Spiced Lamb Cutlets with Curry Leaf & Brown Butter Drizzle

Recipe by Ruwanmal Samarakoon-Amunugama.

Serves 2. 

The warm, toasty flavors of Ru’s Dark-Roasted Curry complement lamb in this week-night friendly main. Ru recommends serving the lamb the yellow rice and pineapple salad from her cookbook, Milk, Spice and Curry Leaves. This recipe can be easily doubled. 

Notes: Ask your butcher to cut the lamb cutlets (chops) into individual 1-inch-thick cutlets and to French/ trim them to save you some time. To rehydrate dried curry leaves, put them in a small bowl and pour boiling water in to cover. Let steep for 5-10 minutes. Drain and pat dry.

4 lamb cutlets (about 2 ounces / 50g each), Frenched
1 clove garlic, finely minced
½ inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 teaspoon Ru’s Dark-Roasted Curry Powder
Sea salt and black pepper
1 tablespoon good-quality cooking oil
½ fresh lime cut into slender wedges, to serve 

For the browned butter:
2 tablespoons salted butter
4 fresh or dried curry leaves (rehydrated) 

Prep the lamb  Place the cutlets in a large bowl and add the garlic, ginger, Dark-Roasted Curry Powder,  salt, black pepper (to taste) and oil. Use your hands to toss the cutlets in the seasonings until well coated. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

Cook the lamb  Preheat the broiler on high (500 °F). Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Place the cutlets on the pan and transfer it to the oven. Broil for 6-8 minutes (or until lamb is cooked to your liking), turning the cutlets at the halfway point. Remove the pan from the oven and let the lamb rest for 10 minutes.

Make the brown-butter drizzle  Put the butter into a small saucepan set over medium heat. When the butter sputters, after about 2 minutes, add the curry leaves. The butter will foam up. Let cook until fragrant and the curry leaves crisp slightly. Remove the pan from the heat. 

Serve  Arrange the cutlets on a plate and drizzle the curry leaf butter over them. Garnish cutlet with a crisped curry leaf and offer the lime wedges alongside.