Healthy Kashmiri Rogan Josh

A traditional rogan josh curry is fiery red in colour made with aromatic spices and melt in the mouth pieces of mutton ( goats meat) or any meat of your choice.

This classic Kashmiri rogan josh recipe made in the slow cooker needs only 3 cooking steps.

1. Preparing the ingredients ( 10 mins)
2. Sealing the juices ( 5 mins)
3. Putting everything together (3 mins)

And what you have after 4 hours slow cooked lamb curry is the best Lamb Rogan Josh you ever made.

Ingredients Needed to Make Mutton RoganJosh

There are 2 ways to make this Rogan Josh recipe .

You can either choose to make the spice blend at home from scratch or buy a ready-made roganjosh spice blend like the one below:

Apart from the spice blend you will need the following Ingredients:

FRESH INGREDIENTS

⇒1 kg lamb with bone tastes best

⇒1 onion (optional, it adds bulk)

⇒ 2 tsp each of ginger and garlic paste

⇒1/2 cup plain yoghurt

PANTRY ITEMS

⇒1/2 cup tomato passata/tomato sauce/ puree)

⇒2 tbsp of sunflower oil or mustard oil or olive oil

⇒salt to taste

SPICES

⇒2 tbsp of rogan josh spice blend or read the post below for making your homemade rogan josh spice blend.

SUBSTITUTE AND OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

⇒Substitute lamb with  beef or chicken

⇒Dry fenugreek leaves – 2 tsp

⇒Add more chili powder if like your dish to be hot

⇒Substitute normal yoghurt with lactose-free yoghurt

How to Make Kashmiri RoganJosh – Method With Images

Here is a step by step guide with pictures to make this easy rogan josh recipe at home.

To prepare the dish, you will first need to make the Roganjosh spice blend if not using a preblended spice mix.

Although an optional step, sealing the lamb pieces in a pan makes it taste better.

STEP 1 

Dry roast the whole spices on medium heat and grind into powder and set aside

STEP 2

Saute 3 tbsp of sliced onions until golden brown and set aside for later use.

Saute the remaining onions and ginger paste in a hot pan for 5 mins.

STEP 3

Add the lamb pieces to the sauteed onions and seal the juices for another 5 minutes on high heat.

STEP 4

Transfer the lamb into the slow cooker. Add 3 tbsp of yoghurt, 1 cup tomato puree, 1 tbsp Rogan Josh spice blend and slow cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. Add fried Onions half way though cooking.

STEP 5

Serve lamb rogan josh hot with rice or any Indian flat bread.

Below is the detailed recipe card with all the ingredients and instructions.

Cooking Tips and FAQ’s

1. Cooking lamb in a slow cooker or a pressure cooker does not require a lot of water. Make sure you do not add too much liquid. Remember yoghurt and lamb has its own juices that will also release water and make the gravy for the lamb curry.
2. If you feel that the gravy is too thick, add a little warm water.
3. Always reserve a teaspoon of the spice blend and add it in the last 5-10 minutes of cooking in the slow cooker for a flavour surge.
4. I recommend sealing the lamb with ginger paste, and onions in a hot pan before adding it to the slow cooker. This adds a lot of flavour to the dish.

How to make Roganjosh without the spice blend?

Although freshly grounded spice in best for an authentic kashmiri Lamb Rogan Josh taste, you can also replace the spice mix with a shop-bought spice mix or use a tsp of Garam Masala powder, 2 teaspoons of Kashmiri chilli powder and 1 teaspoon of coriander powder in place of the spice mix.

Can I substitute lamb with any other meat?

Traditionally Kashmiri roganjosh is  made with mutton ( that is goats meat with bone). You can use substitute lamb with beef or even chicken. But remember chicken will cook faster and does not require over cooking. 

How to Make Rogan Josh on the stove top?

If you do not have a slow cooker, use a heavy bottomed pot  and cook the lamb on low heat for an hour and a half.

To make this Kashmiri mutton dish on stove top, follow the steps below:

1. Marinade the lamb in yoghurt, salt, ginger paste and 2 tsp of roganjosh spice blend. 

2. Saute onions and ginger, add the marinated lamb and cook on high for the first 10 minutes, 

3. Add the remaining spice mix, cover and cook adding water if needed until the meat becomes tender and soft. 

How to make a child-friendly Indian Lamb Curry

It is easy to make a kid-friendly version of Lamb Rogan Josh for the whole family to enjoy which is not too spicy and hot.

To make it less spicy, all you need to do is add a tablespoon or two more of yoghurt to the sauce gravy and reduce the number of whole chilies when making the spice blend.

Follow the cooking instruction for the Lamb Rogan Josh as written.

Once the lamb is cooked, remove some of the lamb and gravy from the slow cooker.

Add more of the spice blend and/or chili powder to the remaining part of the dish in the cooker and continue to cook for another 1/2 hour for a spicier hot version.

What makes this a healthy and easy Lamb Rogan Josh Recipe

There are benefits of making this lamb dish in the slow cooker.

Less oil – A traditional rogan josh recipe uses a decent amount of oil to make the dish. To make this dish you only need 2 tbsp of oil compared to 1/4 cup of oil or ghee for a serving of 4 people.

Low calories – Less oil, no frying and lean lamb makes this a low calorie lamb dish.

Tender Lamb – Cooking the lamb in a slow cooker or slow cooking it on a low flame for a long time makes the lamb tender with a melt in the mouth texture.

Easy Lamb Curry – Because of the only 3 short cooking steps and the unattended slow cooking process, this dish only takes about 20 minutes to actually put it all together.

What is Rogan Josh?

It is believed that Rogan Josh originated in Persia and was introduced by the Mughals or Persians to the Kashmiri Cuisine also known as Wazwan.

Wazwan is a traditional kashmiri multi-dish course prepared and offered during big Kashmiri occasions.

A traditional rogan josh is made with goat’s meat as lamb is not a preferred meat in India.

‘Rogan’ means red while ‘Josh’ means passion or heat. Hence the fiery red oil layered succulent pieces of meat that is the customary Rogan Josh gravy!

The redness of the dish comes from making a paste of Kashmiri Red Chillies.

Kashmiri Red Chilli which has a vibrant red colour with less of the heat quotient.

Traditional Kashmiri dish is slow-cooked with freshly ground spices in a good helping of clarified butter or ghee!