Rogan Josh Crock Pot Recipe

We love curry at PSGC towers. And this Rogan Josh recipe is one of our favourites. Traditionally Rogan Josh is made with lamb, however I often find it too fatty so we use beef in this recipe instead. Although it takes a bit of preparation time, the dish can be thrown in the oven or slow cooker and left to work its magic.

The recipe I use comes from the goddess of Indian cooking Madhur Jaffrey, with a few tweaks to suit our family preferences.

Ingredients

Spices

1 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated finely
8 cloves of garlic crushed
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1/2 tablespoon whole cloves
2 teaspoon cumin seeds
10 Cardamom pods
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon of coriander seeds
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 teaspoon of salt
10 crushed black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon of garam masala
Cayene Pepper (optional to add more heat)
250g of chopped red onions
1kg of cubed stewing steak cut into large chunks
600g tinned tomatoes
350ml beef or vegetable stock.
6 tablespoons natural yogurt
Vegetable oil for frying
Coriander to garnish

Method

Add the grated ginger, garlic and 1 tablespoon of oil to a blender, and mix to a smooth paste and set aside.

Brown the meat in a large pan on a medium to high heat. Make sure you get any of the delicious bits stuck to the pan (deglaze it) by adding a splash of water to the hot pan. Add all this juice to the meat.

Put the Cardamom pods, cloves and peppercorns and into a dry hot pan few seconds. Remove and grind with a pestle and mortar. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan, and add the chopped onions, frying them for about 5 minutes, until completely soft. Try not to let them brown.

Combine the ginger and garlic paste, frying for a minute or two, before adding the bay leaf, coriander seeds, cumin, paprika, salt, garam masala and cayenne pepper if using. Add in the browned meat and juices.

Pour in the tinned tomatoes, followed by the yogurt and stir through before adding the stock. Place in an oven or a slow cooker on a low heat for as long as possible. This will need a minimum of 2.5 hours, but if you can leave it for 5-6 it is seriously delicious and melt in the mouth.

I allow around 5-6 hours in my slow cooker (or 4-5 on a low heat in the oven). Other than that, I follow this recipe to get the right amount of spice and flavour. It is pretty fail safe. Madhur Jaffrey knows what she’s talking about!

For this recipe, the slow cooker does all the work. Yay. Except the washing up…..Mr PSGC has to do that.

Can I cook this on the hob?

Although this recipe can be cooked on the stovetop, it wont be possible for the meat to get as tender if you use a hob. It will still be tasty (and will need far less cooking time). But the chunks will disintegrate, and you will have to keep stirring and checking liquid levels to ensure it doesn’t stick and burn.

Add basmati rice and some popadoms, and the kids will think its a take away!