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Halal-conscious recipe

Halal Kashmiri rogan josh

Anjum Anand's Kashmiri rogan josh: Halal leg of lamb browned and slow-cooked with garlic, ginger, yogurt and freshly ground cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, cumin and Kashmiri chilli, finished with fennel, garam masala and ground almonds.

  • Cuisine Indian
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Moderate
  • Yield 4 portions
  • Time 1h 50m
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Lamb chops searing over flames on a charcoal grill, with metal tongs
Photograph from our ingredient library: lamb chops on a grill, not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: domdomegg · CC BY 4.0

Why Halal checks matter here

Rogan josh is built on 800 g of lamb, which is Halal only from Halal slaughter; the yogurt and ghee are the other bought ingredients to check.

Rogan josh is a Kashmiri lamb curry, and the lamb decides the Halal question: sheep are a Halal species, but the meat is only Halal when slaughtered to the standard you follow, so buy diced leg from a Halal butcher or a certified pack.

This version follows Anjum Anand's Kashmiri rogan josh for BBC Good Food, which has no alcohol in it. The other checks are bought dairy: the yogurt, since gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts, and the ghee, which you can replace with vegetable oil as the source allows.

The yogurt goes in two batches and is cooked into the meat before the curry slow-cooks, covered, for 1 hour 10 minutes.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Lamb Sheep are a Halal species, but the meat is only Halal when slaughtered to the standard you follow, and certifiers differ on stunning. Buy diced leg of lamb from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Lamb.
  • Yogurt Plain yogurt is milk fermented with cultures, but gelatin turns up in set, low-fat and dessert yogurts. Use a full-fat natural yogurt with no gelatin on the label. See Yogurt and Gelatin.
  • Ghee Ghee is clarified butter and needs no slaughter, but vegetable ghee and vanaspati blends need their own label check. Read the label, or use vegetable oil as the source allows. See Ghee.

Safe substitutes

  • Lamb of unknown slaughter → Halal diced leg of lamb

Allergens

milk (yogurt; ghee if used), tree nuts (ground almonds)

Ingredients

Spice mix

  • 2 black cardamom pods
  • 8 green cardamom pods
  • 6 cloves
  • 5 cm cinnamon stick
  • 2 dried bay leaves
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 5–8 mild Kashmiri chillies, or red chilli powder to taste

Curry

  • 8 large garlic cloves
  • 25 g ginger, peeled and cut into large pieces
  • 5–6 tbsp vegetable oil or ghee, or a mixture
  • 800 g Halal diced leg of lamb
  • 300 g full-fat natural yogurt with no gelatin on the label
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • ¾–1 tsp garam masala
  • 2–3 tbsp ground almonds
  • a handful fresh coriander, chopped

Method

  1. Grind the spices. Grind the black and green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, cumin seeds and chillies to a fine powder and set aside.
  2. Brown the lamb. Blitz the garlic and ginger with a splash of water to a purée. Heat the oil or ghee in a large non-stick saucepan and brown the Halal lamb well over a high heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the purée, turn the heat to medium and stir constantly for 3 to 5 minutes, until you see clear oil in the pan.
  3. Add the yogurt. Stir the yogurt smooth and add half to the pan. Cook over a medium-high heat, stirring briskly, for 8 to 10 minutes until the meat has absorbed it, then repeat with the rest. Once boiling, simmer, stirring now and then, until reduced by about a third.
  4. Slow-cook. Add the ground spices, the ground coriander and some seasoning and cook for a few minutes, stirring. Cover and leave over a low heat for 1 hour 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lamb is tender; add a splash of water if it looks dry.
  5. Finish. Grind the fennel seeds to a fine powder and add them with the garam masala, ground almonds and some black pepper. Cook for 1 minute, scatter with coriander and serve with naan if you like.

How this recipe was researched

Method from BBC Good Food's 'Kashmiri rogan josh' by Anjum Anand (serves 4: black and green cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay, cumin and Kashmiri chillies ground to a powder; garlic and ginger blitzed to a purée; 800 g diced leg of lamb browned in 5 to 6 tbsp oil or ghee for 8 to 10 minutes; the purée cooked 3 to 5 minutes until the oil shows; 300 g full-fat natural yogurt added in two batches, each stirred 8 to 10 minutes until absorbed, then reduced by about a third; the spices and ground coriander; covered on a low heat 1 hour 10 minutes; ground fennel, garam masala, ground almonds and coriander to finish). The source has no alcohol; we specified Halal lamb and marked the yogurt and ghee as label checks. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Kashmiri rogan josh — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Anjum Anand. Serves 4, prep 20 minutes, cook 1 hour 30 minutes: whole spices ground; garlic-ginger purée; 800 g leg of lamb browned in oil or ghee; 300 g full-fat yogurt cooked in in two batches; covered 1 hour 10 minutes; fennel, garam masala and ground almonds to finish. No alcohol in the source.

  2. Lamb analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    Why lamb is a Halal meat only from Halal slaughter, and where certifiers differ on stunning.

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