Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Adraki Chaamp (Tandoori Home Cooking)
Adraki Chaamp (Tandoori Home Cooking) (Spiced Lamb Cutlets with Spinach, Ginger, Chilli & Chaat Masala)

Adraki Chaamp (Tandoori Home Cooking)

Spiced Lamb Cutlets with Spinach, Ginger, Chilli & Chaat Masala
Non-vegetarian

Adraki chaamp are lamb cutlets marinated in a spinach, ginger, chilli and yoghurt paste, then roasted and finished with chaat masala and ground ginger. The lamb is tender, with fresh green heat and a tangy, savoury spice dust.

Turmeric rub

3 gRubbed onto the lamb with vinegar and salt (step 1)
01
3 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep ground; rub over the cutlets with the vinegar and salt.

Finishing spices

0 gDusted over the cooked cutlets (step 9)
01
Chaat masalato garnish
to taste
spice blend
02
to taste
spice
Keep ground; dust over the hot cutlets.

Everything else

01
960 g12 cutlets
meat
02
30 g2 tablespoons
souring agent
03
to taste
salt
04
Smoked butterfor basting
to taste
dairy
05
30 g2 tablespoons
dairy
06
4 g2 teaspoons
flour
07
70 g
vegetable
08
Coriander · Dhaniaroughly chopped
3 g2 tablespoons
herb
09
4.5 g3 chillies
vegetable
10
Garlic · Lehsunroughly chopped
6 g2 cloves
aromatic
11
Fresh ginger · Adrakroughly chopped
20 g5 cm
aromatic
12
4.2 g1 teaspoon
sweetener

Method

  1. Rub 960 g lamb cutlets with 30 g malt vinegar and salt to taste, then work in the turmeric rub.
  2. In a large bowl, stir 4 g chickpea flour into 1 tbsp of the 30 g Greek yoghurt until even.
  3. Blend the rest of the 30 g Greek yoghurt with 70 g spinach leaves, 3 g coriander, 6 g green bird's-eye chilli, 6 g garlic, 10 g ginger root and 4.2 g granulated sugar until smooth; add no water.
  4. Scrape the blended paste into the yoghurt-flour bowl, season with salt and stir to combine.
  5. Coat the lamb cutlets in the marinade, cover and chill for 2–3 hours, or overnight.
  6. Heat the oven to 200°C fan (425°F/gas 7). Line a baking tray with foil and set a wire rack on it.
  7. Lay the cutlets on the rack and bake for 20–25 minutes.
  8. At halfway, baste the cutlets with smoked butter.
  9. Take the tray out and dust the hot cutlets with the finishing spices.

Don't have something?

Lamb cutlet
  • Lamb chop

    Use the same weight; bone-in chops need 5–10 minutes longer than cutlets.

  • Lamb fillet

    Use the same weight; lean and tender, so cook briefly and gently to avoid dryness.

  • Lamb shoulder

    Use the same weight; slice into cutlet-like pieces and simmer 10 minutes longer.

Ground turmeric
  • Ground ginger

    Use 50% of the weight. Mimics turmeric's warm, earthy, rhizome background, but provides none of the golden-yellow colour.

  • Saffron

    Steep a tiny pinch (0.1 g per 2 g turmeric) in 2 tbsp warm water; use to match the rich golden hue. Contributes an aristocratic, honeyed floral flavour rather than earthy bitterness.

Malt vinegar
  • White malt vinegar

    Use the same weight; sharper and clearer; reduce salt slightly.

  • White vinegar

    Use 90% of the weight, diluted with 10% water; harsher, so taste.

  • Lime juice

    Use the same weight; fresher sourness but no malt flavour; reduce salt.

Smoked butter
  • Salted butter

    Use the same weight; melt with a pinch of paprika for colour. No smoke flavour, and salt is already included.

  • Unsalted butter

    Use the same weight; add a pinch of salt and paprika. No smoke flavour.

  • Ghee

    Use the same weight; nuttier and keeps longer, but no smoke. Add paprika for a smoky look.

Chaat masala
  • Tandoori snack spice mix

    Use the same weight; taste first as it can be smokier and saltier. Add lime or amchoor if the dish needs more tang.

  • Dried mango powder

    Use about half the weight, mixed with black salt and a pinch of ground cumin. It gives tang and saltiness but lacks the minty, asafoetida notes.

  • Black salt

    Use about half the weight and add lime juice to taste. It gives the salty, sulphurous edge but not the full tangy blend.

Ground ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use 300% to 400% of the weight (e.g. 3–4 g paste for 1 g ground). Fry in oil alongside onions; provides a juicy, pungent kick rather than a dry, baking-spice heat.

  • Fresh ginger

    Peel and grate finely; use 300% to 400% of the weight. Add to the hot oil early; delivers bright, peppery warmth rather than the mellow, woody heat of dry ginger.

  • Ground mace

    Use 50% of the weight. Imparts a warm, spicy undertone in rich gravies, but lacks ginger's fiery, sharp zest.

Greek yoghurt
Chickpea flour
  • Yellow split pea flour

    Use 100% of the weight. Many commercial gram flours are milled from split peas; performs identically in pakora batters and kadhi.

  • Cornstarch

    For crisping batters or binding cutlets: use 50% to 60% of the weight. Produces a very crisp shell but lacks the earthy, roasted nutty flavour of besan.

Spinach leaf
  • Spinach

    Use the same weight; exactly the same leaf, so no real change except trimming stalks.

  • Amaranth leaves

    Use the same weight; wilts faster and is slightly milder, so cook briefly.

  • Mustard leaves

    Use 80% of the weight and blanch first; stronger and peppery, so it will change the flavour noticeably.

Coriander
  • Coriander leaf

    Use equal weight, chopped fresh and stirred in off the heat or used as garnish. Matches the citrus-herbal profile identically.

  • Mint

    Use 40% to 50% of the weight; chop finely and add at the very end. Adds fresh herbal brightness, but shifts the aroma toward cool menthol.

Green bird's eye chilli
  • Bird's eye green chilli

    Use the same weight; heat and flavour are very close.

  • Green chilli

    Use 1.5 to 2 times the weight; deseed for less heat. Larger chillies are more watery.

  • Fresh green chilli

    Use 1.5 to 2 times the weight; chop finely and adjust heat by tasting.

Garlic
  • Garlic paste

    Use equal weight. Fry gently in oil or ghee with the ginger; incorporates smoothly into curries without visible minced bits.

  • Garlic powder

    Use 15% to 20% of the weight (about 1 g for every 5 to 6 g fresh cloves). Whisk into sauces; gives a savoury, toasted garlic flavour without raw pungency.

  • Shallot

    Use 1.5 times the weight, very finely minced. Sauté until golden; provides savoury allium sweetness, though it lacks garlic's pungent sulphur bite.

Fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use equal weight. Sauté in hot fat until the raw allium smell disappears; slightly wetter, but provides identical warmth and pungency.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% to 25% of the weight (1 g for every 4 to 5 g fresh). Stir into the gravy; adds peppery heat and warmth, though it misses the crisp, zesty kick of raw root.

Granulated sugar
  • Jaggery

    Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Similar dishes

Rajasthani Maas Ki Kadhi
Creamy Tender Lamb Curry
Rajasthani Maas Ki Kadhi is creamy, tangy and mild with whole-spice warmth and a cumin finish, while this dish is fresher and greener with chilli heat and a tangy chaat-masala dust.
  • Same: Rajasthani Maas Ki Kadhi shares lamb, yoghurt, chickpea flour, green chilli and turmeric with this dish.
  • Different: It uses lamb leg on the bone in a simmered onion gravy with ghee, cumin, clove and asafoetida, while this dish uses malt vinegar, smoked butter and chaat masala on roasted cutlets.
Saag Gosht
Mughlai Lamb and Spinach Curry
Saag Gosht tastes warm and earthy with a thick spinach sauce and mild chilli, while this dish tastes tender and tangy with fresh green heat and a savoury chaat masala dust.
  • Same: Saag Gosht and this dish both pair lamb with spinach, ginger and green bird’s-eye chilli.
  • Different: Saag Gosht is a slow-cooked curry built on onion, tomato and mustard/vegetable oil, while this dish is roasted lamb cutlets in a spinach, ginger, chilli and yoghurt marinade with malt vinegar, smoked butter and chaat masala.
Palak Murgh
Spinach & Ginger Chicken Curry
Palak Murgh tastes creamy and gently spicy from its onion-tomato and puréed spinach base, not tangy or savoury like this dish’s roasted lamb with chaat masala and ground ginger.
  • Same: Palak Murgh shares spinach, ginger, green chilli, garlic, yoghurt, turmeric and coriander with this dish.
  • Different: Palak Murgh uses chicken instead of lamb, vegetable oil instead of smoked butter, and adds onion, tomato purée, whole spices, cumin, garam masala and Kashmiri chilli powder, with no chaat masala, malt vinegar, chickpea flour or sugar.
Kaleji ka Salan
Liver Curry
Kaleji ka Salan tastes deeply savoury and rich from onion and yoghurt, with less fresh green heat and tang than this dish.
  • Same: Kaleji ka Salan shares yoghurt, turmeric, garlic, ginger, coriander, chilli and salt with this dish.
  • Different: It uses liver and vegetable oil, while this dish uses lamb cutlets and smoked butter; it is cooked as an onion-yoghurt curry, while this dish is marinated and roasted and finished with chaat masala and ground ginger.