Topic: beef / lamb cuts and precooking

[Peripatetic Phil]

Prefer mutton myself.  Good deal on the lamb here though.  Large portion. 10 % discount on takeaway as well.

Hmmm.  Good markup as well, methinks !
** Phil.

[Kashmiri Bob]

A new vid for pre-cooked lamb by CBM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwUjmRk_goQ

Rob 

[JerryM]

mickdabass,

have just got to the point that i'd like to try lamb and have noted your recipe - many thanks.

have you tried lamb tikka.

i ask as i think the pre cook is probably the best way to go but i feel i would make the tikka more if i could get it as good as chicken tikka. any thoughts appreciated. i think 976bar was on to it a while ago and might need to search that out too.

[mickdabass]

mickdabass,

have just got to the point that i'd like to try lamb and have noted your recipe - many thanks.

have you tried lamb tikka.

i ask as i think the pre cook is probably the best way to go but i feel i would make the tikka more if i could get it as good as chicken tikka. any thoughts appreciated. i think 976bar was on to it a while ago and might need to search that out too.

Hi JerryM
In answer to your question - Yes I have tried Lamb Tikka.
I cooked some last night actually.
The frazzled lamb fat was divine!
More successful than my seekh kebabs that slowly slid down the skewer and proceeded to collapse and fall to their incendary doom in the bottom of the tandoor lol 

I have tried many different methods of tikkarising lamb but with varying success. The pre-cook is a definite no-no I'm afraid. The marinade does not penetrate the meat at all. I have also tried mixing the raw lamb with finely sliced Korola or bitter melon for 24 hours. This appeared to have little effect. Other options worth exploring may be to liquidize yellow kiwi fruit and add this to the marinade.

My next experiment will involve a tenderising mallet lol 

[Secret Santa]

The pre-cook is a definite no-no I'm afraid. The marinade does not penetrate the meat at all. I have also tried mixing the raw lamb with finely sliced Korola or bitter melon for 24 hours. This appeared to have little effect. Other options worth exploring may be to liquidize yellow kiwi fruit and add this to the marinade.

Did someone suggest precooking the lamb before marinating it? If so...CRAZY! It'll never work.

The bitter melon is called Karela by the way. Better options that are used in traditional Indian cooking are green (unripe) papaya and kokum. Or you could try the Chinese way and marinade the lamb in sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda or bicarbonate of soda.

[chonk]

Yes, some manufacters add papain to their tandoori mixes. Sounds very interesting.

[JerryM]

mickdabass,

many thanks for feedback.

i visited my local asian store today and chatted with the manger who i know well about my quest. he wished me best of luck.

he did say restaurants buy a tenderiser and he will get for me if i need. after much discussion i bought 2 off slices of mutton leg across the bone (it appears it's not a good time to buy at moment in uk with high price at 10?/kg).

1 off slice has been cubed and marinated in mustard oil
1 off slice cubed and marinated in thick "live" set yogurt (ps 1st time i've bought and made mint raita for tea and loved the stuff - same as used by my local restaurant)

going to give both 3 days then add in the rest of iffu tikka ingredients then hopefully 3 days more and then bbq.

on the bbq front going to slow cook intially as the owner was persistent that lamb takes much longer to cook than chicken. will then blast it for the last say 3 mins per side (12 min in total). for the slow cook i'm thinking 7 min per side (but will depend on watching how the heat rises)

going to hold off other "methods" for the moment

[curryhell]

  Personally i'd be  a bit concerned about having meat sitting in the fridge for six days before i cooked it, especially as it's so expensive.  Hope it works out ok Jerry.  Keep us posted on your results.

[DalPuri]

mickdabass,

many thanks for feedback.

i visited my local asian store today and chatted with the manger who i know well about my quest. he wished me best of luck.

he did say restaurants buy a tenderiser and he will get for me if i need. after much discussion i bought 2 off slices of mutton leg across the bone (it appears it's not a good time to buy at moment in uk with high price at 10?/kg).

1 off slice has been cubed and marinated in mustard oil
1 off slice cubed and marinated in thick "live" set yogurt (ps 1st time i've bought and made mint raita for tea and loved the stuff - same as used by my local restaurant)

going to give both 3 days then add in the rest of iffu tikka ingredients then hopefully 3 days more and then bbq.

on the bbq front going to slow cook intially as the owner was persistent that lamb takes much longer to cook than chicken. will then blast it for the last say 3 mins per side (12 min in total). for the slow cook i'm thinking 7 min per side (but will depend on watching how the heat rises)

going to hold off other "methods" for the moment

Be careful if you ever use kiwi for marinading lamb Jerry and anyone else wanting to do a long marinade, i.e. over 24 hours.
I tried just after christmas with 2kg of diced leg and half a mashed kiwi in with the rest of the tikka ingredients for 48 hours and the meat came out very "pappy" after cooking.
No bite at all and more like cubes of pulled meat but, with a graininess to it i didnt much like.

As far as tenderising goes, it works too well. Worth experimenting with though.


Cheers, Frank. 

[JerryM]

curryhell,

yes for sure - this is new ground for me. my norm is 3 days for chicken and have done this for years. i'm going on the smell - if that changes then it won't go to end.

i do think i'm passed the critical stage as the acid will go in now (the tikka marinade) the 3 days or yoghurt and mustard oil now being up today.

DalPuri - the kewi sound a very good back up strategy - many thanks