fry until the pieces start to go soft and translucent. Then add in garlic and ginger and keep stir-frying.
Then add all the quantities of ground spices and keep frying - the mixture should be dry-ish - and this is called "dry-frying" - or "pot-roasting". Fry for a few minutes until the heavenly aroma fills up your entire house - and then add the chunks of lamb. Keep stir-frying!

You should stir-fry for around 5 mins on high heat until the meat has fully browned. Then throw in the tinned tomato.

Stir it all about and let it cook for a few mins before adding a couple of large dollops of plain natural yoghurt. Stir it all in and then put the flame on high to bring it to a boil.

Then put the lid on and immediately transfer to the lowest possible flame burner. Come back after half hour - take the lid off and give it a stir - and then put lid back on and let it simmer for another half hour. Repeat this for around one and half hours - and you will notice that the consistency of the mixture is a bit thicker - and the colour is bit redder/browner .

At this point it's done! Taste it in order to see if any more salt or chillie powder needs adding - and make sure that the lamb pieces are tender - not chewy! Then sprinkle on a generous handful of freshly chopped coriander leaf and stir it in. Let it rest with the lid on for 5 minutes and it's ready to serve!