Indian Style Lamb Chops – International Cooperation

These little tasties are a great example of international cooperation. The finest Irish lamb is combined with some delicious spices to give us Indian Style Lamb Chops. They were perfect with the Spinach Dahl I posted last week. They are delightful and I prepared plenty. There were three of us sitting down to eat. Three chops is plenty for one person. There are eight chops in a rack. You know what I did. 

Ingredients 

• 2 lamb racks (16 chops unless the sheep was named Adam or you are being short changed)
• 2 teaspoons of smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons of turmeric
• 2 teaspoons of cardamom pods
• 2 teaspoons of cumin powder (or seeds if you have them)
• 2 teaspoons of fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 tin of coconut milk (400ml)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Juice and zest of a lemon
• 5cm / 2″ piece of root ginger

Dry fry the fennel seeds in a frying pan. Add the fennel seeds, cardamom pods, ginger and garlic to a mortar. Bash them into a mush.

I had to get a pouring shot of these beauties.

Zest the lemon. Add the mortar contents to a large bowl along with everything else except the lamb.

This is a lovely collection of flavours. Try it.

Give it a good stir to combine everything. Slice the lamb into chops. Add them to the mixture, being sure to cover them with the marinade.

This is a great combination of Irish and Indian.

Leave these to marinade overnight if possible or for as many hours as time allows. Fire up the barbecue to hot. Please note that I usually recommend barbecuing on a medium-low flame. These are different. We want a nice bit of blackening on the outside and tender lamb on the inside.

The chops only take a few minutes on the barbecue. You will have made the simple spinach dahl I did last week and you could even have a nice bit of naan bread to round out the dish. Feel free to squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the dish before serving.

If ever there was a good reason for doing a bit of international cooperation, it’s now. This dish brings together the very best of the great Indian content and gives it the benefit of great Irish lamb. I am not claiming it as an “Indian” dish. But it is inspired by some of the great food of that continent. Try it. You will not be disappointed.