Last updated on October 5th, 2026 at 06:57 pm
Rogan Josh (Indian Lamb Curry) [Video]
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! No special trip required to an Indian store for special spices, I get everything from my local grocery store.NOTE: If you wish to go gluten-free with this dish, see the ingredient list for gluten-free guidelines.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3½ Tbsp ghee substitute butter (Note 1)
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 6 pods green cardamom 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 cooking salt / kosher salt halve for table salt, double for flakes
- 750 g / 1½lb boneless lamb shoulder cut into 3cm/1.2″ cubes (Note 6)
- 1½ cups chicken stock salt reduced (broth) (If going gluten-free, choose certified gluten-free chicken stock – Pacific Foods or Swanson, or home-made stock.)
SPICES:
- 2 Tbsp paprika normal or sweet
- ¾ tsp chilli powder or to taste, Note 2
- 4 tsp ground coriander
- 4 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- ¼ tsp nutmeg powder
- 1 tsp garam marsala Note 3 (If going gluten-free, check the label to ensure the brand uses 100% pure spices without additives.)
- ½ tsp fennel powder Note 4
FINISHES
- ½ cup plain yoghurt Greek yogurt fine
- ½ tsp extra garam masala Note 3
- ½ tsp extra fennel powder
SERVING/GARNISH
- Chopped coriander leaves finely shredded ginger, yogurt
- Basmati rice
Instructions
ABBREVIATED
- Toast whole spices in ghee, then sauté onion, garlic and ginger. Toast ground spices 30 seconds, add tomato, salt, stock and lamb. Simmer gently covered 1 hr 45 min until lamb fork-tender, simmer with lid off 15 min to reduce. Stir in Finishes, serve!
FULL RECIPE
- Toast whole spices – Melt ghee over medium heat in large heavy based pot. Add cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and cook for one minute.
- Sauté – 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.
- Toast spices – Stir in the Spices, cook for 30 seconds.
- Sauce and lamb – Mix in the tomato puree and salt, then add stock and mix. Add lamb, stir, bring to simmer.
- Simmer 1 h 45 min – 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.
- Reduce – Remove lid, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes (to reduce sauce slightly) – lamb should be very tender by this stage.
- Finish – 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
Notes
1. Ghee is pure butter (butter is actually fat + water), has more intense butter flavour than normal butter. Sold at large grocery stores in Australia, sub with butter.
2. Chilli powder – this is pure chilli and it’s spicy. This is not “Chili Powder” as sold in the US which is a spice mix and not that spicy.
3. Garam masala – Indian spice mix sold at large grocery stores nowadays. Sub with curry powder.
4. Fennel powder – This is simply ground fennel seeds. If you can only find fennel seeds, toast them carefully on a dry skillet. Then grind using a spice grinder or mortar and pestle. 1 tsp fennel seeds will roughly yield 1/2 tsp of fennel powder. If you cannot find either ground or whole fennel seeds, you can leave this out.
5. Tomato passata – Plain pureed tomato. In the US it’s called “tomato puree” – also what’s called “tomato sauce” is fine to use (eg Hunts) (Aussies/UK – do not use what we call tomato sauce!).
Substitute: 1 tbsp tomato paste mixed with 4 tbsp water + 1/2 tsp sugar. Or puree canned tomato and measure out 5 tbsp.
6. Lamb – shoulder is best, it’s marbled with fat so it’s beautifully juicy once slow cooked until fall apart tender. Trim big hunks of fat but leave some. You want 750g of lamb after trimming.
Do not use leg or other lean cut, it will be dry.
If using bone in, get one around 1.1 – 1.2kg then cut meat off the bone.
7. Cucumber Salad pictured in photo – use this Herb & Garlic Cucumber Salad, but I cut the cucumber into thicker chunks (for juicier bites), skipped the herb & garlic (the curry has enough flavour!) and sprinkled with coriander.
8. Storage and reheating – Keeps up to 5 days in the fridge, or 3 months in the freezer. Like all stews and braises, it’s even better the next day! Reheat on the stove or in the microwave. If it seems a little thick, loosen with stock if you have some left, else just water. Adjust seasoning if required – sometimes they need a small salt bump the next day.
