This recipe makes use of grilled mutton chops, and depending on where you are that will mean either lamb, or goat. In the UK, New Zealand and Australia mutton refers to the meat of older sheep — which has a stronger flavour than lamb, and lamb refers exclusively to the meat from a sheep less than a year old.In other countries and cultures, Mutton refers to goat meat, which is in common use in many Asian and Arabic dishes.Mutton (goat) and lamb share many similarities and can usually be substituted for each other in a recipe — mutton generally has a milder taste, less pungent than lamb. Both meats are generally quite tough, so they benefit from a longer cooking time to break them down, and let the flavour’s shine through.The marinade plays an important role in helping to tenderise the meat, and the longer the meat is left to marinate, the better the results should be. I find that yogurt and lemon works really well as a marinade – I also add plenty of spices; minced garlic, Sumac, mint leaves, extra virgin olive oil, and seasoning to build the taste further.The spice Sumac can be grown in sub-tropical/temperate regions all over the world, Sumac imparts a lemon taste to salads or meats — and can even be used to make “sumac-ade” which is similar to lemonade. If you cannot obtain Sumac then a little lemon juice in the marinade would work as a substitute.Saffron rice makes a good pairing with the mutton chops — I always add almonds, golden raisins and shredded carrots to the saffron rice for extra depth.The foundations for this recipe for Pakistani style grilled mutton chops with saffron rice were kindly submitted to Kitchen Geekery by Sara Hafiz.
Ingredients
- 4 mutton (goat)/lamb chops
- ¼ cup yogurt
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 tbsp sumac
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic (minced)
- a handful of fresh mint
- salt & pepper (for seasoning)
Instructions
Preparation
- Marinate the mutton in a sealed container with the yogurt, lemon juice, mint leaves, garlic paste, Sumac and seasoning. Leave the container in a refrigerator for a few hours – or ideally overnight.
Method
- Cook the mutton chops in their own juices in an oven at medium heat for 30-40 minutes.
- Heat a grill pan, add 1 tsp. of olive oil and grill each chop for 2 minutes on each side.
- Serve over a bed of saffron rice.
