On The Plate: Colourful characters associated with Indian curry

There’s no doubt in my mind that our wild and windy weather of late necessitates hearty, spicy, warming food to ward off the winter blues.

A good, red curry is the perfect antidote in my book and hence I’d like to share with you a fab recipe for a great, traditional Indian curry.

Ordinarily made with lamb – or goat meat – I believe you could just as easily make a tasty vegetarian version of a classic curry – Rogan josh. I always smile when I think of the name of this recipe as I’ve known one or two chaps named ‘Josh’ and in each case they’ve been typically high-spirited larrikin lads. I always make this crazy word association with their colourful characters – practical jokers both of them – and the yummy, colourful dish named Rogan josh.

While it is possible to purchase a ready-made spice base from the supermarket, I want to really encourage you to make this recipe from scratch. Don’t be deterred by the seemingly long list of ingredients – it really is an easy recipe to follow and cook at home.

The northern part of India, Kashmir, is the region from which this classic Indian dish is derived.

With influences from Persian cuisine, the dish is generally made with cubed lamb braised in a very distinctive blend of spices. It is also distinctive for its red colour derived from two main ingredients. Firstly, the roots of a herb called Alkanna tinctoria – which is related to the more commonly available herb we know as borage.

The roots of this plant are also used to dye fabric red, so the plant is also known as “dyer’s alkanet”.

The traditional recipe also calls for large amounts of Kashmiri chillies. The main flavour of these chillies is not just simply “hot” but more aligned to the flavour of paprika – another distinctively red spice.

Many Indian curries use dried cayenne pepper – and you can be assured this is a very hot spice! Rogan josh is not ranked high in terms of being a hot curry, rather it has a lovely aromatic character, that won’t have you breaking into a lather of perspiration.

Continuing with the “red” theme, many western versions of the dish also use tomatoes to pour over the meat and spices.

The version I share with you is from the classic recipe book for all Asian cuisines – Charmaine Solomon’s The Complete Asian Cookbook, which was first published in 1976.

While it is an absolute gem of a book to simply read for pleasure, it contains tested recipes by Charmaine who writes an eloquent introductory piece for each region, explaining how the local dishes are made, and with a helpful glossary of unusual ingredients.

And what to drink with a curry? Well certainly a chilled lager or semi-sweet wine, such as a rosé is suitable. The heat and spices of a curry will not generally suit a fine, dry wine. I also learnt from Charmaine’s book that carbonated drinks tend to accentuate the burning sensation of a really hot curry, as does icy cold water. Handy to know not to reach for the lemonade!

*Last week’s food column “The joys of spring are coming” was mistakenly run as an On the Plate column by Mary-Ellen Bellville. It was in fact a Great Ocean Food column written by Tony Le Deux.