Culinary Hotline 18 May 2022

We bring you some of your favourite Winter Warmers. 

Serves: 4-6
Time: 30 minutes
Recipe by: Nicole Snelling 

Ingredients:

For the mac & cheese:

500g macaroni pasta, cooked 

2 Cups milk 
2 Cups cheddar, grated

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp flour

1 tsp Hot English mustard 
salt and pepper, to taste

Topping

1.5 cups Panko bread crumbs 

½ Cup grated Parmesan cheese

½ Cup chopped cooked crispy bacon bits

zest of one lemon  

For the Rogan Josh: 

1kg lbs mutton/meat (washed and cubed)
2 Tbsp Ghee + 2 tbsp oil
4-5 Shallots (finely sliced)
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
2 Tbsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
1- 1.5 tsp fennel powder
½ tsp dry ginger powder
½ Cup yogurt (whisked well)
1.25 Cups water
pinch of saffron (optional)
salt, to taste
A handful of chopped coriander leaves, for garnish

Garam masala:
1 Cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3-4 green cardamom
1 Tsp cumin seeds
1-2 black cardamoms
1 bay leaf

 

Method

For the mac & cheese:
Combine the panko, parmesan, lemon zest and chopped bacon and set aside. 
Melt the butter in a medium heated and whisk in the flour and allow to cook for a minute.
Add half the milk and mustard and whisk until smooth and lump free.
Add the remaining milk and stir continuously until the milk thickens in a low heat. Then remove the sauce from the heat and stir through the cheese until melted. 
Stir through the macaroni in the cheese sauce and season to taste. Add the pasta to a baking dish and top with topping mixture.
Bake in the oven at 200°C for about 25-30 minutes, until the top is golden in colour.

For the Rogan Josh:

Powder the whole spices/ garam masala (Cinnamon, cloves, green cardamom & Cumin Seeds) together excluding the black cardamom and bay leaf & set aside.
In another small bowl, add the Kashmiri Chilli powder, fennel seed powder and ginger powder with 1/4 cup of water and mix together.
In a heavy bottom pot, heat the ghee & oil on medium high then add the black cardamom & bay leaf to the oil.
Then add the sliced shallots and fry them on medium-low heat until they start caramelizing and turning golden brown. (This takes a good 8-10 minutes so be patient, but don’t turn up the heat)
Add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute or two.
Then add in the mutton (goat meat)/ lamb cubes and turn up the heat browning the meat well.
Once the meat is browned on all sides, add the Kashmiri chilli spices we mixed with water and fry it for 2-3 mins.
Stir in the whisked yogurt, a pinch of saffron (optional)and salt to taste. Cover and let the curry simmer on medium for 15 mins until the oil starts separating from the curry.
Once you see the oil start separating, add half of the powdered garam masala (whole spices) and add a cup of water to loosen the curry.
You can now transfer the curry to a pressure cooker (aka Instant pot) and cook on high for 8-10 mins then natural release the pressure. Or you can lower the heat, cover the pot and allow the curry to simmer for 45mins-60 mins until the meat gets tender.
Check to see if the meat is tender (if you’re cooking bone-in the meat should be falling off the bone) & season with salt if needed. When it’s melt-in-the mouth tender stir in the remaining garam masala powder and turn off the heat.
Garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro and serve with fragrant basmati rice or Naan.

Notes:
1. Any cut of meat will work for this recipe, however, bone-in and shanks halved lend this dish the most flavor. I used a goat leg and while I cubed the meat, I added the bone in the pot for more flavor.
2Make sure to the whisk the yogurt before adding it to the pot, as this will help it not break and curdle.
3. Adding half the garam masala at the end helps gives the dish an added layer of flavor.

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