Balti lamb tikka

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Another recipe from my early Indian cookery courses. Cut the lamb thicker and you can easily make Lamb tikka with the same ingredients.

Ingredients

• 450 g lean lamb (fillet or neck), cut into strips
• 175 ml natural or Greek-style yogurt
• ½ teaspoon white cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon black cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon corander seeds
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 level teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves and stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Grated zest of ½ a lemon
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 green chili pepper, deseeded and sliced into thin rings
• 3 red chillies, deseeded and sliced into rings

Mise en place

• Grind all of the whole spices in a coffee grinder or mortar and pestle.
• Mix the yogurt, cumin, chili powder, garlic, salt garam masala, corander, lemon juice and tomato puree together to make a marinade

Marinate the lamb strips for at least 2 hours, longer if possible.

Method

1. Heat the oil in a wok and brown the strips, a few at a time, leaving any excess marinade behind in the bowl.
2. Add the tomato puree and cook the lamb, for about 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add the sliced chillies, and heat through. Check the lamb is cooked to your liking and serve.

Serving suggestions

Serve with naan breads, pillau rice and a green salad.

Chef's notes

If you don't have black cumin, just use white cumin instead.

Adjust the chili levels to suit your tastes, this can be fairly hot with these quantities, depending upon the types of chili you use.