Sous Vide Lamb Masala with Prune Chutney
Speed - 96%
Simplicity - 98%
Tastiness - 97%
97%
Delicious!
As expected from sous vide cooking, perfectly moist and juicy lamb chops. The touch of masala was perfectly complemented by the sweet and slightly tangy prune chutney.
Ingredients
Lamb
- 4 Pieces Lamb Rack Chops
- 2 Tablespoons Garam Masala
- Salt to taste
Prune Chutney
- 1 Cup Prunes roughly chopped
- 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Piece Shallot thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Black Peppercorns
- 1 Cup Water
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the chutney in a saucepan and simmer until thick.
- Season the lamb with salt and garam masala.
- Put in a sous vide bag and cook for 1 hour at 130F.
- Transfer lamb to an ice bath.
- Sear the lamb for 30-45 seconds per side.
- Allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve with rice and prune chutney.
Inasmuch as I love having my lamb in its pure glory, seasoned simply with salt and a bit of pepper, I do enjoy spicing the dish once in a while with some of my favorite flavors.
Here, we're working a garam masala blend into our lamb chops, which I'm sure will blend in really excellent. The aroma of this curry blend would definitely enhance that lamb flavor.
Add in some salt too and allow to seasoning to penetrate the meat for a couple of minutes.
Next, get those chops into a sous vide bag. Adding in some olive oil at this point would be great, but I find that fat content of lamb would be more than enough to keep the meat moist. To keep the flavors Indian, going for ghee would of course be another great option.
I like my lamb medium-rare so I've set the temperature of my water bath to 130F. Which circulator should you use? I'm using the inexpensive GSV130 here but there are many other options out there. Here's my site-wide top choice reviewed. Check it out. It's made by a company that specializes in teaching sous vide and only produces a sous vide product.
This is a huge advantage over companies that make a ton of kitchenware because they are 100% focused on producing the best sous vide device on the market. Their app even includes recipes and video instructions!
For cuts of lamb less than an inch thick, like the ones I've used, I found out that an hour at 130F is enough to achieve the doneness that I like.
While the lamb is cooking, start working on the prune chutney. Combine a cup of prunes, a quarter cup of apple cider vinegar, thinly sliced shallots, about a tablespoon of sugar, a pinch of salt, and a few black peppercorns.
Don't have prunes? Try raisins, dates, mangoes, strawberries. . . most fruits will do. A chutney is simply a quick spiced fruit jam.
Play with the flavor as well. Add in star anise, some cardamom, cloves, cinnamon. . . just anything to make your chutney more fragrant. You can even add some chopped chili to give your concoction a bit of heat.
As soon as the lamb is done cooking in the water bath, submerge the whole bag immediately in an ice bath. This will stop further cooking and bring down the internal meat temperature so it doesn't overcook during the final sear. Keep it in the ice bath for about 10-15 minutes.
Getting your searing pan really hot is essential to forming that perfect crust. The even heating and higher temperature that a cast iron pan provides does help a lot too.
No need to oil the pan. Lamb is pretty fatty as you'll see with the fat that'll be rendered off.
Give those chops about ten minutes of resting. This will allow all those natural meat juices to get redistributed into the meat, making it perfectly moist.
To complete the Indian meal, I decided to cook up some saffron-infused basmati rice, which I've topped with some sauteed dal, raisins, and almond slivers. Really perfect with that side of prune chutney. 
Look at how defined that sear line on the edge of the meat is – precision!
Ingredients
Lamb
- 4 Pieces Lamb Rack Chops
- 2 Tablespoons Garam Masala
- Salt to taste
Prune Chutney
- 1 Cup Prunes roughly chopped
- 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Piece Shallot thinly sliced
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Black Peppercorns
- 1 Cup Water
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the chutney in a saucepan and simmer until thick.
- Season the lamb with salt and garam masala.
- Put in a sous vide bag and cook for 1 hour at 130F.
- Transfer lamb to an ice bath.
- Sear the lamb for 30-45 seconds per side.
- Allow the lamb to rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve with rice and prune chutney.
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