Wazwan Rogan Josh
Rogan Josh is one of those dishes that proves you don't need a long ingredient list to make something deeply complex. In this older Wazwan-style version, there is no onion, garlic or tomato. The gravy is built around yogurt, fennel and dry ginger, while ratanjot is used to give the mustard oil its striking ruby-red rogan. It is aromatic rather than fiery, rich without being heavy, and a good reminder that sometimes the most interesting chemistry happens when you leave things out.
Ingredients
Meat
1 kg bone-in lamb or goat, preferably shoulder or leg
Oil and colour
120 ml mustard oil
1½–2 tsp ratanjot, lightly crushed
Yogurt
500 g thick curd, whisked until smooth
Whole spices
6 green cardamom pods
2 black cardamom pods
6 cloves
1 x 2-inch cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
Ground spices
2½ tbsp fennel powder
1½ tsp dry ginger powder
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
A tiny pinch of asafoetida
Other
Salt, to taste
Warm water, as required
Method
Infuse the rogan
The ratanjot is used primarily for colour, so the key is to extract its colour without actually cooking or burning the root.
Heat the mustard oil in a heavy-bottomed pot until it just begins to smoke.
Turn off the heat and allow the oil to cool for 30–40 seconds.
Add the crushed ratanjot and leave it to steep for 5–7 minutes.
The oil should develop a deep ruby-red colour.
Strain the oil completely and discard the ratanjot.
Don't fry the ratanjot or leave it in the dish. Overheated ratanjot can give the oil a muddy colour and bitter flavour.
Bloom the whole spices
Return the infused oil to the pot and heat gently over medium heat.
Add the bay leaves, green cardamom, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon.
Let the spices sizzle gently for a few seconds until fragrant.
Brown the mutton
Add the mutton and increase the heat to medium-high.
Stir and cook until the meat releases its moisture and the liquid begins to evaporate.
Continue cooking until the oil begins to separate and the meat is glossy and lightly coloured.
You are not looking for a hard sear. The meat should be coated in the spiced oil rather than aggressively browned.
Add the yogurt
Reduce the heat to low.
Add the whisked yogurt gradually, one ladle at a time, stirring continuously as you add it.
Allow each addition to incorporate before adding more.
Once all the yogurt has been added, continue cooking until the oil separates from the mixture again.
This slow incorporation is important. Adding cold yogurt all at once or cooking over high heat can cause it to split.
Add the spices
Mix the fennel powder and dry ginger powder with a little warm water to form a loose paste.
Add this to the pot along with the asafoetida and Kashmiri chilli powder.
Stir gently and cook until the gravy thickens and the raw aroma of the spices disappears.
Slow-cook the mutton
Add enough warm water to just cover the meat.
Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and cook over low heat for 60–90 minutes, or until the mutton is tender.
Stir occasionally, but do so gently. You want to keep the meat intact and allow the gravy to cook down gradually.
Add a little more warm water if necessary during cooking.
The finished gravy should be medium-bodied and silky rather than thick or paste-like.
What you're looking for
A good Rogan Josh should have a deep red gravy with a layer of red oil floating on the surface. That oil, or rogan, is where the dish gets its name.
The flavour should be aromatic rather than aggressively spicy, with fennel and dry ginger at the forefront. There should be no sweetness from onions and no acidity from tomato.
The mutton should be tender, but still hold its shape, sitting in a silky, medium-bodied yogurt gravy.
What makes this style different
This version deliberately leaves out several ingredients that appear in many modern Rogan Josh recipes:
No onion
No garlic
No tomato
No garam masala
No ginger-garlic paste
Instead, the flavour comes from mustard oil, whole spices, yogurt, fennel, and dry ginger.
The ratanjot is particularly important here because it gives the oil its characteristic deep red colour without adding significant flavour.
Common mistakes
Don't leave the ratanjot in the pot.
It is used to colour the oil and should be strained out.
Don't burn the ratanjot.
It can turn the oil muddy and bitter.
Don't add the yogurt too quickly.
Add it gradually over low heat and keep stirring.
Don't replace the dry ginger with ginger paste.
The flavour and texture of the two are quite different.
Don't overdo the chilli.
The dish should be aromatic and moderately warm rather than aggressively hot.
Don't rush the braise.
The mutton needs time to become tender and for the yogurt and spices to develop into the finished gravy.
Serving
Rogan Josh is traditionally served as part of a larger Wazwan, alongside plain steamed rice.
The rice is deliberately simple. It gives the aromatic gravy and the red rogan all the attention they need.