Don’t touch that dial!! It’s really very good. Try it with eggplant sometime. Making it with beef would be a cultural faux pas. Maybe pork. Start by making an Indian Raita. Both recipes are hot linked.

A raita is a liquid salad – yogurt, cucumber, some spices, even the Greeks make it. But a memorable raita needs precise balance of the right ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 c liquid unsweetened Plain Yogurt
2 fresh Scallions
1 lg Jalapeno Chili Pepper, seeds and ribs removed, diced
1 thumb-sized Ginger root
1 Garlic clove
1 Cucumber
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
1 T Cumin seeds
1 T Black pepper corns

Directions:Peel the cucumber then remove the seeds with spoon. Pour the yogurt into a bowl and coarsely grate the cucumber. Use a knife to cut any pieces that break off into small strips.

Purée ginger and garlic and mix in. Chop the chili and scallions. Reserve some for the decor and mix the rest in. They will provide crunchiness.

Heat cumin seeds in a dry saucepan until they smoke, then reduce to a powder with the peppercorns and salt. Add to the raita.

Leave at least one hour in the fridge before serving so that the flavors combine.

This is an extraordinary accompaniment with a curry or tandori-roasted meats. It provides an explosion of freshness – ginger, garlic, scallions, peppers on a soft, liquid yogurt-cucumber base. Always a success!

Here is the completed and plated Lamb Chop Curry. From Left to Right: Rice with Curried Onions, Raita, Lamb Chop Curry and Diced Tomato. And really, it is not difficult to do. It just takes some time. Give yourself about 20 minutes to prep and another hour or so to do the curry. You will really like it!

Ingredients:
6 Lamb Chops
1 T Cumin seeds
1 T Coriander seeds
1 T Fennel seeds
1 lg Jalapeno Chili Pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced
2 med Onions, thinly sliced
1 t Salt
8 cloves Garlic, chopped
1 med Tomato, chopped
Handful coriander leaves roughly chopped for garnish

Directions:
Dry roast the cumin seeds, coriander seeds, fennel seeds in a frying pan until aromatic and just starting to change colour. Remove from the heat and grind using a spice grinder or pestle & mortar into a fine powder. Set aside.

In a large pan, add the chops in one layer if possible. Cover them with water by about 5 cm, gently bring this to the boil and cook for 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat, add the spices and garlic and stir well. Let this gently simmer again for 30 minutes. Now add the onions and the Jalapeno peppers and stir in well. Let it simmer again for 25 minutes until the lamb is tender and the sauce has reduced considerably.

Serving:
Transfer to a serving platter, sprinkle with fresh coriander and tomatoes. Serve with naan breads, rice, Indian pickles and raita. Pour a nice glass of 2004 Amisfield Pinot Noir and you have a superb dinner. And it didn’t cost you $50.00 per plate either!! Cheers!