Rev.: Rogan Josh, CL April 05

[knunes]

If there were a "mezza-mezza" symbol, I guess I would have used that rather than the thumbs down. I made this tonight and found it to be quite boring. I know there are 9 different spices in it, and most of mine were Penzey's, so they're good ones, but I really did not enjoy it very much. The flavors just didn't taste "interesting". DH said "this is pretty good" and said he would eat the leftovers. I, who usually raid the fridge for leftovers to bring to work, will not raid this.
Gracie had posted about this on a Misc. Reviews thread and said hers did not take anywhere near 2 hours to cook. I agree. Mine only took 1 hr. 15 minutes (and frankly, I think it was cooked sooner than that). Also, agreeing with her, the sauce didn't "thicken". I didn't mind it being liquidy, though, as I served it over rice, so the sauce colored the rice nicely.
What makes me even madder, is that when I called the butcher last weekend to order the boneless leg of lamb, I ordered half a leg, which was 3 pounds of meat. I asked him to leave one piece whole, and to take the other pound a half piece to trim and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. They marked each package as to its contents, and I stuck them both in the freezer. I thawed the lamb stew package yesterday, and last night I mixed all of the spices in a plastic zip lock bag, so that this a.m. I could just unwrap the thawed stew meat and throw it in the bag for the day while I was at work. I got up this morning, unwrapped the "lamb stew", and found that the butcher had mismarked the package. It was the whole piece, which I then had to spend 20 minutes cutting into 1/2 cubes. And now I have a little package of cubes in the freezer (and I had planned to use the whole piece of boneless lamb for a new recipe), and no idea what recipe to choose that would call for tiny cubes like that. Grrrr.... At leasst I know it won't be Rogan Josh!

[jennanne]

Originally posted by knunes
I, who usually raid the fridge for leftovers to bring to work, will not raid this.


I'm glad you posted. We tried this last week and had the same results as both of you. It was just bland. I spent a good 45 minutes prepping the lamb and the pay off was so not worth the time. I cooked it the full two hours and it was very overcooked. I had expected something really extraordinary and was disappointed.

[imloulou]

Thanks for the reviews...I had this on my list for next week but will scratch it off. This is why I like and appreciate negative reviews as much as the positives...saves me time and money!

Thanks!

[SPITFIRE]

Say it isn't so! :o I have lamb marinating in the fridge right now...I'll report back later.

[Gracie]

Well at least it wasn't just me!! :D I don't even know how yours took an hour and 15 minutes. 1/2 inch cubes took about 20 minutes. I was really hoping for great things from this and I'm really upset that I spent the money on lamb for it. Eye round roast cubes would have been fine at a fraction of the cost. You couldn't even tell it was lamb.

My leftovers are still in the fridge, too. They're probably old enough that I should just toss them.

Loren

[knunes]

Originally posted by Gracie
Well at least it wasn't just me!! :D I don't even know how yours took an hour and 15 minutes. 1/2 inch cubes took about 20 minutes. Loren

Hi Loren,
Well, I'm not saying that they might not have been done in 20 minutes. I'm just saying I "made them stay cooking" for 1 hour and 15. I didn't try them in 20, but I thought the longer cooking time would help them be as tender as possible. Anyhow, the tenderness was fine, it was just that I was bored to death with eating a whole plate of it.
Katie

[SPITFIRE]

I've decided to limit the cooking time, thanks to your reviews. I thought the cooking time was too long that last night as I was chopping those tiny little cubes of lamb.

I also have some naan dough rising in my oven to go with the lamb. I also picked up some curried rice with veggies at Trader Joes. DH is so excited to try this recipe so I decided to warn him and tell him about your reviews.

What made it just so-so? Not enough spices?

I should start going down to the kitchen to start dinner. I'll post back later.

[JA]

I'd like to join the ranks of the "so so" reviewers. I cooked it about 1 1/2 hours, and thought it was overcooked. Like knunes, I kept thinking the longer time would make it more tender. It just wasn't so. And I did use all good Penzeys spices.

I don't know why SPITFIRE, it was OK but definitely not a repeater. All that work, and so boring...

[SPITFIRE]

I'm back from dinner to join the ranks of the disappointed. It wasn't bad, I was just hoping for something more. Very bland and ordinary. I agree with Gracie--you can't even tell it's lamb; what a waste of $14 on good lamb. I had lamb left over that I just threw out. DH and I both decided it wouldn't taste much better reheated.

The best part of the meal was the frozen rice from TJs! My naan bread was good as a first attempt but wasn't as fluffy as I had hoped.

Has anyone had rogan josh in a proper Indian restaurant? What is it meant to taste like?

For my next attempt at Indian food, I'm going to either try the Chicken Tikka Marsala or the Chicken in Cashew Nut Sauce--both of which have gotten great reviews on these boards.

[Kingwell]

Thanks to all for the reviews...I will save the effort then, but anyone have suggestions as to what to do with my lovely lamb stew meat as the Rogan Josh just isn't exciting.

I read three different sets of reviews of recipes from the curry article, and they were all bland. How is that possible? I can't think that lowering the fat content of these dishes took the flavor out as well. Did anyone have good results with anything from that article? I might post a separate thread with that question...

[dlaboriel]

I appreciate this review. I ordered from Penzey's yesterday and ordered their Rogan Josh seasoning. They have the recipe in the book so I'll be trying their version.

[stacy7272]

I was surprised and disappointed with these reviews. I used to have Rogan Josh in my dorm in college (how crazy is that?) and I fell in love with it so I was really looking forward to making this.

BUT, on the Kitchen Assistant section of the board, there was a rave review and a good review of this dish! Here they are:



oliviabq 5 stars
Made this dish for a dinner party and it got rave reviews, considered by some better than at our local Pakistani restaurant. Marinated the lamb overnight and only simmered for about 90 min total until it melted at the touch of a fork. Did use whole milk yogurt, which made it richer. Served with jasmine rice, cucumber raita, naan, and Spanish rioja. 04/25/05




trmasc 3 stars
Not the Rogan Josh we are used to at our favorite Indian restaurant, but very tasty. Great healthy alternative. I transfered to a crockpot for the simmering and added extra time - however, I will try the stove method next time as it was not as tender as I would have liked. I served it with brown basmati, whole wheat pitas, and a green salad with a NF yogurt dressing. For lunch the next day it was served inside the pita with the spring lettuce mix and NF yogurt and tasted almost like a gyro. 04/07/05

[knunes]

Go figure, huh? Well, to each his own! I'm glad not everyone felt like they had wasted their money.

[VictoriaL]

I used some rogan josh seasoning instead of making the blend in the recipe, and reading these reviews I'm glad that I did! I also used chicken, and served it with naan. It was good, and I may make it again, but there are so many other recipes to try... :rolleyes: