Shrimp Rogan Josh

Bruce has started teaching knitting classes in Millerton, New York--which means that I now cook dinner on the nights he's gone.

Mind you, such a call to action hasn't rung in a while. After fifteen books, I am officially an observer of cooking. Oh, sure, I bring together the occasional foofy dish for a dinner party, like some froo-froo appetizer. But I'm hardly down in the trenches.

I still don't know if atheists pray in their fox holes, but I can assure you this writer-turned-cook does. What I make should be satisfying and comforting. So I do a lot of handwringing over the stove.

Which also means I've made a promise with myself to cut out words like quick and easy from my culinary lexicon. Both are knee-jerk silliness from food writers. Quick and easy is a take-out menu. Cooking is another thing entirely. (Funny that a guy with so many cookbooks under his belt has come to this revelation. Score one for you, universe.)

Last night, I set my mark on a rogan josh. The weather turned a little grim in the afternoon: dark clouds, a few blustery flurries. I wanted something warm and comforting. So I morphed the rogan josh recipe in THE ULTIMATE COOK BOOK (more about it here), pumping up the veggies--a key to getting more real food on the plate, we've found--but using the same spice mixture Bruce created in the original recipe.

In case you don't know, rogan josh is a warm (not spicy) curry from the Kashmir region. The name means something like boiling oil in Persian, a reference to the dish being cooked over the heat in plenty of fat; but if you increase the flavor of said fat, you can use a lot less of it--as you'll see I did.

First, I put together the curry mix in a large bowl: 2 teaspoons ground coriander, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon saffron. I then added one medium peeled and seeded, diced butternut squash and 1 large, peeled, diced rutabaga (about 1-inch cubes all around) along with 1 tablespoon macadamia nut oil. I stirred it well until the veggies were coated in the curry powder and set the bowl aside.

Don't have macadamia nut oil? Any nut oil will do--or even sesame oil. I wouldn't use a toasted nut oil because the flavor will get too pronounced, but a solid walnut or almond oil will do wonders. I'd also consider using avocado oil for a brighter finish. Just don't use any of the overly refined, tasteless stuff. It's hardly real food. 

Next, I heated a large saucepan over medium heat, then added another tablespoon of the nut oil. (Again, just use the same flavorful oil here you used in the last step.) I added 1 large, chopped, yellow onion, reduced the heat to low, and let that onion soften very slowly, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes.

And now a little nervousness set in. Root vegetables? Not potatoes? In a rogan josh? And not ghee as the fat? What was I doing? I tried to trust my ten-year instincts--but again, I the writer, not the chef. So I took my frustrations out on some Ravel waltzes at the piano while I waited for the onions to get good and soft, occasionally jumping up to stir the pot.

After that, I stirred in all those veggies, making sure to scrape every grain of spice into the pot. I pulled the heat up to medium and stirred until it was all pretty aromatic, about 1 minute. Then I poured in 4 cups beef stock and 1/4 cup white wine. I brought that to a simmer, stirring occasionally--then reduced the heat to low, covered the pot, and went away to fret over more Ravel, stirring the pot once in a while, until the veggies were tender, about 45 minutes.

Finally, I stirred in 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp, cooked for 1 minute over the heat, then stirred in 1 cup plain yogurt (I used a fat-free version without any chemical shenanigans), 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Done. I covered the pot and let it sit off the heat for a few minutes to meld the flavors. We had it over short-grain, sticky brown rice--and I didn't fret one more minute. 

Comments

[Recipes]

Ahh......looks yummy.I think it'll taste delicious.

[Peter of Healthy Flat]

The food on the pictures look so mouth watering. I bet this is a world class recipe and dish.