Last night I had a go at making Jamie Oliver's Rogan Josh from his book, 30 Minute Meals.
Although it was delicious you must read on to find out what is, in my opinion, a vital missing ingredient or two, but I soon sorted it.
Read on to find out what I truly think the original recipe is missing.I made the curry and Jamie's Lemon Pickle and Carrot Salad and both are seriously good.
According to Jamie when he cooks it on his Channel 4 television series all this can be done in 30 minutes.....having given it a go, I think not.
In my tiny little kitchen, it is impossible. Like most people who are cooking in their kitchen at home, you have to clear up as you go. Jamie doesn't since it's for the TV.
Anyway, 1 hour and 20 minutes later I was ready to serve this delicious Rogan Josh 😀
I think a lot of the time was spent trying to keep up with the book. It's written as he cooks it on the television program and goes from the curry to the rice then back to the curry. It's like your in a marathon.
I've rewritten the recipe so that now it's in some sort of order and should be easier to follow but I still don't think you'll do it in 30 minutes!
I say there are in fact two missing ingredients (one vital) that in my opinion, really should be included in this which are a tin of good quality tomatoes, and a good pinch of dried chilli flakes.
Whilst the curry was kind of tasty, I wasn't happy with it so I added a tin of good quality tomatoes. I find Cirio brand is the best as the juice is thick and not watery at all.
I also think extra chilli it needed to liven this curry up.
When you try to follow the recipes in the book it does feel like your in a race.
I say pour yourself a nice glass of wine and just enjoy cooking. But of course, please drink responsibly.

The rice came out perfectly too. I say Jamie's 30 Minute Meals really is a book worth buying.
By the way, if you're looking for more Jamie Oliver recipes, scroll to the bottom of my home page on this blog and click on the Celebrity Chef Recipes tag.
You'll find recipes by Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein, Nigel Slater, Nigella Lawson and more.

Rogan Josh Jamie Oliver Recipe
Without them, the original recipe truly doesn't taste of much.
Ingredients:
- 2 onions
- 1 medium butternut squash
- 1 small cauliflower
- 1 fresh red chilli (optional)
- 4 cloves of garlic
- A bunch of fresh coriander
- ½ a 283g jar of Patak's Rogan Josh paste
- 1 x 400g tin of chickpeas - drained
- 1 x 400g tin of tomatoes and a pinch of dried chilli flakes; both are not mentioned in the book but I think this recipe needs tomatoes and chilli for more heat.
- 100g pre-washed baby spinach
- 1 x 500g tub of natural yoghurt
- 1 mug of Basmati rice
- A few whole cloves
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and black pepper
Instructions:
- Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle.
- Peel and slice the onions and add to a large lidded frying pan with a splash of water and a few good lugs of olive oil.
- Carefully cut the butternut squash in half across the middle (for speed I’m only using the seedless neck), wrap up the base and put in the fridge for another day.
- Quarter the neck length-ways, then slice it into 1cm chunks – no need to peel them, add to the pan.
- Trim the cauliflower and remove the outer leaves.
- Cut it into bite-sized chunks, and throw them into the pan. If you want some extra heat, slice up the chilli and add it now.
- Crush in the unpeeled garlic (I peeled mine). Finely chop the coriander (stalks and all).
- Reserve a few leaves for garnish and add the rest to the pan with a couple of generous splashes of boiled water.
- Add the Rogan Josh paste and the tin of chickpeas. *At this point, I added a tin of tomatoes and a pinch of dried chilli flakes.
- Season and stir well, then put a lid on. Cook hard and fast, stirring occasionally.
- Take the lid off and decide if you need to adjust the consistency at this point?
- If so, you can add a generous splash of boiled water, depending on whether you want it drier or wetter.
- Or mash up some of the veg for different textures.
- Taste and add a pinch of salt, if needed, once everything is cooked, add the spinach and stir through.
- Put the mug of rice into a medium saucepan with a lug of olive oil and a few cloves, then cover with 2 mugs of boiled water (use the same mug you used for the rice).
- Add a pinch of salt, then put the lid on and boil on medium heat for 7 minutes.
- By now the 7 minutes should be up, so take the rice off the heat and leave it to sit with the lid on for 7 minutes.
- This will let it steam and will give you beautiful fluffy nutty rice.
- Tip half the tub of yoghurt into a small bowl.
- Drizzle over a little extra virgin olive oil and take to the table. Transfer the rice and curry into large serving bowls.
- Spoon the remaining yoghurt over the curry, sprinkle with the rest of the coriander leaves and take both bowls to the table.
Looks good Jan. I haven't made anything from the book yet, but I am loving it and have a bunch of recipes earmarked!!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks amazing Jan! I'd never manage to get it done in 30 mins either; I'm notoriously slow at preparing!
ReplyDeleteHi Jan,
ReplyDeleteI've done quite a few of his 30 minute meals and while they are all really tasty, I can't do it in the time allowed. He times just the cooking not getting his 30 minute head on or clearing up.. he probs had minions to do that for him...unfortunatly I don't!!! His midweek roast took me nearly 2 hours but I did use a different cut of beef as my budget couldn't stretch to fillet for the 6 of us!!
Great looking curry tho... think I'll try this next! Check out the risotto photos on my blog, the spinach salad was fab!
Hi Thanks for the follow:) Your recipes look delicious, and full of flavor. I host a monthly event were bloggers can show off their best or favorite recipes, it is called YBR. Please stop by and see if you would like to join us for the November installment that will be published at the end of November. Your blog is great !
ReplyDeletethanks for posting this recipe, i tried it after i saw it on the tv, and its not on his website anymore! its also really nice with prawns and if you use jalfrezi!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon - sounds good! I did add a can of tomatoes as I said in this post and I think it really needed them. Great dish though - but not in 30 lol
ReplyDeleteHi thanks I have lent my book out so needed this tonight - but no mention of the spinach in the method!
ReplyDeleteThanks WLS - now sorted!
ReplyDelete