Mutton Rogan Josh in Den Haag
Tender lamb in Kashmiri sauce. Slow-cooked daily. Fragrant. Halal certified. Leyweg 986, Den Haag.
What is Mutton Rogan Josh?
Rogan josh is one of the most respected lamb curries from the Indian subcontinent, with deep roots in Kashmir. The name comes from "rogan" - oil or fat - and "josh" - heat or passion. This is not an accidental name. This dish is heat, passion and full Kashmiri flavour, layered in every spoonful.
Chopras serves mutton rogan josh that is genuine - not the simplified version you find in many Dutch restaurants. This is lamb that becomes golden and melts into a sauce that has been building all day, with tomatoes, Kashmiri chillies, ginger - garlic paste, yoghurt, and a full notebook of whole spices: black cardamom, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, clove.
The secret of true rogan josh is that it is not a "curry sauce" - it is a sauce made from scratch, every single day. The lamb is first seared until golden and tender, then slowly cooked in this developed sauce until the meat falls from your spoon.
How Mutton Rogan Josh is Made at Chopras
The Selection of Lamb
We begin with halal-certified lamb from the shoulder and legs - the better cuts for slow cooking. This lamb has marbling of fat throughout the tissue. When you cook that lamb for just three hours on low heat, the meat becomes tender and the fat becomes silk in the sauce. This is a kitchen secret: poor lamb gives you poor rogan josh. All our lamb is hand-selected every morning.
The Searing of the Meat
The lamb is seared in a blend of ghee and oil in a heavy pot. This step is not for flavour alone - it seals the surface and helps keep the juices inside. We sear until the lamb is golden on all sides. This takes at least 20 minutes. Many restaurants skip this step. We do not.
Building the Sauce
While the lamb sears, the sauce is set. Fresh tomatoes go into a pan with yoghurt, ginger - garlic paste, Kashmiri red chillies (not for heat but for taste and colour), and a full roster of whole spices. These spices - black cardamom, cinnamon, bay leaf, clove, turmeric - are ground every morning. They are not from a bag from last season. They are fresh. They give aroma, not just flavour.
The Slow Cook
The seared lamb goes into the sauce. Everything is covered and goes slowly into the oven. This takes three hours. The sauce thickens, darkens, rounds out. The lamb becomes tender. After three hours, the meat is soft, the sauce is silk, and rogan josh is rogan josh - warm, full flavour, with many layers of aroma.
Questions About Rogan Josh
What is the difference between rogan josh and other lamb curries?▼
Rogan josh is Kashmiri - the sauce is tomato and yoghurt-based with whole roasted spices, not on coconut milk or cream. The accent is on aroma and warmth, not on heat. The lamb must be tender and silk, not firm.
Is it spicy hot?▼
No. Rogan josh gets warmth from the roasted spices, not from chillies. If you want it warmer, you can ask us to adjust it. But this is not the type of curry where you need to sing.
Why does rogan josh take so long to make?▼
The lamb needs to become tender. That cannot be done quickly. If you do it faster, the meat will be stringy and the sauce will be flat. We take the time. This is how it is supposed to be made.
Order Rogan Josh at Chopras
Mutton Rogan Josh - €22.50
Tender lamb in deep-flavoured Kashmiri sauce
With Naan - +€4.50
Fresh naan to soak up every drop of sauce