Almond-Rubbed Lamb Chops with a Saffron Cream Sauce

Name: Almond-Rubbed Lamb Chops with a Saffron Cream Sauce
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper); 1 pound rack of lamb (from ribs), cut into chops; 1 tablespoon Ghee or butter; 4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped; ½ cup half-and-half; ½ teaspoon Punjabi garam masala; ¼ teaspoon saffron threads; ¼ cup plain yogurt; ½ cup slivered blanched almonds: ¼ cup left as is, the other ¼ cup ground; 1½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 teaspoon fennel seeds; ½ teaspoon whole cloves; Vegetable cooking spray

Zaffran Chaamp

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

I have often wondered whether the word chaamp is the Hindi language’s nasal adaptation of “chop”—it’s too close to think otherwise. In any case, call it what you want, because after one mouthful of these rich, slightly gamey, sweet flavors, you will be asking for chaamp time and again.

Ingredients

¼ cup plain yogurt
½ cup slivered blanched almonds: ¼ cup left as is, the other ¼ cup ground
1½

Asia
India
Sauce
Starter
Gluten-free
Spicy

Method

Pour the yogurt into a blender jar, followed by the slivered almonds, salt, cumin, fennel, cloves, and cayenne. Puree, scraping the inside of the jar as needed, to form a thick, gritty paste. Smear the paste over both sides of each chop and refrigerate them, covered, for at least 30 minutes or as long as overnight to allow the flavors to permeate the meat.
Preheat