Truthfully I don't eat a TON of Indian food. However, I do like a good korma,. This is probably mainly to do with my lack of adventure when living in Ireland as the offerings were never that great - sorry! I always found that I missed the vegetable element when I order a takeaway and truthfully I eat WAY too much naan. MMmmmmmmmmm garlic naan........ Anywho - I have been wanting to branch out and cook a few more different things at home and try to eat some more Indian flavours. Tandoori screamed (read politely asked) Mrs AnotherFoodBlogger so I went about perfecting some tandoori paste. The result is/was some glorious grilled tandoori lamb cutlets.
Tandoori
Now before the purists kick my ass I am well aware I don't own a tandoor - a clay oven used in Indian cooking. BUT the flavours in my tandoori lamb are along the right lines and with using my weber bbq cranked up to the max it's as close as I can get short of building a tandoor. Damn, that would be cool. Think of the flavours I could get at home from that bad boy. One day maybe, one day. While I am at it I would build a pizza oven too. Then I wake up from my dream!
The Local Indian
It probably couldn't be any closer unless we lived above it. How dangerous would that be? It's honestly really good and their naan bread is probably the best I have had. Rumour has it that when the Indian cricket team is in town they often eat there. That's a pretty good reputation to have! Every now and again we order and fight over who will take the 2 minute walk to pick it up. 99% of the time I win as I do all the cooking so this way the wife can claim "cooking for me"!! They have a FANTASTIC tandoori chicken dish. Truthfully I would be lying if I said my tandoori lamb was as good as theirs but I am ok with that as these guys know way more about Indian cuisine than me.
Get Cooking!
A lot of what I cook at home is taken from eating out, google searches, pinterest and good old trial/error. For me the joy of cooking is experimenting in the kitchen, making it your own and just having fun. Not all of my dishes turn out right and those of you who follow me on instagram probaby think we eat like kings/queens at home. Luckily I have been cooking for long enough that more turns out right than wrong but don't be afraid to experiment. Once you start to learn what flavours work together then you will learn different ways to use those same flavours to make different dishes.
Get your ass down to your local grocer or market, pick up some fresh and seasonal ingredients and have some fun. After all that's how I started and that's how this tandoori lamb and the majority of my dishes came about. I hope that I have inspired you a little and you get into the kitchen. Don't forget to subscribe or hit me up if you have any Q's at all.
If you like this recipe than swing by and check out my curried lamb shank recipe too!
Happy Cooking and Happy Eating Friends!
Ingredients
Lamb
- 12 Lamb cutlets
- 3 tbsp tandoori paste
- 1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
Tandoori Paste
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 tsp ginger chopped
- 1 tsp dried coriander
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2-3 tbsp water
- 1-2 tsp chili flakes
Herb Yoghurt
- 6 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- .5 lime juiced
- 1 handful mint chopped
- 1 handful coriander chopped
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Tandoori Paste
- Place cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon & chili flakes into a saucepan on low heat for a couple mins - this helps to release flavours
- Add remaining ingredients and cook for 8-10 minutes on low/medium heat. Allow to cool and blend until smooth
Tandoori Lamb
- Mix 3 tbsp tandoori paste with 1 tbsp yoghurt. Coat the lamb cutlets in the paste and marinade in the fridge for minimum 1 hour but overnight if possible
- Grill Lamb cutlets on medium - high heat or on a bbq grill for 2-3 minutes per side depending upon how you like them cooked. Just over 2 minutes is my sweet spot for a nice medium rare
- Allow lamb to rest for a couple minutes and serve with herb yoghurt & coriander leaves
Herb Yoghurt
- Mix all ingredients together and put to side ready to use. Can be made in advance but the longer you leave it the herbs will lose their vibrancy
Notes
Essential Tools
- sharp knife
- chopping board
- small sauce pan
- bbq or heavy bottom grill pan
- wooden spoon
- small food processor
- mixing bowl
- spoon
Tips/Tricks
- the same recipe/sauce can be used on chicken or pork. Cooking times will be different
- i would serve this with either some naan bread or maybe a little rice. Stay tuned for some homemade naan bread on the blog
- the longer you leave the marinade the better (in my opinon) so try do it the day before if you remember!
- the tandoori paste will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge
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