Lamb Rogan Josh

Lamb Rogan Josh

Over 3 decades ago, during time spent in California, Mum's sister and my aunt came to visit us for a number of months. She enjoyed talking about her (and Mum's) childhood in Burma. It was during her stay that we met 3 families from Burma, also living in Southern California. My most precious memories of her are the endless hours we spent in the kitchen while we prepared a number of her favorite dishes. She taught me how to make tandoori chicken in the toaster oven, plump and juicy gulab jamuns and this lamb curry that originated in Kashmir, India.

The lamb simmers on the stove top for 2-1/2 hours until fall-off-the-bone tender and tastes delicious served with rice or any Indian bread.

Oven-Baked Lamb Stew

Lamb Stew

Cooking meat dishes in the oven in the winter time has the huge benefit that it can be left to cook unattended with practically no interference. Another bonus is that winter can be shut out and left outdoors where it belongs because cooking in the oven doesn't release too many aromas. It took just 15 minutes to prepare the meat and vegetables for the oven. This was so quick and easy that I was a little unsure of how it would turn out and was pleasantly surprised.

After layering all the ingredients in the baking dish it took 3.5 hours to bake this stew in the oven. By the time we sat down to dinner the lamb was fork tender and falling off the bones. And because it baked for so long, there was no need to brown the meat which was a huge relief. The baking dish also served as a serving dish so there were no pots and pans to clean. So I will be filing this under my 'stress-free recipes' category.

Crockpot Rogan Josh - Slow-Cooked Lamb Curry

Crockpot Rogan Josh

The crockpot is probably the most under-utilized appliance in my kitchen. It's ideal for these wintry days when temperatures plummet to single digits which makes it bone-chilling to open doors and windows so the house can be aired out. Today I dusted off the crockpot and boldly plugged it in. 

I've never used the crockpot (or slow-cooker as it's sometimes called) to cook Indian meat curries. My sister has, but I think she did a lot of the prep on the stovetop and then put it all in the crockpot to cook slowly. I decided to take the shortest shortcut possible, combined everything in the crockpot and allowed it to do its thing. The result was totally amazing. 

My Beli Mashi (Mum's sister) spent a few months with us when I was living in California and she taught me to make Kashmiri Rogan Josh. I marinated the meat with the rest of the ingredients for a couple of hours, then dumped all of it into the crockpot with sliced onions and set it on high for 2 hours. After giving everything a good mix, the crockpot was set to low, potatoes were added and cooked for 5 hours.

The meat just fell off the bones and the potatoes were cooked to perfection. I doubt meat curries in my house will ever be cooked on the stovetop again. Without the botheration of stirring and making sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan, it was completely stress-free cooking!

Lamb & Potato Biryani

Lamb Biryani

Mum's Yakhni Pulao made with mutton or lamb was unforgettable. It was quite a complicated recipe, but unfortunately, there is no record it. I've tried to reproduce it to the best of my ability, and this attempt tasted quite delicious.

My pressure cooker came in handy to pre-cook the pieces of meat, but this step could also be done on the stove top. It would just take an hour or longer instead of 20 minutes in the pressure cooker. 

Shan pulao/biryani masala mix, available in Indian markets, contains a mix of spices that give biryani its distinctive taste and aroma. I used a tea strainer to sprinkle the spices over a plate. That leaves all the solid spices in the strainer which I use for tempering, remove from the oil and enclose them in a tea ball (or cheescloth tied with kitchen string is a good substitute) which is tossed into the saucepan to cook along with the biryani.

Packaged Birista

Bottled Birista

Birista or deep fried onions are an essential garnish for both pulaos and biryanis. They're easy to make but is a tedious and long process. Much easier to pick up a bottle or package of birista at the Asian markets.

Fuji Apple Raita

CucumberTomatoOnion Salad

Biryani is pretty filling as a main course, but is great paired with a raita or simple salad. The grated fuji apple raita on the left is dressed with yogurt and a tempering of raisins, mustard seeds and curry leaves. On the right, a simple salad of cucumber, tomatoes and onion is dressed very simply with salt and lime juice.

Easy Kosha Mangsho - Simmered Lamb Curry

Kosha (stirred & simmered) Mangsho (meat) produces a lamb curry that is bathed in a thick gravy. Note that no water or watery ingredients are added during cooking in order to ensure a thick sauce or gravy. Tomato ketchup or paste is used, not pureed tomatoes, for this reason. Why call this recipe easy? Because it takes a couple of hours or more to cook this on the stove top. By using a pressure cooker, the cooking time is reduced drastically and the meat falls off the bones.

Bone-in leg of baby lamb works best for this recipe and purchasing from a halal meat store ensures tenderness and good quality meat. I ask the butcher to cut the leg into pieces suitable for stewing and to pack it in 3-4 separate portions. That cuts down on work once I get it home, so all I have to do is freeze it until ready to be cooked.

We generally don't eat lamb unless company's coming, so that makes it an extra-special meal. Most of the fat is removed during the butchering process, but a sufficient amount remains which gives the lamb its familiar flavor. 

It's a family tradition to add potatoes to meat dishes and I've used one large russet potato chopped into pieces similar in size to the pieces of lamb. For an added festive touch, this dish can be garnished with deep fried onions just prior to serving.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lamb, cut in big chunks & washed

2 tsp. Kashmiri mirch or paprika

1 Tbsp. ginger paste

1 Tbsp. garlic paste

1/4 tsp. turmeric powder

1/2 tsp. cumin-coriander powder

2 Tbsp. tomato ketchup or paste (not pureed)

salt to taste

4 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. shah jeera or cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick

3 large black cardamom

1 star anise

2 large onions, halved & sliced in crescents

1 russet potato, peeled and cut in chunks

1/2 tsp. Bengali garam masala (ground cinnamon, cardamom & cloves)

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Marinate lamb in next 7 ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
2. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.
3. Take lamb out of the fridge and bring to room temperature.
4. Heat pressure cooker over medium-high heat and add oil.
5. When oil is hot, sputter next 4 ingredients until aromatic.
6. Stir-fry onions until translucent and add lamb.
7. Stir well and simmer until juices are released.
8. Cover pressure cooker & bring to full pressure.
9. Simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes & remove from heat.
10. Allow pressure to dissipate completely before removing cover.
11. Add potatoes, stir well and place over medium-low heat.
12. Simmer for half an hour or until potatoes are tender.
13. Adjust salt to taste and stir in garam masala.
14. Serve with Indian bread or steamed Basmati rice.

Kosha Mangsho - Simmered Lamb Curry

Kosha Mangsho

This lamb dish brings back memories of our days in Darjeeling (nestled in the Himalayan mountains in India) during Bijoya Dashami, the tenth day of Durga Puja. All Puja festivals are celebrated by offering food, usually vegetarian food, to Hindu deities and sharing that blessed meal with family and friends. Bijoya is a little different in that it is one of those rare occasions when non-vegetarian food is served to family and friends.

Mum always cooked all festive meals herself. Daily meals were prepared by the kanchi (Nepali word for household help) because Mum worked as a professor at an all-girls' college. On weekends and holidays, she enjoyed cooking for us all and for any of her own and/or our friends who dropped by. On Bijoya Dashami she'd prepare this type of lamb/goat curry served with luchis (Bengali deep-fried white puffed bread).

Luchis

Today is Bijoya Dashami and we had friends over for lunch. I made Kosha Mangsho the way I imagined Mum would have made it. It was served with steamed Basmati rice because I'd need the patience of Mum to make luchis.