JAN BRAAI LAMB PITA

Lamb

Depending on whether you prefer speaking Greek, Turkish or Arabic around the braai fire you might also like to call this meal a gyro, döner or shawarma, it’s really up to you. Whatever language you speak, the important thing is to gather around a fire. Everyone loves this meal and as a bonus it looks great in photos. There is no need for a dancing pole with a few revolving tonnes of meat to make a great lamb pita. This is the South African version so we simply braai some chops. Feeds 6.

Ingredients

  • 6 lamb leg chops (those big roundish ones)
  • 6 pita breads
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
  • 1 lemon (juice)
  • 1 tot olive oil

FOR THE SAUCE

  • 1 cup Greek yoghurt (or full-cream yoghurt)
  • ½ cucumber (chopped)
  • 1 tot olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
  • salt and pepper
  • lemon juice

FOR THE SALAD

  • 2 big tomatoes (or 12 cherry tomatoes, chopped)
  • ½ cucumber (the other half)
  • 1 smallish red onion (or half a big one, finely chopped)
  • 1 tot fresh mint
  • 1 tot fresh parsley
  • 1 tot fresh oregano
  • 1 tot olive oil

Method

  1. Crush the coriander and cumin seeds in a mortar and pestle, and mix in the salt, pepper, garlic cloves, lemon juice and olive oil.
  2. Rub the chops with the mixture from step 1, cover and let them marinate in a fridge for about 2 hours.
  3. Make the sauce by combining the first four ingredients and then adding salt, pepper and a few squeezes of lemon juice to taste.
  4. Make the salad by chopping and combining the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, mint, parsley and oregano. Add a bit of olive oil to give it that nice shine.
  5. Braai the chops for about 10 to 12 minutes over hot coals until done.
  6. As you remove the chops from the grid, add the pita breads to the grid and toast them for a few minutes, turning a few times and taking extreme care not to let them burn.
  7. Use your sharp chef’s or carving knife to debone the chops and slice them in thin diagonal slivers.
  8. Open the toasted pita breads and evenly distribute the various ingredients into them.

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