The Indian subcontinent · Volume 15, The Trami, the Boti and a Kitchen Split Three Ways

Rogan josh

Name: Rogan josh
Total time: 2 h
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Kashmir, Jammu and Himachal Pradesh
Ingredients: 1 kg mutton, cut into 70 to 80g pieces; for browning ghee, for browning; 6 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 tbsp grated ginger; 2 pran or ordinary shallots, finely chopped; 2 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder; 4 green cardamom pods; 4 cloves; 1 cinnamon stick; 300 ml water; a small amount, optional ratanjot, optional, for colour

Kashmir Valley, Muslim tradition

Rogan josh, slow-braised lamb in Kashmiri chilli red gravy: bone-in lamb pieces submerged in a thick, deeply red, glossy gravy, the surface slicked with a fine layer of red oil, no garnish.

Illustration

Time: 2 hours

Researched: Researched from 145 sources in the brief

Named cuts, lower ribs, the lower back cut called bukhtor, chest and neck, cut into pieces of roughly 70 to 80 grams, recur across several sources describing the Muslim version of this dish; the Pandit equivalent uses the same colourants without the onion, garlic and pran base, built instead on hing and sonth, though no dedicated Pandit-quantity recipe could be found in this chapter's research.

As tradition built it

Serves 4. About 2 hours.

Ingredients

1 kg mutton, cut into 70 to 80g pieces
for browning ghee, for browning
6 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp grated ginger
2 pran or ordinary shallots, finely chopped
2 tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
4 green cardamom pods
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
300 ml water
a small amount, optional ratanjot, optional, for colour

Method

Brown the mutton in ghee, then remove and set aside.
In the same pan, cook a paste of the garlic, ginger and pran or shallots until soft.
Return the meat to the pan with the Kashmiri red chilli powder, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick.
Add the water, cover and simmer for around an hour and a half until the meat is tender and the gravy has reduced and reddened.
Where a deeper colour without more heat is wanted, add a small amount of ratanjot instead of or alongside the chilli, since both are used as dyes rather than flavourings in this dish.

Notes

The Kashmiri Pandit version of this dish uses the same colourants without the onion, garlic and pran base, built instead on hing and sonth; no dedicated Pandit-quantity recipe could be found in this chapter's research.

What a modern chef changes

Fresh-ground chilli, a beetroot substitute for ratanjot, and meat cooked apart from its gravy

Applies rung 1's discipline to colour and doneness

Method

Dry and grind the chilli fresh. Dry whole Kashmiri chillies in a dehydrator before grinding them in a dedicated spice grinder immediately before use, for a brighter colour and a fresher flavour than a jar of pre-ground powder gives.
Substitute beetroot powder for ratanjot. Ratanjot sits outside UK food-additive regulation, see Sourcing, so use a small amount of beetroot powder alongside the chilli for colour instead, offered honestly as a substitute rather than a hidden equivalent.
Cook the meat sous vide, separately. Bring the meat to a controlled, even doneness by sous vide, then finish it in the reduced gravy only at the end, rather than braising meat and gravy together for the full cooking time.
Strain the gravy. Pass the finished gravy through a chinois for a silkier sauce before returning the meat to it.

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