Rogan BOSH!
This one is proper special to us. A Rogan Josh is one of those curries we grew up ordering on a Friday night, and making a plant-based version that genuinely hits the same spot felt like a bit of a mission. Well, we cracked it. Rich, deeply spiced tomato sauce, tender aubergine and red pepper soaking up every bit of that warmth, with a gentle kick from the chilli that builds as you eat. It's the kind of bowl you'll be scraping clean and then immediately thinking about when you can make it again. If you've got 35 minutes tonight, this is what you're cooking.
Before You Start
- Fine grater or microplane
- Large frying pan with lid
- Saucepan with lid
- Rinse basmati rice with cold water before cooking
Ingredients
- 4 garlic cloves
- 4cm fresh ginger
- 1 red chilli
- 1 large aubergine
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 handful of fresh coriander
- 150g basmati rice
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 60ml water
- 100g coconut yoghurt
- 1 handful of desiccated coconut
- Salt & pepper to taste
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
Method
Prepare the veg
- Peel the garlic and ginger and grate using a fine grater or chop as fine as you can
- Rip the stem from the chilli (removing the seeds if you prefer a milder sauce) - finely chop most of this and finely slice the remainder (for garnish)
- Slice the aubergine and red pepper into bite size chunks
- Roughly chop the coriander and set aside for garnish
Make the rice
- Rinse the rice with cold water, place into a saucepan and cover with 250ml of boiling water
- Bring the rice to the boil on a high heat with the lid on, then turn down to a low simmer and leave to cook for 8-10 minutes
- Once all the water has evaporated, take off the heat and set aside
Make the curry
- Add 3 tbsp of oil to a large frying pan and sweat off the grated garlic, ginger and chopped chilli for 1 - 2 minutes
- Pop the aubergine and red pepper into the pan and cook for about 10 minutes, turning regularly
- Once everything is browning and softened, sprinkle over the garam masala
- Add the tomato purée and 60ml of water to the pan and stir to form the curry base (if it’s too thick, add a little more water to loosen – you want a thick, gravy-like consistency)
- Stir in the coconut yoghurt, then cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes
To serve
- Taste the curry and season with more salt or garam masala as necessary
- Serve up on bowls or plates with the rice, sprinkled with the chopped coriander, desiccated coconut flakes and the reserved chilli slices
Tips & Variations
- Mild it out: If you're cooking for people who don't love heat, just remove the chilli seeds before chopping. The flavour is still there, just without the fire.
- Make it your own: We love this with a big spoonful of coconut yoghurt on top to cool things down a little. It makes it feel really restaurant-worthy.
- Rice tip: Rinsing your rice properly before cooking makes such a difference to the final texture. Don't skip it, trust us.
Why This Works
The trick here is getting your spices properly toasted and building that base slowly before the veg goes in. It's what gives the sauce that deep, almost smoky richness instead of tasting like it came straight out of a jar. We also find that aubergine is an absolute hero in curries like this because it soaks up all that sauce and goes beautifully soft without turning to mush.