Tandoori Lamb Chops.

Tandoori cuisine is very popular in north India and lot of tasty dishes have originated from the humble tandoor like tandoori chicken, naan, tandoori roti. Tandoor is nothing but a clay oven which is heated from inside. But these days we can use electric over or gas tandoor instead of Clay tandoor. The tandoori lamb chops are very tasty dish originated in the state of Punjab. In this dish the lamb is marinated for a tleast 3 hours before it is cooked. One thing about this dish is that it is cooked in very less oil so it is not that fattening. Usually lamb is cooked in too much fat in Indian cuisines, but this dish use only 5 ml of oil. These lamb chops can be eaten as an appetizer when served with green salad or can be eaten in main course when eaten with rice. The children love the spicy taste of the lamb chops and love to have a go at it

Serves: 6 as snacks

1. Lamb chops: 6 small and of lean meat.

2. Oil: 5 ml.

3. Plain Yogurt: Low fat 30 ml / 2 Tbsp.

4. Tomato puree: 15 ml / 1 Tbsp.

5. Fresh ginger: 1 Tsp crushed.

6. Ground coriander/ cilantro: 2 Tsp.

7. Garlic: 1 Tsp crushed.

8. Red chili Powder: 1 Tsp.

9. Food Colour: Red 7 drops.

10. Salt: To taste.

11. Lemon Juice: 3 Tbsp

To garnish salad:

1. Lettuce leaves

2. Onion : 1 small sliced

3. Lime wedges

4. Fresh coriander / cilantro.

1.Take the lamb chops and wash them of all blood and other impurities.

2.Now pat dry the chops.

3.Trim off all the excess fat.

4.Now in a bowl mix ground coriander, crushed ginger and crushed garlic.

5.Now add yogurt, tomato puree and red chili powder.

6.Mix well.

7.Add red colour, salt and lemon juice and mix well.

8.Now with your fingers, rub this mixture on the chops thoroughly.

9.Now keep these marinated chops in fridge for at least 3 hours.

10.Now preheat the oven to 250 C or 475 F.

11.From the bowl transfer the chops in with the marinade to an oven proof dish.

12.Now with help of an oil brush, apply 5 ml of the oil on the chops.

13.Place trey in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

14.Now lower the heat of oven to 180 C or 350 F.

15.Cook for another 12 to 15 minutes.

16.Check if the chops are cooked thoroughly. If not then cook for couple of minutes more.

17.Now in a plate arrange the lettuce leaves in such a way that they form a bed over the plate.

18.Put chops on this bed of lettuce leaves.

19.Garnish with lime wedges, coriander and sliced onions.

20.Serve hot.

Tip:

1.Always use red colour in this dish as it gives not only a very pleasant look to the dish but also give impression that it is cooked in earthen tandoor.

2.Always use lean meat.

3.Don’t overcook the meat so keep checking it time and again if it is cooked or not.

4.If you don’t like spicy then you can reduce the red chili powder to half.