Supermarket spices, restaurant result

The tandoor oven's secret isn't really the oven — it's the yoghurt. A spiced yoghurt marinade clings to the meat, tenderises it gently, and chars in patches wherever it meets fierce heat, building that smoky, lightly blackened crust you'd otherwise pay restaurant prices for. Everything in the marinade is already in your pantry or the spice aisle: garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, ginger, garlic. Give the cutlets an hour in it, get the grill pan smoking, and serve them with cool cucumber yoghurt on the side. Four cutlets, two very happy people, no naan oven required.

1 hr 25 mins 2 servings Prep 1 hr 15 minsCook 10 minsMain CourseIndian

Ingredients

  • 4 Your Farmer grass-fed lamb cutlets (1 pack)
  • 150g Greek yoghurt (for the marinade)
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 continental cucumber, coarsely grated (for the cucumber yoghurt)
  • 150g Greek yoghurt (for the cucumber yoghurt)
  • Small handful mint leaves, chopped, plus extra to serve
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil, for the pan

Instructions

For the tandoori marinade

Stir the yoghurt, garam masala, cumin, paprika, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lemon juice and salt together in a bowl big enough to hold the cutlets.

150g Greek yoghurt2 tsp garam masala2 cloves garlic2 tsp ginger

Pat the cutlets dry and turn them through the marinade until thickly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour — or overnight for deeper flavour (optional).

4 lamb cutlets

For the cucumber yoghurt

Squeeze the grated cucumber hard in your hands over the sink to get rid of the water, then stir it through the yoghurt with the mint and a pinch of salt. Refrigerate until serving.

1/2 cucumber150g Greek yoghurtmint leaves

For the cutlets

Take the cutlets out of the fridge 15 minutes before cooking. Scrape off the excess marinade so a thin coat remains — a thick layer steams instead of charring.

Heat the oil in a grill pan over high heat until just smoking. Open a window — this is a smoky business, and the smoke is where the tandoor flavour comes from.

1 tbsp neutral oil

Cook the cutlets 3 minutes per side, pressing them lightly onto the pan, until the yoghurt crust is charred in patches and the lamb is pink at the bone.

Rest for 3 minutes, then serve scattered with extra mint, with the cucumber yoghurt, lemon wedges, warm flatbread or steamed basmati rice.

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CSA Pastured Lamb Share
Sale price From $150.00Regular price $162.41

What the Yoghurt Is Actually Doing

Cutlets are the smallest, tenderest chops on the lamb — one rib each off the rack — so they don't need tenderising the way a working cut would. What the yoghurt marinade gives them is the crust. Yoghurt clings where a thin marinade drips off, carrying the spices right against the meat, and its milk sugars brown and blacken in patches over fierce heat. That patchy char is the signature of tandoori cooking, and a smoking-hot grill pan gets you a very honest version of it. The gentle acidity also seasons the lamb through in a way a dry rub can't. Your Farmer® cutlets — four to a pack in every lamb subscription — are grass-fed from paddock to plate, and that clean pasture flavour carries the spice rather than disappearing under it. It's the same reason paddock-to-plate meat rewards simple, confident cooking.

Swaps and Variations

No garam masala? Curry powder gets you somewhere different but still good. A half teaspoon of chilli powder joins the marinade for heat; a pinch of smoked paprika deepens the char flavour if your stove runs mild. If you can find dried fenugreek leaves (kasuri methi), a teaspoon crumbled in brings the faintly bitter note that restaurant tandoori has and home versions usually miss. Lamb loin chops take the same marinade beautifully with an extra couple of minutes a side, and forequarter chops soak it up for a longer, gentler grill. It also works on chicken — try it on pasture-raised chicken wings under a hot grill. On a barbecue, cook the cutlets over direct high heat with the lid down between turns for extra smoke.

Storage and Leftovers

The cutlets can sit in the marinade up to 24 hours — past that the yoghurt starts to soften the meat's surface too much. Cooked cutlets keep 3 days airtight in the fridge, and the cucumber yoghurt 2 days, though it will weep a little water — just stir it back through. Reheat the lamb quickly in a hot dry pan, or eat it cold: tandoori cutlets, cold, picked off the bone and wrapped in flatbread with the cucumber yoghurt, might genuinely be better than round one.

Frequently asked questions

How long should the cutlets marinate?

One hour is the honest minimum for the spices to settle in; overnight is better if you can plan ahead. Don't go past 24 hours — yoghurt keeps working on the surface of the meat and eventually turns it mushy.

Why scrape off the excess marinade before cooking?

A thick coat of yoghurt steams and stews against the pan instead of charring. A thin film chars in patches — which is exactly the tandoori effect you're after.

Can I cook these under the oven grill instead?

Yes — set the grill to high, put the cutlets on a rack close to the element, and give them 3–4 minutes per side. You'll get good char without the stovetop smoke.

Is this recipe spicy-hot?

No — garam masala, cumin, paprika and turmeric are warm spices, not hot ones, so it's family-friendly as written. Add half a teaspoon of chilli powder to the marinade if you want genuine heat.

How much do I need for four people?

Two packs — eight cutlets — and simply double the marinade and cucumber yoghurt. Cook in two rounds so the pan stays fiercely hot, and hold the first batch in a warm oven.

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