Tandoori Lamb

We are still trying different types of cooking in our Ceramic Egg. We really enjoy Indian food and in the great new Indian cookbook: Indian Home Cooking we found a recipe for Tandoori Lamb Chops. It was a perfect test of our Egg. Once again the Egg came through. In fact we have decided to give away our old Weber Grill. It isn’t needed any more not that we know we can also grill on the Egg. The recipe was delicious and provided lots of extra chops for leftovers.

We made a Saffron Rice to go with the chops.



Gael's Tandoori Lamb Chops
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From Indian Home Cooking by Suvir Saran
Burrah Kabab
SERVES 4
Burrah literally means "big," so this is a recipe for people who like big kebabs. (Our good friend Gael Greene, for whom this recipe is named, is a particular fan.) There is a mosque in Old Delhi calied Jama Masjid that is the largest mosque in India. The streets around it are peppered with stalls selling street foods. One such stall is Karim's, one of my favorite places to take friends and especially first-time visitors to India. Karim's is famous for many of their lamb preparations, and this is one of them. I serve these chops at my restaurant Devi, in New York City.
The kababs taste of the warm flavors of garlic, cumin, nutmeg, and mace, balanced by the sharpness of vinegar and lemon. The chops need to marinate overnight to absorb the marinade, so if you spend a few minutes to toss together the marinade the night before, the next night's dinner will take almost no time at all to put together.
Be sure to drain the yogurt for at least 2 hours before using or the lamb will never develop that savory crust during cooking.

2 pounds rib lamb chops, cut 1 to 1 1/2 inches thick
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon toasted cumin seeds, coarsely ground
8 medium garlic cloves, minced very fine or ground to a paste

A 3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced very fine
or ground to a paste
1/4 cup malt vinegar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup yogurt, drained in a cheesecloth-lined strainer or a coffee filter for 2 hours
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons melted butter



Cut three or four deep slashes in each of the chops.

Mix all of the remaining ingredients except the oil and melted butter in a nonplastic bowl large enough to hold the chops. Add the chops and toss to coat in the marinade. Put the chops with the marinade in a large, resealable plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

Heat the grill to a high temperature, or heat a grill pan for 10 minutes over medium-high heat.

Add the oil to the bag with the chops, reseal, and massage the bag between your hands to oil the chops. Remove the chops from the marinade. Grill the chops for 5 minutes on each side; let rest 5 minutes off the grill, then brush with the butter and grill 5 more minutes on each side.