Spiced lamb cutlets with mint chutney and curry leaves

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This delicious Indian spiced lamb cutlet recipe is a real crowd-pleaser and takes minimal effort. Flavour the meat in a marinade of cinnamon, star anise, fennel and cumin seeds, before cooking to medium-rare on a chargrill or – better yet – a barbecue. The cutlets are served with a mint chutney and topped with crispy mint and curry leaves.

First published in 2021

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Lamb

Mint chutney

To garnish

Equipment

  • Blender

Method

1

Toast the whole spices in a hot dry pan for about 1 minute until fragrant. Transfer to a pestle and mortar or spice grinder and grind to a fine powder

2

Transfer the powder to a bowl along with the pastes, lemon juice, oil and a pinch of salt and mix well. Add the lamb cutlets and mix to coat evenly. Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight

3

To make the mint chutney, place the mint, coriander and chillies in a blender with the lemon juice and a splash of water. Blend until you have a smooth sauce, adding a little more water if needed. Stir through the yoghurt then taste and season with salt

4

Bring the lamb out of the fridge to get to room temperature before cooking. Cook on a barbecue, under the grill, or in a pan for 2–3 minutes each side, depending on the thickness of the cutlets. Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving

5

While the lamb is cooking and resting, heat the ghee in a pan until it is just about to smoke, then add the curry leaves, black pepper, asafoetida and three-quarters of the mint leaves and cook until crisp. Pour over the cooked lamb cutlets just before serving

6

Finely slice the remaining mint and sprinkle over too. Serve the cutlets hot with the mint chutney on the side

First published in 2021

After leaving India to perfect his cooking in the UK, Avinash Shashidhara worked his way through restaurants including The River Cafe before opening Pahli Hill Bandra Bhai, where he serves ingredient-led Indian dishes inspired by traditional recipes.

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