Lamb Rogan Josh^★

• 3" piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 4 tbsp natural yoghurt
• 1 tsp crushed black peppercorns
• 1kg quality lamb shoulder, cut into big cubes
• 5 medium red onions, halved
• 2 red peppers, halved and deseeded
• 2 fresh red chillies, deseeded
• 1 tbsp green cardamom pods
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp dried red chilli flakes
• 1 splash vegetable oil
• 2 tsp paprika
• 600g tinned chopped tomatoes
• ½ tbsp salt

This makes a lot. Halve the quantity for a normal meal

Mix your ginger and garlic together. Put them in a bowl that’s big enough to fit all the cubed lamb in. Add the turmeric, yoghurt and black pepper to the bowl and mix together. Tip the lamb into the bowl and stir it around until it’s well coated with the yoghurt and spices. Cover and leave overnight in the fridge to marinate.

Preheat your oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3. Chop your onions and peppers roughly and whiz them in a food processor with the fresh red chilli.

Put the pan you are going to cook the curry in on the medium heat and add the cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, chilli flakes and coriander. Toast until they go a shade darker in colour, then pour into a pestle and mortar and grind up.

Keep the pan on the heat and add a splash of vegetable oil. Add the whizzed onion, peppers and chilli paste from the food processor with the ground up spices and paprika.

Cook over a gentle heat for about 10 minutes. By now, lots of delicious curry smells will be coming out of the pot.

Add the tomatoes, the marinated lamb and half a pint of water, and stir well. When the curry comes to the boil add the salt, cover tightly with a lid and place in your preheated oven. You can basically forget about it now, as all the hard work is done. Just wait 2 hours and carefully take the pot out of the oven.

Taste it, and if it needs salt, add a little; if it’s too hot, add a little yoghurt to cool it down. Serve with rice, your favourite Indian bread such as parathas, naans or chapattis.