October 2, 2006 by Jason.

When I woke up this morning, I hadn’t really planned much of an evening. By the time work was over, I knew it was time for something special. I stopped by Martin’s and picked up some of the ingredients I would need: Cilantro, Ginger, Yogurt, and a good sized leg of Lamb. Rogan Josh is an Indian dish that is basically a really good lamb curry. It really is the epitome of comfort food for me. The only thing that could have made it better would have been hot Naan. For those who are interested, I will describe the process of making it.

Still here? Great. Here’s how to do it.

I took about a finger-sized piece of ginger, peeled it, and ran it through my garlic press into a bowl. Then I took 5 large cloves of garlic and put them through the press into the same bowl. Set that bowl aside.

I washed the leg of lamb and trimmed off the fat. One side was basically a layer of fat that you could almost just peel right off. If you’ve worked with lamb, you know the consistency and texture of the meat. It just pulls apart from fat and bone with not much effort like it hasn’t had time to set together. Well, yeah it hasn’t had time. It’s lamb. Anyway, once you’ve trimmed the meat and boned it, chop it into small chunks and set aside.

Chop 2 onions and heat a large pot on high with a few TB of vegetable oil. Once it’s nice and hot, add all the onions and keep stirring for a few minutes until they lightly brown and soften. Throw in the garlic and ginger. Keep stirring. Now it’s time to add the spice. I hope you’ve read this over once and didn’t just start cooking from sentence one because at this point you would be screwed. I added 1 TB of Garam Masala and 2 TB of Penzey’s Rogan Josh spice. If you don’t have the specific Rogan Josh spice, make your own by putting in 2 tsp. of coriander, 2 tsp. of cumin, 1 tsp. of turmeric, and 1 tsp. of red chili powder. Garam Masala, well, you just have to have that. I don’t know how to make that stuff. Seriously, go buy some.

Throw in 2 tsp. of salt while you are it too.

Once it’s smelling good, toss in the lamb and keep stirring till it gets some good browning in. Now toss in a large can of diced tomatoes (28 oz. or so) with all of it’s liquid. Don’t drain it! Stir that up and then add a large dollop of plain yogurt, maybe a cup and a half or so. Stir, stir, stir until you get it up to a boil. Turn the heat down until it is at a simmer. It has to cook about an hour and a half, but you only have to stir it every half hour or so. After you stir it at the hour mark, this would be a good time to make a lot of rice, basmati if you have it.

At the end throw in a bunch of chopped cilantro, about a fistful and mix that in. You should end up with a pot that looks a lot like the above image. I hope you enjoy!

If you want a more definitive recipe, that measures stuff, etc. I would recommend this excellent guide.

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October 2, 2006 by Jason.

UPDATE: After spending the night and taking a stress test at the hospital, Uncle Steve was released back to his home. However, I received this message from Mom this morning:

Got another call this morning from Grandma Kinyon - Steve is back in the Emergency Room this morning. She said yesterday he was happy and jolly - they had a great visit and he was really enjoying being home. Then, he got a phone call from his brother, Rick that got him all upset.

Hopefully, we’ll get some positive news later today.

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