Got lamb?

As I was flipping through one of my Indian cookbooks, I saw the picture for a dish called Rogan Josh, and I just had to have it. Then I saw the instructions, which required marinating the lamb for 2 hours to overnight. When I’m drooling over a dish, I don’t want to waste a day marinating. I also realized I didn’t even have all the ingredients. But I had 2 lamb shanks and a craving for Indian, so here’s the result.

Indian-spiced lamb

• ½ head garlic
• 2 tbs grated ginger
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp cayenne
• 5 cardammon pods, crushed
• 4 cloves
• 3 in stick cinnamon
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup stock (chicken or vegetable)
• 2 tbs cream
• ½ cup raisins (chopped prunes will also work)
• 2 lbs lamb (can be shank, cubed meat, shoulder steaks)
• salt, to taste

Mash the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and cayenne to form a paste.

Season the lamb well with salt. In a Dutch oven (or other heavy-bottom pot with a lid) on medium-high heat, add 1-2 oil (peanut or vegetable) and brown the lamb. Then remove and set it aside.

Add more oil if necessary to fry the onions. Cook until they are soft, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the paste and other spices. Fry for another 1-2 minutes (don’t let it burn). Return the meat, with juices, to the pan and coat the meat well with the spices. Add the stock and cream. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat all the way down, put the lid on and let it slow cook until the meat is tender. Cubed meat and steaks probably take 1.5 hours. Shanks can take 3 or more hours.

Alternatively, put the Dutch oven into a 300º oven for about the same amount of time. This is my favorite method. The meat turns out so tender and I’m not tempted to open the lid every 20 minutes.

When the meat is tender, fish it out and set it aside. I like to strain the sauce before I reduce it (but if you like to keep the spices and onions in, then you’ll save a step). After the sauce is strained, add the raisins. Turn up the heat to medium-high and reduce until you have a thick sauce, probably about ¼ cup. It could take 10 minutes or so. There should be just enough sauce to coat the meat. Add salt if necessary. Return the meat, give it a quick stir, turn off the heat, and let it sit covered for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve with basmati rice or your favorite Indian bread.

You’ll notice there’s not a vegetable in this dish. So I made a quick Indian-spiced spinach dish to accompany the lamb. Another option would be a quick salad of quartered tomatoes and sweet purple onions, seasoned with a pinch of salt, a pinch of ground cumin (optional), and cilantro leaves.

If you haven’t found yourself a good Indian specialty store, I think you’ll find it’s worth the effort. The spices are so much cheaper than buying them in the local supermarket, where a small jar of cardamom can go for over $10. That’s highway robbery! At my Indian speciality store, I can get a whole quart-sized bag for $3 and I can get paneer (type of fry-able cheese) for $2/lbs less than what they sell it for at the hippie health/organic supermarket. The selection of spices, lentils, rice and flour is so much better, too.