Lamb Rogan Josh Recipe – Rogan Josh, also called as Roghan Josh (रोगन जोश) or Rogan Gosht, is a curry which originated from Persian / Kasmiri region. It is traditionally made using red meat and is red in color, owing to kashmiri chillies.
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What is rogan josh
The name Rogan Josh, gets its name owing to “Rogan” meaning red or brown in Urdu and Josh, implies juice, closely related to stew. Rogan Josh is staple food of Kashmiri cuisine.
My partner loves a good lamb curry. To make him happy, I had been thinking of making rogan josh for a while, but who would have thought that the world will enter the phase of covid-19 and everything will turn upside down.
Finding grocery had been a bit of challenge. I got a bit lucky to find online delivery slot from a UK super store to get my grocery delivered. After order delivery, I promised my partner that I will guide him with one of the yummiest lamb recipe he had.
If you are a curry lover, and love your meat, this lamb rogan josh recipe is your thing.
How to make best rogan josh
For a good rogan josh, you need three things.
- Good marination,
- good paste (prepared from fresh ingredients) and
- having patience. As they say, all good things requires patience.
How to make lamb rogan josh
There are two parts to this lamb rogan josh recipe.
- First part is marinating the lamb / mutton.
- Second part is cooking meat with the special paste.
Marinade: The marinade for lamb rogan josh is simple and does not require any expertise. Marinate lamb with ginger garlic paste, lemon juice and salt only. Longer you keep the lamb for marination, juicer and tender will be meat.
Method
- First of all, marinate lamb pieces in a bowl for 2 hours with ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Now, heat oil in a pressure cooker / large pan and brown the lamb in batches and keep aside.
- Combine all ingredients for paste, in a bowl and keep aside.
- In the same pan, add bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and onion until the onion is soft and translucent. Now add the paste (step 3) and fry for another 2 mins.
- Add the lamb, rest of salt and 1.5 cup of water and put the lid on. Cook it for 4-5 whistles of cooker. (Lamb should get cooked by then). After that switch off the heat and let the pressure of cooker release.
- Open the lid and switch the heat on again. Add yoghurt, and mix well and cook further for 10 minutes until you get desired consistency of gravy. Switch off the heat.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with freshly chopped coriander. Serve and enjoy.

Pro Tips for good rogan josh
- I used pressure cooker to cook this recipe, just to reduce the cooking time. However you can cook it in a pan, and let the lamb cook for at least an hour, on medium heat.
- Pressure cook time too will vary according to your pressure cooker.
- You can make tomato purée by simply cooking chopped tomatoes till they dry out all the moisture.
- If in hurry, you can skip the marination time and can cook directly. Though marination does adds to the flavour.
Serving suggestion for lamb rogan josh
I will recommend that you try this recipe of lamb along with butter naan or pulao rice.
You may like to try out most popular lamb recipes of mine, namely Aachari Gosht, Lamb Chettinad and Handi Gosht.
Below is the detailed step by step recipe of lamb rogan josh.
Recipe Card
Lamb Rogan Josh
Ingredients
FOR THE PASTE
- 2 Tablespoon Tomato Purée
- 1/2 Teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Coriander Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Cumin Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1/3 Teaspoon Black pepper powder
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala
- 1/3 Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
FOR THE LAMB
- 1 KG Mutton /Lamb Pieces Cut into 2.5cm cubes (Ideally)
- 1 Tablespoon Ginger Garlic Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
- 3 Tablespoon Yogurt
- 1 Teaspoon Salt As per taste
- 2-3 Bayleaves
- 1 Inch Cinnamon stick
- 4 Cloves
- 1 Onion Large Size, Chopped
- 2 Tablespoon Oil
- 2 Tablespoon Fresh Coriander Leaves For Garnishing
Instructions
- First of all, marinate lamb pieces in a bowl for 2 hours with ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Now, heat oil in a pressure cooker / large pan and brown the lamb in batches and keep aside.
- Combine all ingredients for paste, in a bowl and keep aside.
- In the same pan, add bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves and onion until the onion is soft and translucent.
- Now add the paste (step 3) and fry for another 2 mins.
- Add the lamb, rest of salt and 1.5 cup of water and put the lid on. Cook it for 4-5 whistles of cooker. (Lamb should get cooked by then). After that switch off the heat and let the pressure of cooker release.
- Open the lid and switch the heat on again. Add yoghurt, and mix well and cook further for 10 minutes until you get desired consistency of gravy. Switch off the heat.
- Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with freshly chopped coriander. Serve and enjoy.
Notes
- I used pressure cooker to cook this recipe, just to reduce the cooking time. However you can cook it in a pan, and let the lamb cook for at least an hour, on medium heat.
- Pressure cook time too will vary according to your pressure cooker.
- You can make tomato purée by simply cooking chopped tomatoes till they dry out all the moisture.
- If in hurry, you can skip the marination time and can cook directly. Though marination does adds to the flavour.