Mutton Rogan Josh ( a Special Type of Goat Curry )

Hi there! I'm back to kitchen after an awesome trip from beautiful Yellowstone, though I am still absorbing the beauty of WY!  Clicked many good moments and will post some of the photos in my next post. Today I will share the simplest recipe of Goat Curry, which you can try with lamb too. I am sure that my Bengali friends would certainly enjoy this; most of them think that mutton is the only real meat or “mangsho” and other variants like chicken is baby food before the same.

Rogan Josh is a fine delicacy from northern part of India. It’s a rich, spicy and aromatic meat dish that is believed to be originated from Persia and very popular both in India and other parts of subcontinent. Rogan means clarified butter, Josh means hot and passionate. It’s a signature dish with a red color that is resulted of using mild red Kashmiri chilies. The curry is prepared with lamb or goat shoulder which is tenderly cooked.  It will have juicy texture in a gorgeously rich sauce. Traditionally the dish is prepared with ghee. Rogan Josh is served with any Indian flat bread. Paratha and Naan are perfect choices for mopping up the delicious gravy.

There are several versions of this dish. As I was looking for some quick preparation, I followed the Kashmiri Pandit style. It means no onion and no garlic.  You won’t believe that a non-veg dish could be so tasty without onion and garlic. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you probably have noticed that at home, we prefer white meat compared to red. In last few months, I posted only couple of goat recipes like kosha mangsho or braised goat ( click here for recipe ) and minced goat cooked with dried yellow peas (click here for recipe). But this particular mutton dish was favorite of both me and my husband, when we used to visit a restaurant called “Raaga” in Bangalore. To remember those golden days when we were newly married, I just gave it a try and nevertheless it came out delicious.

Recipe of Mutton Rogan Josh : A Special Type of Goat Curry : Yield 4 servings

Ingredients :

Goat meat ( preferably shoulder part )  : cut into medium sized pieces - 2 lb 

Black Cardamom - 5 

Cinnamon sticks - 1 inch

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Fennel seeds - 1/2 tbsp

Ghee ( clarified butter ) - 4 tbsp or ( you can use white oil too )

Ginger paste - 1 1/2 tbsp

Green Cardamom - 5 

Hing ( asafoetida ) - pinch 

Kashmir Red Chilly Powder - 2 tbsp or as per tolerance 

Mace - 3-4 

Saffron - pinch 

yogurt - 1/2 cup 

All purpose flour - pinch

Salt -

Method : 

1. Wash the mutton pieces and pat dry. 

2. Take a bowl, add hing, Kashmir red chilly powder, ginger paste, add saffron and water. Mix it well and make a paste.

3. In a blender, add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, green cardamom, cinnamon stick and mace. Grind it to a coarse powder.

4. Take a pan, add ghee to it and heat it up. Add black cardamom and goat piece to it. Cook it in a slow flame till meat pieces turn to brown in color. 

5. Add spice mixture paste to the pan, add salt and mix it well.

6. Take a bowl, add the yogurt and add a pinch of flour to it. Mix it well and set it aside.

7. Once spices are well cooked, add the beaten yogurt and the spice powder.Give some stirs and mix well together. 

8. Add enough warm water and add salt. Put the lid on and cook it over low flame. Stir occasionally to prevent burning at bottom. 

9. Once goat pieces are well cooked, and oil comes up from the sides of pan, check seasoning, check the consistency and turn off the gas. Mutton Rogan Josh is ready! Serve hot with Indian flat bread like Naan / Parantha or steamed rice.