Lamb Or Chicken In Onion Yogurt Sauce Recipes

YOGURT-MARINATED LAMB AND CHICKEN SKEWERS

Steps:

• Combine 1/2 cup yogurt, oil, lemon zest and juice, coriander seeds, and paprika in a bowl; add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix well. Divide mixture between 2 resealable plastic bags; add lamb to one and chicken to the other. Seal bags after removing any air; massage meat to evenly distribute marinade. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour, or refrigerate up to 1 day (remove 1 hour before grilling).
• Thread meat onto long metal skewers (or soaked wooden skewers) with a lemon quarter on each end, leaving 1/4 inch between each piece to ensure even cooking. Thread tomatoes and onion onto separate skewers, then brush with oil. Season meat and vegetables with salt and pepper. Stir together remaining 1 1/2 cups yogurt, feta, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Transfer to a serving bowl; drizzle with oil and sprinkle with pepper.
• Preheat grill for direct-heat cooking (medium-high on a gas grill). Brush grates with oil. Grill chicken until just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes. Grill onions, turning a few times, until charred in places and softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Grill lamb, turning a few times, until charred in places, 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare. Grill tomatoes until charred in places, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer meat and grilled tomatoes and vegetables to a serving platter. Grill pitas, flipping once, until charred in places, 1 to 2 minutes; immediately wrap in a clean kitchen towel to steam and soften until ready to serve.
• Serve meat, onions, and tomatoes with pitas, yogurt sauce, cucumber, and dill, with grilled lemon wedges alongside.

LAMB OR CHICKEN IN ONION-YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Put butter in a large skillet or casserole that can later be covered, and turn heat to medium-high. Add onions, garlic and a large pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions become very soft and brown, at least 15 minutes. Stir in spices, and cook another minute or so. Add lamb or chicken, and stir.
• In a bowl, whisk yogurt with cornstarch until smooth. Stir it into mixture; if using chicken, add 1/3 cup water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, then cover and turn heat to low. Cook at least 40 minutes (by which time chicken will likely be tender) or longer, stirring occasionally, or until lamb is quite tender. Taste and adjust seasoning, then garnish with cilantro, and serve with basmati rice.

LAMB SOUVLAKI WITH YOGURT-GARLIC SAUCE

Steps:

• For souvlaki, mix first 5 ingredients to make a marinade and set aside. Distribute lamb, bell peppers, onion and tomatoes among 8 skewers. Place in a large shallow pan with marinade. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, rotating skewers once. Heat a gas grill to medium, or use a charcoal grill and allow the coals to turn a light-ash color. Coat grill with cooking spray. Grill until lamb is medium rare and lightly charred, 5 to 8 minutes. Rotate to cook evenly. To cook in oven, broil on metal skewers 6 minutes, rotating until evenly browned. Grill or toast pitas. For sauce, puree cucumbers and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Place in a fine-screen colander and squeeze out the juice. Reserve juice and discard pulp. Whisk cucumber and lemon juices in a bowl with yogurt. Mix in garlic; season with salt and pepper. Serve with pitas and skewers.

LAMB BRAISED IN YOGURT WITH ONIONS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Put the lamb in a large self-sealing plastic bag. Combine all the ingredients for the marinade and add to the bag. Marinate the lamb for 2 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator. If refrigerated, let come to room temperature for 30 minutes before proceeding.
• Prepare a medium heat fire (325°F) in a wood-fired oven or cooker.
• Drain the meat and pat dry. Rub it with olive oil and dust with salt and pepper.
• Roast the garlic, tomatoes, and poblano chiles in a dry cast-iron skillet over high heat until the skins are toasted and blistered. Transfer to a plate and let cool to the touch. Peel and seed the tomatoes and chiles. Finely chop all.
• Heat the olive oil in a nonreactive skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add the onions, cumin, red pepper flakes, allspice, and ginger and sauté for 5 minutes. Add the chopped vegetables and vinegar, then place the lamb on top of the mixture. Add 1 1/2 cups of the stock. Spoon some of the onion mixture over the lamb. Cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven to cook for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables have melted slightly.
• In a separate bowl, combine the drained yogurt and cornstarch. Stir the remaining stock and the drained yogurt mixture into the lamb. Cover and return to the oven to cook for another 30 minutes, or until the lamb is fork-tender. The sauce will look curdled at this point. Transfer the lamb to a plate and use a hand blender to smooth the sauce, then return to medium heat, uncovered, to thicken, about 15 minutes. Add the braised lamb, cover with some of the sauce and return to the oven, uncovered, to heat through.
• Serve the lamb hot over couscous, topped with the sauce and garnished with parsley.

LEG OF LAMB IN A SPICY YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Remove all the fat from the outside of the leg and the white skin, or ask your butcher to do it.
• Put the leg in a baking dish, stainless steel or glass is preferred because of the yogurt marinade.
• Put in your blender or food processor the almonds, onions, garlic, ginger, green chilies and about 3 tablespoons of the yogurt, process to a paste.
• The remaining yogurt you put in a dish, beat lightly until smooth, add the paste and the cumin, coriander, cayenne and garam masala, mix.
• Stab the lamb all over, making good deep cuts.
• Now the fun begins, using your hands push generous amounts of paste in the natural openings of the lamb, then in the cuts you made.
• Spread remaining paste all over and around the lamb, the side that will be up should get a thick layer.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
• When ready to bake, remove the lamb from the fridge and give it enough time to get to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the oil in a small pan on a medium flame, when hot add the cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and peppercorns, when the cloves swell, this just takes seconds pour the hot oil and the spices over the lamb.
• Cover the dish with its own lid or tightly with aluminum foil, bake covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Remove the foil and bake for another 45 minutes or longer if you prefer.
• During this time baste the meat regularly with the sauce.
• Scatter, or make nice pattern, the sultana’s and almonds over the top of lamb in the yogurt paste.
• Bake for another 5-6 minutes.
• Remove the dish from the oven; leave it a warm place for 15 minutes or so.
• Take the leg out of the pan, spoon the fat from the top of the sauce, strain the sauce and discard the whole spices.
• Serve the leg on a platter with the sauce poured around it.