Rogan Josh from Penzey's

Last night I made the recipe in the Penzey's catalog listed under rogan josh seasoning. I followed
it about as exactly as I follow any recipe. I didn't measure exactly, and I added mushrooms since
they were in the fridge. The mildly spicy beef stew came out well, not Indian restaurant wonderful,
but good enough for me to keep experimenting with this. Until now, my forays into cooking Indian at
home have involved throwing curry powder onto something. Now I'm inspired.

I wondered about putting yogurt in since I don't normally cook with it (or eat it plain for that
matter), but it didn't seem to hurt anything. I'm not sure I could taste it though. Maybe I was
expecting it to taste more creamy or more tangy.

I made saffron rice to go with it with toasted almond slivers and currants.

Thanks to all of you who turned me on to Penzey's. I'm pleased.

--Lia

Julia Altshuler wrote:

> I wondered about putting yogurt in since I don't normally cook with it (or eat it plain for that
> matter), but it didn't seem to hurt anything. I'm not sure I could taste it though. Maybe I was
> expecting it to taste more creamy or more tangy.

This is how I make it, to the great happiness of my guests from the Indian subcontinent: Pressure
cook goat meat for 20 minutes with a dried hot chili in it. Open PC and pick out any bones (I
can't get boneless goat). Add the spices, the yogurt and anything else in the recipe (like salt),
and pressure cook for an hour, open it up and simmer it 20 minutes with small diced potato and
serve. I bet you could do it with lamb without the PC, but mutton or goat is what it was designed
for. blacksalt

"Julia Altshuler" <jaltshuler@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ugPTb.169712$sv6.910877@attbi_s52...
> Last night I made the recipe in the Penzey's catalog listed under rogan josh seasoning. I followed
> it about as exactly as I follow any recipe. I didn't measure exactly, and I added mushrooms since
> they were in the fridge. The mildly spicy beef stew came out well, not Indian restaurant
> wonderful, but good enough for me to keep experimenting with this. Until now, my forays into
> cooking Indian at home have involved throwing curry powder onto something. Now I'm inspired.
>
>
> I wondered about putting yogurt in since I don't normally cook with it (or eat it plain for that
> matter), but it didn't seem to hurt anything. I'm not sure I could taste it though. Maybe I was
> expecting it to taste more creamy or more tangy.
>
>
> I made saffron rice to go with it with toasted almond slivers and
currants.
>
>
> Thanks to all of you who turned me on to Penzey's. I'm pleased.
>
>
> --Lia

I advise you to use Penzey's recipe to the letter. It is devised to get the best from their mix. I
have cooked Rogan Josh at 2 (3?) R.F.C. cook-ins with great success. I combine both the recipe on
the jar and the one in their catalog, using the maximum called for and extra ingredients in each. If
you are unable to follow a recipe I would recommend using something other than Penzey's mix. It is
really an easy recipe and is always a success. I usually use leg of lamb although I did use beef at
one cook-in by request of a friend. The beef was fine but not as complex as the lamb. It is my
"best" meat dish - the one I rely on most. Try it again following Penzey's recipe to the letter. You
won't regret it.

Charlie

kalanamak wrote:

> This is how I make it, to the great happiness of my guests from the Indian subcontinent:
> Pressure cook goat meat for 20 minutes with a dried hot chili in it. Open PC and pick out any
> bones (I can't get boneless goat). Add the spices, the yogurt and anything else in the recipe
> (like salt), and pressure cook for an hour, open it up and simmer it 20 minutes with small diced
> potato and serve. I bet you could do it with lamb without the PC, but mutton or goat is what it
> was designed for.

Come to think of it, there was another place I deviated from the recipe. The recipe called for
upping the heat at the end to evaporate water and thus thicken the sauce. It didn't look like that
was going to work so I made a quick roux and thickened with that. I'll bet a potato would work as
well as a slight thickener.

I used to like goat when I lived in Miami, but I never cooked with it, just ordered it when I went
out. Up here, I wouldn't know where to begin to find it. (Up here is suburban New England. I'd
have to drive to a major city, shop, have a cooler in the car, pack it with ice, a whole
expedition, feh.) I've got lamb available in the grocery store, but chose beef because we'd had
lamb more recently.

Part of my trouble when I'm excited about experimenting with a new recipe is that I want to make
variations on the same thing over and over until everyone I know is sick of it. Already I'm thinking
of using my rogan josh and yogurt idea for the chicken I have in the fridge, and this is when the
leftovers from last night's rogan josh and beef still haven't been consumed.

For more creaminess and tang, I'm thinking I'll use sour cream instead of yogurt. The only yogurt I
could find that didn't have fruit added was low fat. Either that or I could have bought a quart of
full fat yogurt when I only needed a cup. How does yogurt freeze for cooking? Could I freeze it in 1
cup portions and use it in stew? I've never cared for yogurt as a snack or breakfast food. I only
bake (and now cook) with it.

--Lia