Deciding on a North Indian Curry Dish

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Cuisine: North Indian Curry

When I first began researching North Indian curry, I was a little overwhelmed at the variety of culinary styles and cultural influences. However, as my understanding of the region began to come into focus, winnowing the kaleidoscope of possibilities to a single curry dish was suddenly easy. There was no question that the main ingredient would be lamb, as all my research sources named lamb as the hands-down favorite among North India?s many regional cuisines. And since dairy products are so common to the region, my recipe would definitely have to include yogurt and ghee. And given the narrow field of agricultural produce, the other ingredients would have to be simple: ginger, garlic, and onions.

With these parameters defined, one Kashmiri dish rose to the top of the list. It?s a lamb curry called Rogan Josh, which is considered by some to be North India?s most popular dish. The curry is made with a stir-fry of lamb and onions, simmered in a sauce of yogurt and lamb stock, seasoned with ginger, garlic, and a rich palette of both whole and ground spices.