Topic: Traditional lamb curry, based on Anjum Anand's Rustic Rogan Josh

[Peripatetic Phil]

Inspired by my efforts with Anjum Anand's Rustic Rogan Josh last night, I set out tonight to replicate the methodology but starting from scratch.  I started by finely chopping 2 1/2 brown onions and then frying them in spiced oil in the wok until they were starting to colour, then added some faux cinnamon, crushed green cardamom, curry leaves, methi leaves, torn Indian bay and some kala jeera.  When all seemed nicely fried, I added a good tablespoon of g/g paste, fried that until it too seemed done, then added the lamb.  I then quickly removed it again because I realised I hadn't yet cut it into curry-sized pieces !  Once cut it went back in the pan and was fried in the sauteed onions and whole masala until it started to brown.  Over the next few minutes I added and fried two teaspoons of turmeric, three of Kashmiri mirch, two of cumin and two of methi.  And plenty of sea salt.  As I was frying the ground spices they started to stick, so I kept freeing them by adding more oil and/or some of yesterday's lamb stock.  When all was properly fried I added the remainder of the stock (not a lot :  maybe half a cup), stirred well, put on the lid, turned the power down to 20%, and then cooked for a further 1H30, stirring every now and then.  The taste changed quite dramatically during the 1H30, from one in which the flavour and heat of the Kashmiri mirch completely predominated to a quite different, fully integrated, rich pleasant spicy flavour.  Having just tried a piece of the lamb, I realise that 1H30 isn't sufficient for the 450gm of lamb that I cooked (last night was only 300gm), so it has just gone back on for at least another 30 minutes.  All in all, a very successful experiment, and one which I will undoubtedly repeat :  whilst BIR-style has enormous benefits in terms of economy of time when cooking a chicken-based dish, lamb requires so long that the benefits of a pre-cooked base seem to me to be completely lost.

** Phil.

[chonk]

Hi Phil (:

Is there a reason for adding the whole spices (cinnamon, black cumin, etc.) after the onions?

[Peripatetic Phil]

Hi Phil (:

Is there a reason for adding the whole spices (cinnamon, black cumin, etc.) after the onions?

Just instinct, and not based on any research.  It seemed to me that traditional Indian food has to start somewhere, and browned onions seemed a logical place to start to me.  Do you think I should have fried the whole masala for (say) 20 seconds (as per Anjum Anand) before adding the onions, and if I had done so, do you think I would have detected the difference in the final dish ?

** Phil.

[Ramirez]

Interesting report Phil. 

whilst BIR-style has enormous benefits in terms of economy of time when cooking a chicken-based dish, lamb requires so long that the benefits of a pre-cooked base seem to me to be completely lost.

Surely this is why you would pre-cook the lamb, hence not needing long to cook the final curry.

[chonk]

Hi Phil! (:

Just instinct, and not based on any research.  It seemed to me that traditional Indian food has to start somewhere, and browned onions seemed a logical place to start to me.  Do you think I should have fried the whole masala for (say) 20 seconds (as per Anjum Anand) before adding the onions, and if I had done so, do you think I would have detected the difference in the final dish ?

** Phil.

Hoped you could tell me that ;P

I do know of at least one cooking book, where the author adds cumin and whole spices after the onions too, but that seemed relatively new to me. But I guess if there is a difference, it's minimal. (but I'm not sure) I will try that out! (always started with some whole spices first)

[Peripatetic Phil]

Surely this is why you would pre-cook the lamb, hence not needing long to cook the final curry.

Yes, if you use pre-cooked lamb and pre-made base then you can indeed make a lamb curry in much the same time as you could make a chicken one; I was just thinking in terms of having raw lamb v. raw chicken, where for the latter a base-based curry is obviously beneficial (in terms of speed) whereas for the former I don't think it offers any real advantages.

** Phil.

[Malc.]

I would have added the whole spices first but would have kept back on the black cumin until adding the onions. I can't say I have evidence that this would change the dish but I it would ensure the whole spices are cooked evenly in the oil, rather than nestled between the onions, if you see what I mean. The black cumin I would have added just before adding the onions as I find it goes past it's best if left in oil too long.

Overall, your conclusion is much to my way of thinking these days. If your going to spend 2 hours making a base and another 40 minutes pre-cooking meat, you might as well make a traditional curry. We rarely cook more than one dish to eat between us anyway, adding sides of course. I've been compiling a list of traditional recipes from Indian sites that I am going to try over the coming months.

[AnnabelSplash]

Hi everyone,

I work with Anjum Anand and she has given me some tips for cooking the perfect Rustic Rogan Josh which I thought you might all find useful! (Please see below)

Firstly, using lamb rump or well trimmed neck fillets will change your cooking time for a bought sauce to about 6 minutes and the meat is still tender. Using pieces of leg or shoulder will take longer but the flavour is better and it is cheaper.

There are so many ways to cook Indian food but frying your spices first will help bring out their best flavour which will permeate the whole dish.

I hope that helps!

Annabel

[spiceyokooko]

I work with Anjum Anand and she has given me some tips for cooking the perfect Rustic Rogan Josh which I thought you might all find useful!

So, the two tips you've shared with us to help us make the 'perfect rustic Rogan Josh' are 1/ that lamb neck fillet/rump should cook in about 6 minutes (not in my experience, it takes a lot longer and leg/shoulder will take significantly longer) and that 2/ we should 'fry spices first' to bring out their flavour?

 :

[Secret Santa]

I'm guessing the 6 is a typo and should be 60. And frying spices eh, who'd have thunk it?