Rogan Josh – an Indian lamb curry with a heady combination of intense spices in a creamy tomato curry sauce. The lamb is fall apart tender and packs a serious flavour punch!
While this recipe calls for a lengthy list of spices, you won’t need to take a trip to an Indian store to get them – they’re even sold at my local grocery store!
Lamb Rogan Josh
Rogan Josh is one of the heavy hitters at Indian restaurants, a firm favourite alongside Butter Chicken, Tikka Masala and Tandoori.
I’d say Daal is up there too, but let’s be honest – if you can only order one curry, it probably won’t be daal (unless you’re with a vegetarian). Right? 🤷🏻♀️
There’s a decent list of spices called for in Rogan Josh. As would be expected given the kapow! flavour of the creamy tomato curry sauce!
But it doesn’t call for any hard to find ingredients. In fact, you can get all the spices at large supermarkets here in Australia.🙌🏻
This recipe is based on one from one my favourite chefs, Rick Stein, from his book Rick Stein’s India. I felt the addition of stock and increasing the amount of spices really made this Rogan Josh taste just that much more curry-house style. Now “that’s a mind-blasting curry, Ricky ….”
Ingredients in Rogan Josh
Here’s what you need. And yes, dear fellow Aussies, you really can get all the ingredients at Coles, Woolworths or Harris Farms!
Spices – all spices listed above are common ones with the exception of Garam Masala. This is an Indian Spice Mix which is sold at supermarkets nowadays, however, if you are struggling to find it, substitute with curry powder;
Best lamb for Rogan Josh – Lamb shoulder is best because it’s well marbled with fat and becomes ultra tender and juicy when slow cooked for a couple of hours;
Ghee – this is just pure butter so it has a more intense butter flavour than normal butter (spreadable or block for cooking). In fact, it’s just clarified butter also known as browned butter, which is simply butter that’s melted and simmered until the water content evaporates, leaving behind 100% butter fat. It’s SO GOOD and it’s an essential ingredient for flavour in Indian cooking, adding a layer of richness to the sauce. Sold at large grocery stores, or substitute with butter.
How to make Rogan Josh
And here’s how you make it. All in one go, in one pot – nice and easy!
Fall apart lamb
Rogan Josh is made with stewing lamb, so it needs to be cooked long and slow (2 hours, to be exact) for the lamb to become tender and for sauce flavour to develop.
You know it’s ready when you can use two forks to do THIS to the lamb:
What to serve with Rogan Josh
Something to soak with that glorious sauce is essential. Traditionally basmati (Indian long grain rice) rice is the go, though people suffering through low-carb torture can opt for Cauliflower Rice.
Something to mop your bowl clean would also be ideal and traditional. Real Naan you can make at home is no-brainer here! Chewy, fluffy and stretchy, you’ll feel like you’re at a restaurant! For a quicker alternative, try this easy No Yeast Flatbread that I use as naan with all my Indian curries.
Of course, something fresh will complete the meal. It’s pictured with a variation of this Herb & Garlic Cucumber Salad – I cut the cucumber into thicker chunks (for juicier bites), skipped the herb & garlic (the curry has enough flavour!) and sprinkled with coriander. Cooling Indian Tomato Salad with Mint Dressing would also be lovely, or for something a little more substantial and exotic, try South Indian Cabbage & Carrot Salad with Coconut.
If you’re going the whole hog to create a full Indian feast, try Samosas or Pakoras for the ultimate appetiser / starter!
– Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Rogan Josh (Indian Lamb Curry)
Ingredients
- 3.5 tbsp ghee , substitute butter (Note 1)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 green cardamom pods , lightly bruised
- 4 cloves
- 1 large onion , finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic , finely minced
- 1 tbsp ginger , finely grated
- 5 tbsp tomato passata (US: tomato puree/sauce, Note 5)
- 1 tsp salt
- 750g/1.5lb boneless lamb shoulder , cut into 3cm/1.2" cubes (Note 6)
- 1.5 cups / 375ml chicken stock , salt reduced (broth)
SPICES:
- 2 tbsp paprika , normal or sweet
- 3/4 tsp chilli powder (or to taste, Note 2)
- 4 tsp ground coriander
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp garam marsala (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp fennel powder (Note 4)
FINISHES
- 1/2 tsp extra garam masala (Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp extra fennel powder
SERVING/GARNISH
- 1/2 cup / 125g plain yoghurt (Greek yogurt fine)
- Chopped coriander leaves, finely shredded ginger, yogurt
- Basmati rice
Instructions
- Melt ghee over medium heat in large heavy based pot. Add cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and cook for one minute.
- Add onion and cook for 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until pieces are golden and starting the brown on the edges.
- Add the garlic and ginger, cook for another minute.
- Stir in the Spices, cook for 30 seconds.
- Mix in the tomato puree and salt, then add stock and mix.
- Add lamb, stir, bring to simmer.
- Place lid on and adjust heat to low or medium low so it’s simmering gently.
- Cook 1 hour 45 minutes, giving it an occasional stir, until lamb is quite tender – use 2 forks to check, it should pry apart pretty easily.
- Remove lid, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes (to reduce sauce slightly) – lamb should be very tender by this stage.
- Stir in the Yogurt, the Extra garam marsala and fennel. Cook for another few minutes.
- Serve with basmati rice, sprinkled with fresh coriander leaves and other garnishes if desired. More sides (pictured): Cucumber salad (Note 7) and Easy naan – No Yeast Flatbread
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More great curries of the world!
Life of Dozer
Teaching Dozer to use his new dog door using avocado toast as incentive!!
[Update] PS Dear everyone expressing concern about avocado being bad for dogs – they are not! I use a dog nutritionist to help me create Dozer’s raw food diet, to ensure he has the right nutrition etc. And I double/triple checked with him yesterday that avocado is fine for dogs in moderation, as with many things! You wouldn’t feed dogs a whole avocado everyday (also bearing in mind the seed is a choking hazard) but some is ok.
(Though having said that, the farm dog of an avocado farmer I know has been eating 3 avocados a day her whole life, and she’s healthy and fit, and has the shiniest coat I have ever seen on a dog!!)
Hi Nagi, I love your recipes! Do you have any tips for cooking this in a pressure cooker/instant pot? Thanks!
Not this one as written sorry Alison – you want it simmering so the sauce reduces too. N x
Just cooked this for the wife, blown away. This was fab. Had cooked a Lamb Rogan Josh from another recipe and found the Lamb a bit tough. For me, I used Lamb Neck. Its a cheap cut of Lamb and just melted in the mouth like butter. For the last 25mins of the cook, I panfried some Baby Corn and Magi-tout and threw them in. The whole dish was delish. Thank you, its now in my cook book as a keeper.
I had some cooked lamb to use and found this recipe. Never made a Rogan Josh before but I will be doing it again. Sooooooo very tasty. Had to use cinnamon powder instead of the stick and make my own Fennel powder from seeds which was quite satisfying . No salt was needed
Great recipe thank you.
This curry was easy to make and fabulous tasting. Thanks once again, Nagi. I paired it with Thoran style salad. They were great together.
“This is the best curry I’ve ever had”. Those were the words from my husbands mouth midway through dinner. Excellent!
That’s great to hear Tracy, I’m so glad you loved it!! N x
Hi Nagi,
I cooked your Rogan Josh recipe. Absolutely fabulous! Many thanks. Added a teaspoon of honey. “Rounded it off” very nicely.
I am German and your German recipes remind me very much how my grandmother used to cook. I am going to try them all and come back to you. Many thanks again.
Best lamb rogan josh recipe I’ve made, going in for a third time!
Excellent recipe. Fun and relaxing to make. Great flavours and the lamb is super soft and tender. I would recommend less than a half cup of Greek Yoghurt so it does not mellow out too much of the lovily spices.
Unfortunately the store ran out of our fav spice kit so thought to give Nagi’s trusted recipes a try. Super successful and relatively easy to do. Now the hardest part is to stop myself from eating it all before filling it in a pie (as per husband’s birthday request)…
Thank you!
This recipe turned out AMAZING! I blend my own masala to be without chili and add it very thoughtfully as I have young children whose heat tolerance is very low. Other than that and the fact that the stew meat I bought had bone in so I had to increase cook time by 40 minutes, I followed the recipe. One thing I’d check before adding the meat and salt is the saltiness with the broth. Mine had more salt than I thought so I didn’t need as much salt. I was a little concerned that maybe I over salted it, but it was amazing. Considering that we put it with naan and rice, it needs quite a bit of salt. My husband and I were like Bob eating Mrs. Marvin’s fried chicken from What About Bob? It was SO easy to make too. Just a little chopping and measuring and maybe 15 minutes of work at the beginning, but otherwise it simmered on the stove. I paired it with a cucumber, garlic, ginger, yogurt salad, garlic naan, and a beautiful glass of red wine. I liked this dish more than many dishes I’ve eaten in restaurants and I love eating in Indian restaurants. I will DEFINITELY make this again. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
Hi, Cooked this to the letter yesterday. Myself and my son rated it as maybe the best of all the curries I’ve made. Will we enjoy this same recipe if I used chicken thighs instead?
Hello I made your Roghan Josh curry tonight. I followed the recipe exactly but when I added the yoghurt it curdled. I was a bit disappointed but it still tasted good. How do you prevent it curdling?
Just cooked this with high hopes – the flavour was there, but unfortunately it was WAY too salty! 😔 Only used low sodium stock as per recipe – but the extra 1tsp salt is definitely not needed. Just a pinch would’ve sufficed. Such a shame..
Hi Kay – Sorry to hear you thought it was too salty. I test over and over to ensure my recipes are not too salty. Low sodium stocks can still vary in salt content, unfortunately. Also, please ensure you use KOSHER or COOKING salt, not the finer-grained table salt. That makes a huge difference. To be safe, I recommend you add salt only at the end so you can control the seasoning. – N x
It was almost perfect but for my family’s taste it was just way too salty. I would make it again and just put in a pinch of salt.
Hi Lindsay, sorry you found it salty, and you definitely used low sodium stock as per the recipe? – N x
Yes but I definitely think it’s just my family taste. I made it again today with just a wee pinch and it was perfect. I will be printing this recipe for future regular use!
I will never buy Rogan Josh from a restaurant again. Or the poor substitute jar sauce. That’s all I need to say!!
Hi Nagi, I’m planning to make this for our Easter feast. I love your recipes and find them to be realisable, they just work… I’m wondering if I add potatoes would it change the flavour and consistency, and when should I add it? Thanks 🙏 Happy 🐣 Easter!
Wow…just wow. This is an amazing flavourful recipe. Restaurant quality! Really easy to make. We made it vegetarian (daughter “doesn’t eat lamb”) with potatoes, green beans, cauliflower, and broccoli. The kids didn’t even realise it was meat free until I told them afterwards. They went back for seconds. So yum.
Wonderful gravy, with a beautiful depth of flavour.
I omitted the fennel as I didn’t have any.
Thank you Nagi, this recipe is a keeper.
Hi Nagi- love so many your recipes!
Any chance you can cook this in slow cooker for 8 hours? Thanking you in advance
Hi Vanessa, you could transfer it at step 7, however you’d need to return it to the pan and bring to a simmer to reduce the sauce once cooked. N x
This was EPIC!!! Very easy and so delicious.
Made this on the wet wet weekend, added potatoes and peas for the last 45 minutes of cooking time. In the fridge overnight to flavour some more then dinner tomorrow night with some chapati and roti bread. I just know it’s gonna be awesome.
I have made this twice now and wow it is amazing. Whole family loved it, plus it smells amazing! Thank you!