Rogan Josh

The red comes from alkanet or Kashmiri chilli, not from tomato.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg mutton or goat, on the bone
• 8 dried Kashmiri chillies
• 1 teaspoon alkanet root, ratan jot
• 8 cloves garlic, crushed
• a 5 cm piece of ginger, ground
• 6 cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 cardamom pods
• a 5 cm stick of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon fennel, ground
• 200 g yoghurt
• 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida
• 6 tablespoons ghee
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 500 ml water

Method

1. THE RED COMES FROM ALKANET OR KASHMIRI CHILLI, NOT FROM TOMATO. Its article states it and then states the substitution in the same breath: the meat is COLOURED AND FLAVOURED PRIMARILY BY ALKANET FLOWER (OR ROOT) AND KASHMIRI CHILLIES -- and IN THE WEST, TOMATOES ARE OFTEN USED INSTEAD. So a source has done the distinguishing for me. There is no tomato in this at all. Alkanet, ratan jot, is a dyestuff: a teaspoon of root steeped in hot ghee turns it deep crimson and tastes of almost nothing, which is exactly the point.
2. THE ALKANET IS STEEPED IN HOT GHEE AND STRAINED OUT. Two minutes in warm ghee, off the heat, then the root lifted out. Left in and boiled it goes bitter.
3. THE CHILLIES ARE DE-SEEDED, SOAKED AND GROUND, WHICH ITS ARTICLE SPECIFIES. Whole dried chillies DE-SEEDED, SOAKED IN WATER, AND GROUND TO A PASTE. Kashmiri chillies are mild and very red; de-seeding takes out what heat there is and leaves the colour.
4. THERE ARE NO ONIONS IN THE BASE OF THIS ONE EITHER. Its article says SOME VERSIONS incorporate onions or yoghurt, which means the dish does not require them. This page takes the yoghurt and leaves the onions out.
5. THE ASAFOETIDA IS DOING THE ONIONS' WORK. A quarter teaspoon in the hot ghee. Its article names cooks who add yoghurt AND asafoetida to give additional body.
6. IT IS BRAISED AND THEN FINISHED BY A NAMED TECHNIQUE. Its article: after initial braising, the dish is often finished using the DAMPOKHTAK slow-cooking method -- sealed tight over the lowest possible heat, so nothing escapes. A lid weighted down with a cloth seal does it.
7. AN HOUR AND A HALF AT LEAST, ON THE BONE. Mutton, in large pieces, and the bones are what make the gravy.
8. THE FENNEL AND GINGER ARE GROUND, THE REST LEFT WHOLE. Cloves, bay, cardamom and cinnamon stay in and are found.
9. ITS ARTICLE NAMES TWO MORE COLOURINGS. Praan, a local shallot, and petals of maval, the cockscomb flower -- the latter for colour and for a supposed cooling effect.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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