Maria NasirIt’s true food makes memories. 1st of January is my father’s birthday, him being gone now for nearly 18 years, I decided to include one of his recipes in our New Year’s Eve dinner menu this year. He was a great foodie, didn’t cook much but when he did, it was always exceptionally good food. This 4 ingredients recipe was his speciality, he made it always with small, boneless pieces of meat over tawa/griddle and hence named it Tawa ki Minuk Minuk. A funny name but delicious dish!
I have tweaked his recipe a bit to cook Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops. Shoulder chops are slightly tougher than loin chops that’s why they taste best when slow braised and it brings out the flavour from the bones too. Therefore, I marinate the chops in four simple ingredients overnight and just chuck them in the deep pot with marinade and a little water to simmer till tender. Once they are done, it takes 5 more minutes to grill them on an indoor or outdoor grill. You can even lightly fry them in the pan too. Doused with the leftover sauces in the pan, you will end up with the most succulent, tender, juicy and fall off the bone meat.
It sounds like the 4 ingredients won’t do much for the meat but actually these 4 simple, kitchen staple ingredients not only work as meat tenderises but also spell salty, spicy, sour and hot. There are no onions, elaborate spices and herbs in the recipe and that is exactly the plus point of this recipe – it lets the meat shine and become the star of the show. Serve over a bed of mashed potatoes, with pineapple salsa or mint yogurt raita – the no-hassle 4 ingredients Grilled chops shall be simply awesome!
Ingredients:
8 bone in lamb shoulder chops
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive or sunflower oil
This Is a What You Do:
Mix vinegar, garlic paste, salt and red chillies in a big mixing bowl to make a simple marinade. Add chops, mix by hand to coat them completely with marinade.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight for best results.
Add chops, with marinade, into a deep pot. Add 1 cup water. Cover the pan and cook on medium low heat till very tender and the liquid sufficiently reduced.
Brush a skillet grill with oil. Heat the grill on medium high heat. Brush the chops lightly with oil too. Place on the grill till they pick up beautiful colour and are lightly charred (5-6 minutes).
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the liquids in the pan. Cook a couple of minutes to make sauce.
Serve chops straight from the grill with the sauce poured over them.
Garnish with chopped fresh green chillies and coriander (optional).
Serve 4