LAMB CUTLETS WITH YOGHURT AND CUMIN

The authentically Middle-Eastern way of doing this would be to marinate cubes of lamb and then make fat spears of grilled kebabs. But I use lamb cutlets, small and sweet and plump fleshed, and just eat them like kebabs, without cutlery, biting the flesh off the sharp little curved bones. Four hours is fine for marinating purposes, but if it makes life easier to get the lamb in its marinade the evening before, do.

This is a fantastically low-effort recipe: your most strenuous activity is peeling the garlic. And if it helps you feel relaxed, too, you can fry them in advance and serve them at room temperature. If you’ve got a ridged grill or frying pan use that to show them off at their charcoal-striped, impressive best, but an ordinary oven-bound grill or unfancy frying pan will do. Obviously, a barbecue would be wonderful; the yoghurt so tenderises the meat that however searing the heat, they just cannot dry up.

1 x 450–500g pot Greek yoghurt

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 large onion

1 head garlic

1 teaspoon Maldon salt

20 lamb cutlets

groundnut oil (optional)

Empty the yoghurt pot into a large shallow dish (it has to be big enough to fit all the lamb chops later, or use two) and then stir in the cumin. Peel and roughly chop the onion and add it. Break the head of garlic into cloves, peel them and squash them slightly just by pressing on them with the flat of a heavyish knife, then stir them into the yoghurt along with the salt. Then arrange the lamb cutlets and give a good slow stir, spooning the yoghurt over them, so that all the meat is coated with the marinade. You might think at first that this won’t be possible and that you haven’t got anywhere near enough yoghurt, but you want them only barely masked by the marinade, not deeply immersed in it.

Cover the dish or dishes with clingfilm and put in the fridge (or, if the weather isn’t sweltering, in a cool place) for at least 4 hours.

When you want to eat, put a ridged grill pan or whatever on the hob and heat up (if you’re using an ordinary frying pan, add a little oil) then take the lamb cutlets out of the marinade. Wipe them with some kitchen towel, but you don’t need to dry them obsessively. Then just fry them for a few minutes each side, so that they’re cooked as much or as little as you like them, and then arrange on a big plate or, better still, a couple of big plates (saves passing them up and down the table) and serve hot, warm or cold.

I love these with moutabal, but I’m not fussy: a bowlful of Greek Salad would be fabulous too.

Serves 6–8.