Slow Cooked Lamb Rogan Josh

Curry is a great choice on a grain-free diet. In fact, I already have recipes on the blog for my Spicy Chicken Curry and my Zanzibar Coconut Chicken Curry. Most authentic curry houses don’t use any thickeners in their sauces. If they make it fresh, the vegetables and the act of reducing the sauces means there’s no need for flours or processed thickeners. I have spoken with the kitchen staff at my local curry house, checked all the ingredients with them and I have a list of all the dishes I can eat there! However if you’re worried, there’s nothing like making your own version. You know exactly what goes into it and it’s much cheaper than a Takeaway! This Slow Cooked Lamb Rogan Josh is not too spicy so it won’t upset any tender tummies. If you prefer more or less spice, you can always adjust the levels to suit your own taste by adding extra fresh chillis or chilli flakes.

So the first step is to prepare and marinate the lamb. I purchased diced lamb leg but you could use any cut, shoulder etc and just chop it up yourself. I started by peeling and grating the fresh ginger and garlic. (Top tip – ginger is easiest to peel and you’re left with less wasted if you use a teaspoon instead of a knife – try it!) In a bowl, mix together the grated ginger and garlic, turmeric, ground black pepper, yoghurt and diced lamb until everything is completely coated. Leave the lamb to marinate in the mixture in the fridge for a couple of hours, preferably overnight to infuse the meat with the flavours.

Slow Cooked Lamb Rogan Josh by Emma Eats & Explores - Grainfree, Glutenfree, Refined Sugarfree, Paleo, SCD & Low Carb

The next step is to make the spice mix. Start by crushing the cardamom pods in a pestle and mortar and add the seeds from inside to a frying pan, discarding the husks. Also add the cumin seeds, cloves and coriander seeds to the frying pan. Dry fry all the spices on a medium heat until they are lightly toasted and release their aromas (around 5 minutes). They will start to smell delicious! Once toasted, tip the spices into a pestle and mortar and grind into a powder. To the toasted spice powder, add the ground cinnamon, paprika and chilli flakes and mix thoroughly. Set aside until later.

Next, you have to make the curry paste. All curries start from a great curry paste base. For a Rogan Josh, the base is that of mixed vegetables and the spice powder that you have already made. Start by peeling the onions and de-seeding the red peppers (capsicums). Roughly chop both of these and add to a food processor along with the coriander (cilantro) and fresh chillis. Blitz all the vegetables in the food processor until finely chopped.

Next you need to heat the olive oil in the frying pan and add the spice powder mix. Fry for 1-2 minutes and then add the vegetables from the food processor to the pan. Mix well and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until soft. This is your curry paste which will flavour and thicken your sauce.

Slow Cooked Lamb Rogan Josh is a tomato-based sauce so the next step is to slice the fresh tomatoes into wedges and add to the Slow Cooker. Add the passata, fill up the jar with the water, swill around to make sure you get all the sauce and add this to the slow cooker too. Add the marinated lamb and the curry paste. Stir to mix thoroughly and season well with salt and pepper.

Cook in the slow cooker for 8 hours or until the sauce has thickened and turned darker and the meat is tender. Check the seasoning and spice level again before serving and adjust accordingly. I love using the slow cooker as i can prepare the dish the night before, turn it on before I go to work and come home to a fantastic smelling house with dinner all prepared. (You could, however, make all this in an oven-safe dish with a lid if you don’t have a slow cooker. Just follow all the steps, adding the ingredients to the dish rather than the slow cooker, and cook for about 2hrs in a 180C/350F).

Everybody likes to serve their curry with different condiments. Some like Mango Chutney, others Lime Pickle, some Cucumber Raita etc. I topped my Slow Cooked Lamb Rogan Josh with a dollop of natural yoghurt, sliced red chilli, pomegranate seeds and fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves. You could add desiccated coconut, sultanas, peanuts, anything you fancy really. I served it with Cauliflower Pilau Rice (recipe to come soon) but you could serve it alongside poppadoms, naan, Onion Bhajis or my Lemon Cauliflower Rice with Coriander (Cilantro) – it’s a really refreshing accompaniment.

This is such a hearty, warming recipe with just the right amount of spice. Perfect for this time of year. Thumbs up from Dan which is always a good sign. He prefers meatier, heartier dishes than the lighter summer dishes I’ve been cooking recently! The season for winter-warming recipes is definitely coming around though so look out for more of them on the blog soon.