Easy Authentic Rogan Josh

The one thing I try to stick to with these recipes are to find the healthiest way to cook them. I find a lot of Indian food cooked in the UK to be a bit too oily from the large amount of ghee that is used which is unnecessary. Also, the best thing for me about this dish, is that it uses a lean cut of meat so the fat is removed making this a very healthy curry. The flavour doesn't need to be from 'marbled fat' running through it - it is so packed with flavour from the spices you can use lean meat.

In fact this dish is also good with skinless chicken breasts. Here I have used lamb. Its warming a spicy and I love it.

1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled 
3 garlic cloves, peeled
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
500g lamb leg steaks, trimmed of any fat and diced
seeds from 5 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
5 peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 onions, peeled
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. chilli flakes
2 tsp. cumin seeds
2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
4 tbs. plain yogurt
100ml water
1 tbsp. garam masala
1 tbsp. dried curry leaves, crumbled
fresh coriander for garnish

Finely chop one of the onions and put in a bowl. In a hand blender, puree the other onion and add it to the bowl. Put onions to one side. In hand blender, blitz the garlic and ginger with 2 tbsp. water to make a paste. Put to one side. In a pan add 1 tbsp. of oil and fry the lamb cubes until browned. Remove from the pan and set to one side.

In the same pan, add the bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves and cinnamon stick with a further tbsp. oil. Cook until the bay leaf is beginning to brown and then add the chopped and pureed onions along with the tbsp. butter. Cook for 5-10 minutes on a medium heat until browned. Then add the garlic/ginger paste and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Now add the meat and resting juices back to the pan and stir fry for 1 minute.

Add one tablespoon of the yoghurt and stir in. Then add another, until 4 tbsp. have been put in. Combine well and then add the water. Bring to a boil and then simmer on the lowest heat for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to top up the water if its drying out.

After the 2 hours the lamb should be melt in the mouth soft with a thickened sauce. Add the garam masala and the curry leaves and stir through for last 5 minutes of cooking.

Serve with basmati rice and fresh coriander. And a naan bread of you like. Delicious!