Tandoori Lamb Chops
Lamb chops marinated in yoghurt, ginger, garlic and tandoori spices, then cooked hot and fast until charred outside and pink inside.
Photograph credit: CafeOfIndia Lamb Chop Tandoori by snowpea&bokchoi · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Salt the chops and leave them in the yoghurt for at least an hour; that is the instruction everything else rests on. The marinade tenderises and seasons, and the thick coating chars at the edges under high heat.
Tandoori flavour comes from a mix: Kashmiri chilli for colour, garam masala, cumin, coriander, ginger, garlic and lemon juice. Mustard oil gives a sharp edge in some versions; plain oil works well too. Do not scrape the marinade off before cooking. The thick coating is what turns black and sweet.
A home oven at its highest setting, or a very hot grill, comes closest to a tandoor. Preheat the tray so the chops sizzle when they land. That gives a crust in the first minutes.
Cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, for chops that are still pink in the middle. Rest them for 5 minutes under foil, then squeeze over lemon.
Questions About Tandoori Lamb Chops
How long does Tandoori Lamb Chops take to make?
20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 1 hour of Marinating, so allow 1 hour 35 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.
How to Make Tandoori Lamb Chops
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Mix the yoghurt, ginger and garlic paste, lemon juice, spices, salt and oil. Coat the chops well and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 8 hours.
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Heat the oven to 240°C / 465°F (220°C / 430°F fan) and put a baking tray in to heat.
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Lay the chops on the hot tray, leaving gaps between them.
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Roast for 12 to 15 minutes, turning once, until charred at the edges and pink in the middle.
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Rest under foil for 5 minutes. Serve with lemon wedges and sliced onion.
Worth Getting Right
- Take the chops out of the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
- Use the grill setting for more char, watching closely.
- Cook for a few minutes longer if you prefer lamb well done.
Changing the Recipe
- If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
Pairs Well With
Mint chutney · Naan · Onion and lemon salad · Jeera rice
Keeping and Reheating
Best eaten straight away. Keeps in the fridge for 2 days; eat cold or reheat briefly.
What's in a Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: weights that include bone are counted as if all of it were eaten, so the figures run high. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
Cooked this? Keep a note for next time
Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked.
First published ; last changed .
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