Recipe: Chaap ne Bataka Roast - Gujarati Roasted Lamb Chops with Potatoes

This recipe is from Banu Hajratwala's - Gujarati Kitchen, a book I cannot recommend heavily enough. Instructions are clear, precise and detailed. In case you haven't read my review yet and are wondering how lamb chops could be a Gujarati dish - its because this is Gujarati Kshatriya cuisine.

This recipe is reproduced here as part of my review of Banu Hajratwala's - Gujarati Kitchen for the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com.

My details here are not half as detailed as the way Ms Hajratwala's instructions are. While I do occassionaly say that a book is worth picking up, this book is a must have for anyone interested in a wider spectrum of Gujarati food or wants a simple introduction to Indian food. Gujarati Kshatriya cuisine is just one of the many cuisines cooked/available in India. What makes this a great introduction to someone new to Indian food is the detailed descriptions, substitutions possible and the coverage of Indian staples like rotis, dhal, curries, pickles in this book.

I've used olive oil instead of regular oil and apple cider vinegar instead of  lemon juice. I also cooked just half a kilo of chops, since I was cooking for just the 2 of us. Since I was using a microwave oven to bake, I used plastic wrap instead of aluminium foil to trap the moisture inside. Other than this, I stayed true to the recipe even down to the 1/4 cup oil.

For my friends from Guwahati wondering how I could procure mutton chops  here? - I used Al Kabeer's frozen chops.

Prepping the Meat:
Clean, rinse and dry 1/2kg mutton chops, removing extra fat.
Marinate in a mixture of 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 1.5 tbsp salt for at least half an hour.
This reduces the smelll in the meat and also tenderises it.

After half an hour, drain the juices (they would have turned a bit cloudy - thats just a reaction of acid with protein), rinse and dry the chops.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Gujarati fresh masala
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 kg potatoes washed, peeled and cut into 1/2" wedges

Method:
Make a marinade with all the ingredients except the potatoes.

Apply 2/3rds of the marinade onto the prepped lamb chops and leave for at least 1-2 hours or overnight. Reserve the remaining marinade.

When ready to cook, prep the potatoes and mix them with the remaining 1/3 marinade and lay them flat in a single layer in a baking dish

Then layer the mutton chops on top of the potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Cover the pan with aluminium foil (in regular ovens) or 3 layers of plastic wrap for microwave ovens)
Roast for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Cover & roast for another 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Roast uncovered for 10 minutes.
Remove from oven, turn chops over and baste with dripping. (don't turn the potatoes, only the chops)
Roast uncovered for 10 minutes.
Thus total roasting time is 1 hour with 30 minutes on each side.
I also grilled the chops for 5 minutes to give a light golden tinge to the meat.

I served the chops with Rotis and Raita. It will go very well with garlic bread too.