Persian inspired Lamb chops

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

I was shopping for organic Lavender online for baking purposes and came across dried rose petals, so what did I do? I bought them both! :) 

Ofcourse I had no idea what to do with rose petals other than use them for decorations, so I looked into it some more and found that  rose petals are used extensively in Persian cuisine for taste and decoration, also for beauty purposes and some medical conditions. So having looked at the way dried rose petals can be used I decided to grind them and use as a spice for marinating my lamb chops. along with some other spices too, and WOW did they turn out amazing! The dried rose petals add a delicate floral aroma and flavour to the meat. A  must try recipe if you wish to impress or just indulge in something that little more special :) 

Ingredients

2lbs lamb chops

6 tbsn dried edible rose petal ( grind in a spice grinder till very fine )

5 tbsn of Olive oil or ghee

1 tspn Turmeric

1 tspn Cumin powder

1 tspn Garam masala ( Click here for my garam masala recipe http://roosfoodfusion.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/my-homemade-garam-masala.html

1 tspn Cinnamon powder

1 and a half to 2 tspn salt 

3 cloves of garlic sliced or grated.

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tbsn of rosewater 

Dressing

3 red chillies ( remove seeds if you don't want it too spicy )

1 cup of fresh coriander chopped up

1 tbsn of dried mint

Juice of 1 lime

Half cup of olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Put lamb chop in a bowl and in all the ingredients and mix thoroughly making sure all the lamb chops are covered in the marinade. Cover with cling film and leave for a few hours or best overnight.

2. Pre-heat oven to highest temp, take the meat out of fridge and leave to come to room temperature. After about 10 mins, rub a little oil into a large baking dish and place the lamb chops on there.

3. Place the chops into the oven and cook for about 25 mins. Keep checking to make sure they are not over cooking as some oven cook quicker than others.

4. In the meantime make the dressing by adding all the ingredients for dressing to the oil and mix well, season according to your own taste. Leave aside to allow the flavours to marry.

5. Once the lamb chops have cooked remove and place in a serving dish, drizzle over the dressing and serve immediately.

Juicy and succulent!

Serve with a salad or Vermicelli Rice. Click here for link to that recipe http://roosfoodfusion.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/vermicelli-rice.html

Serving suggestion, Persian Lamb chops with Vermicelli Rice