We are delighted to bring our reader’s another recipe from Mridula Baljekar, Mridula Baljekar is well known in the international culinary circuit as a highly respected cookbook author. Her latest scoop is the ‘Best Indian Cookbook in the World’ awarded by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, considered to be the Oscars of the cookbook world.
Serves 4
This is a Muslim-influenced dish which originated in a Royal kitchen in East India during the British Raj. A decadent dish which is reminiscent of bygone days of luxurious indulgence by the Royal families in India. Light olive or rapeseed oil can be used instead of ghee which was the practice in the Indian Royal kitchens.
Ingredients
- 700g lamb rib chops
- 2 tbsps red wine vinegar
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- A good pinch of saffron threads, pounded
- 1 tbsp hot milk
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 2.5cm piece of root ginger, roughly chopped
- 4-5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves
- ½ tsp black pepper, lightly crushed
- 4 green cardamom pods, bruised
- 2 black cardamom pods, bruised
- 5cm cinnamon stick, halved
- 3 tbsps light olive or rapeseed oil
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 175g whole milk plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
- 2 tsps besan (gram flour), roasted
- 50g ghee or unsalted butter
- 1 tsp ground fennel seeds
- ½ tsp dried ginger powder
- 3-4 green chillies, left whole
- ½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsps rose water
Method
- Rub the vinegar and salt into the lamb chops and soak the saffron in the hot milk.
- Set aside.
- Puree the onion, ginger and garlic. Add the cloves, peppers, both types of cardamom pods and cinnamon to the pureed ingredients and pour over the chops. Mix well, cover and leave to marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight in the fridge. Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
- Heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the sliced onion until they are brown. Squeeze out the excess oil and remove the onion from the pan. Set aside.
- In the same oil cookr the lamb chops for a few minutes and set aside .
- In a separate pan, heat the yogurt, ghee and roasted gram flour together very gently and add to the chops along with all the spices in which they were marinated.
- Add the fennel and ginger powder and cook covered over a low heat until the chops are tender.
- Add the chillies, nutmeg and sugar. Cook for 2-3 minutes and add the saffron and rose water. Stir and remove from the heat. Serve garnished with the fried onion.
Mridula was born in Assam, the tea-growing area in north east India. When she moved to England she turned her childhood passion for cooking to a highly successful career. Mridula is Consultant to Mango Lounge, the award-winning Indian restaurant in Windsor. For more information click here
H&C News has also tried out Mango Lounge, to see how we got on take a look here