Beef Rogan Josh



I don't often make curry at home because I can't stand when curry doesn't taste authentic. But, the first time I made this recipe, my hubby couldn't believe it wasn't from our favorite takeout place. So, if you're an authentic curry lover like I am, you'll love this one! It takes some time to cook, so its best made on a weekend when you can leave it to simmer and bubble away all afternoon filling your home with a mouth-watering aroma. I made this curry with a home-made curry paste and it made it taste even more amazing than the version I made with store bought curry paste. 

 

The other week I posted a recipe for Rogan Josh Curry Paste. I used approximately half of that recipe to make this batch of curry. 

 

The original recipe calls for the use of Lamb (as do most traditional recipes for Rogan Josh), but I don't eat lamb and so I used beef interchangeably in this recipe with amazing results. You can sub an equal amount of lamb leg steaks in place of the beef if you prefer

Beef Rogan Josh
Recipe from Jamie's Food Revolution

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 lb beef stew chunks
• 2 medium onions
• 1 fresh red chile
• thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
• small bunch of fresh cilantro
• vegetable oil
• pat of butter
• 4 bay leaves
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
• 1 x 14oz can of diced tomatoes
• 3 1/2 cups of chicken broth (or an equal amount of water)
• 1/2 cup rogan josh paste
• 2 handfuls red lentils
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Method:

1. Cut the beef into 1 inch cubes (if not already cut up). Peel, halve and finely chop the onions. Finely slice the chile, peel and finely chop the ginger, pick the cilantro leaves from half the bunch and put it aside for garnishes on the finished dish. Chop the remaining cilantro, including the stalks.
2. Put a large pan on medium high heat and add a couple lugs of oil and the butter. Add the onions, chile, ginger, cilantro stalks and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes or until the onions are softened and golden. Add the beef pieces and  little salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for 2 minutes, then add tomatoes, stock, and rogan josh paste. Stir in the lentils.
3. Bring mixture to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer with the lid on for about an hour. Check the curry regularly to make sure its not sticking to the pan or drying out. Add extra water if necessary. When the meat is tender and cooked, taste the curry and add more salt and pepper only if you think it needs it.
4. To serve: serve on basmati rice with naan bread. Top with a few spoonfuls of yogurt and a sprinkle of cilantro leaves.

I hope you enjoy this amazing curry! Don't shy away from this one if you or your loved ones don't like lentils - the lentils aren't very noticeable in this dish - they are used to thicken the sauce in what is truly a fairly healthy dish as far as Indian food goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

From Scratch: Rogan Josh Curry Paste

I tend to make a lot of things from scratch instead of buying them. Usually things made from scratch taste better and they are better for you because they are made with real ingredients instead of processed ingredients. The downside is that making things from scratch can take a long time - and people who are busy or have families don't have time to add that extra step to their meal prep. Good news! Curry paste is not one of those things that takes significantly longer to make! This added approximately 10-15 minutes to my prep time and in my opinion it was totally worth it.

 



 

I put off trying to make my own curry paste for a long time because I was intimidated by toasting the spices and I don't have a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. Then I came across Jamie Oliver's recipe which says you can grind the toasted spices in your food processor! I was all over that. A spice grinder or mortar and pestle are ideal - they will give the finest grind for your spices, but in my opinion my food processor worked just fine! Let it run for a while until most of the big pieces are blended and you're good to go!

Rogan Josh Paste
Recipe minimally adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled
• thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled
• 3 oz roasted bell peppers
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 fresh jalapeno
• 1 small bunch cilantro
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Method:

1. Put frying pan on medium high heat and add the cumin seeds, coriander seeds and black peppercorns to a dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious. Remove the pan from the heat.
2. Add toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine (or put in food processor and whiz  to a powder.
3. Add ground toasted spices to food processor, add remaining ingredients and whiz until you have a smooth paste. Use in curry recipe as you would use a store bought paste.

While it sounds like a long list of ingredients - I had just about everything in my pantry already! I just needed to buy the fresh ingredients like the jalapeno and the cilantro. All in all, its a pretty cost effective way to make curry paste. I highly recommend this recipe!

I used this curry paste in Jamie Oliver's Lamb Rogan Josh recipe (I used beef instead of lamb) and my huby thought it was the best Rogan Josh I've ever made. It was definitely as authentic tasting as takeout from our favorite Indian restaurant.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy cooking my friends!