Slow Cooker Diced Lamb Rogan Josh with Fennel

Ingredients (Serves 12)

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, minced
• 1 medium fennel, minced including fronds
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 green chilli (optional)
• Stems and cleaned roots from a big bunch of coriander, minced
• ½ jar Latasha’s Kitchen Rogan Josh Paste
• 2 tbsp sweet paprika
• 2 kg mixed diced shoulder and leg of lamb
• 1 x 400 ml can Mutti brand cherry or baby roma tomatoes plus juice or around 8 fresh roma tomatoes, finely diced
• 4 tbsp tomato puree Mutti brand
• 350 g Farmers Union Natural full fat yogurt or Mundella Greek pot set yoghurt − whipped
• ½ cup water (use to rinse out the empty can of tomato and yogurt)
• Generous amount of sea salt flakes

Garnish

• Fresh coriander leaves
• Juice from a medium lime or lemon
• 2 tsp Latasha’s Kitchen Garam Masala (optional)

Method

1. Heat a 5 litre slow cooker pot on the stove with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I use the Kambrook brand. Layer the base of the slow cooker with the onions, fennel, garlic, green chilli and some salt. Allow onions to soften slightly then add Latasha’s Kitchen Rogan Josh Paste. Mix well with the onions and cook for around 5 minutes on medium heat. Add sweet paprika.
2. Then add the lamb and allow it to brown on all sides for around 8 minutes. Add in the whipped yoghurt a tablespoon at a time, mix well to stop from curdling before adding the next tablespoon. Continue until all the yogurt is used.
3. Next pour in the tinned or fresh tomatoes and puree. Add the water and a little more salt. Then place lid and transfer slow cooker pot to its main base.
4. Cook on the low temperature setting for at least 6 hours.
5. For quicker cooking, use the auto setting for 4 hours.
6. Garnish with coriander leaves, lime or lemon juice and garam masala.
7. Sevre with rice, naan or rotis and a crunchy side salad.

TIPS

• I used a food processor to mince the onion, followed by the garlic, fennel and coriander stems and roots all together. Makes it easy and quick. If there is too much liquid at the end of cooking place the pot on the stove and cook on high until the juice is reduced and thickened to the desired consistency. If it’s too spicy add more yogurt or cream making sure it doesn’t curdle. One way to do this is to mix a small amount of the cooked curry into a bowl of whipped yogurt or cream to temper it before adding it all back into the main pot.
• The suggested use of ½ jar of paste results in mild but tasty flavour throughout the dish sufficient for 2 kg of lamb. As there only a small amount of water added the juice released from the meat and the vegetables plus yogurt is intense in flavour.
• If making this dish on a stove top make sure you add at least 3 cups water to cook the meat at Step 3 and bring it to the boil before simmering it for 1½ hrs. Then take the lid off and reduce it for a further 30 minutes or until the meat is tender.

Flavour variations

This dish can be successfully made with other flavour concentrates from the Latasha’s Kitchen concentrate pastes range such as Kuruma Masala, Madras, Tandoori Sauce/Marinade, Homestyle Curry, Coriander, Thai Massaman and Indonesian Turmeric.

Don’t be afraid to mix up our base curry and masala flavours as a creative approach to your cooking. For example Butter Chicken and Tandoori mixes well, Kuruma and Coriander, Madras and Coriander or Rogan Josh and Tandoori. Have fun experimenting!