Tayyabs Lamb Chops
One of Elisabeth’s early birthday parties. That Raggedy Ann centerpiece made an appearance for many years! Fellow Gators, please note Mom’s Glenwood Elementary School T-Shirt.
Elisabeth’s birthday celebration when Mom was in the nursing unit at Carolina Meadows (2 weeks before she died). When she was little, Elisabeth couldn’t pronounce her name, calling herself “Wuzzle-beth”. Naturally, Wuzzle became her nickname! We had to cut off Mom’s oxygen in order to light the candles. When it came wish time, Elizabeth was taking a moment, prompting us to yell, “Hurry up, already! Mom can’t breathe!”. Tough crowd!
Us playing “Fireman” in the backyard on Oleander Rd. in Carrboro.
If you’ve been following the news this week, then you know that Texas has been dealing with SOME THINGS. The power went out at our house on Sunday night and didn’t come back until Thursday afternoon. We had no heat aside from a propane camping stove and an, until now, rarely used fireplace in our living room. Texas experienced a historically bad snowstorm, with record low single digit temps at night. For one of the first times in my fortunate life, I felt my existence was actually threatened. I somehow got designated the family fire log lady, waking up on the hour to stoke the fire. It was exhausting but necessary. No alarm needed to be set (not that I had one anyway) because I was in such a high alert state of survival that I would just automatically wake up and do my duty. I had people and pets to take care of!
Which brings me to my post topic: safety. I believe that a mother’s first priority is to make their kid feel safe. Mom was an excellent model in this area. She was a very empathetic mother, putting herself in our shoes and trying to make things feel as secure for us as possible. Whether it was dealing with real danger like the air raids we experienced in Jerusalem or more emotional things like a potential move to Nashville (Dad was being courted by Vanderbilt), Mom spent a lot of time and effort preparing us, explaining things to us, and comforting us.
Now, that’s not to say that we didn’t play with fire. And, I mean LITERALLY play with fire! I have great memories of making little houses out of cardboard boxes and fireman hats out of paper. We donned the hats, put the houses in the backyard and torched them! Yeah, we did! It was such a 1970s childhood kind of experience. Dad and a hose were close by and we got to save the day by putting the fires out.
With a nod to fire, I’d like to offer up a grilled lamb chop recipe from a great Punjabi restaurant Mom & Dad took me to, Tayyabs, in East London. Tayyabs is one of their favorite places and they would hit it whenever they could, bringing along some cold Kingfisher Beer. Now, I’m not usually one for lamb, but these were delicious (and I’ll bet you could swap out meats if you so desire).
TAYYABS LAMB CHOPS
MARINADE
2 inches of fresh ginger (peeled)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled)
4 green chiles (seeds removed)
1 pinch of salt
1 tsp hot chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 lemon (juice and zest)
3 tsp of saffron infused in water (optional)
3 tbsp whole milk yogurt
2-4 Lamb chops Per Person (I use loin chops)
Blend the ginger, garlic, chilli and salt with a little water until it becomes a paste.
Place the chops into a large bowl and add the paste rubbing well into the meat.
Add the saffron water, lemon juice and zest rubbing well into the meat.
Combine the dry spices with the yogurt and pour over the chops. Work the sauce into the meat until every chop has a good covering.
Cover with cling film and allow to sit for at least two hours. There is no need to place in the fridge, but if you do, make sure you allow time for the chops to come back to room temperature before cooking.
Remove some of the marinade and place the chops on a wire rack above a large roasting tin layered with foil to catch the juices.
Grill under a medium heat for 15 minutes turning once making sure that they become golden but do not burn.
Before serving, sprinkle with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Serve with a cucumber and mint raita.
CUCUMBER MINT RAITA
1 large unpeeled English hothouse cucumber, halved, seeded, coarsely grated
2 cups plain whole milk yogurt
1/4 cup (packed) chopped fresh mint
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon plus pinch of cayenne pepper
Wrap grated cucumber in kitchen towel and squeeze dry. Whisk yogurt, mint, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper in medium bowl to blend. Add cucumbers and toss to coat. Season raita to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.) Sprinkle raita with pinch of cayenne pepper and serve.
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