Curried lamb chops with coconut rice

The inspiration for this dish is rogan josh, a red curry that is aromatic rather than hot. Decide for yourself how much ‘bite’ you want in your dish.

Serves 4 Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 1 hour, 20 minutes Oven temperature: 180°C

• 15ml oil • 8 lamb loin chops, bone in • 1 large onion, sliced • 4 cloves garlic, chopped • 1 fresh turmeric root, peeled and grated • 1 knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated • 6 curry leaves • 8 baby brinjals, halved • 1 tin whole tomatoes • 250ml lamb stock • 15ml garam masala • 125ml plain yoghurt • 125ml fresh coriander, roughly chopped SPICE RUB • 5ml cumin seeds • 5ml coriander seeds • 5ml chilli powder • 1 cinnamon stick • 15ml fennel seeds • 4 cloves • 5ml black peppercorns • 3ml ground cardamom STICKY COCONUT RICE • 250ml jasmine rice • 5ml salt • 30ml coconut shavings • 3 cardamom pods, crushed

1 Grind all the ingredients for the spice rub with a mortar and pestle. Rub the meat with it and season to taste with salt. 2 Heat the oil and fry the chops until golden brown on both sides; spoon into an ovenproof dish. Sauté the onion, garlic, turmeric and ginger until aromatic. Add this to the lamb together with the curry leaves, brinjals, tomatoes and stock then cover and roast in the oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

3 Make the coconut rice Bring 1.25L of water to the boil. Add the rice, salt, coconut and cardamom and reduce the heat. Simmer uncovered for about 10–14 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is al dente. Turn off the heat, cover and steam for a further 5 minutes.

4 Remove the curry from the oven, stir in the garam masala and yoghurt, and heat until warmed through. Check the seasoning and sprinkle with fresh coriander. Serve with the coconut rice.