Last Updated on December 13, 2023
Hariyali roughly translates to “garden” in Hindi, and is a perfect name for this dish. It’s a reference to the marinade, which is yogurt based and loaded with a garden’s worth of greens: Serrano peppers, cilantro, and mint, plus ginger, garlic and tons of fragrant spices.
You marinate lamb in this luscious mixture overnight, then skewer and grill it until it’s charred on the outside but still pink and succulent on the inside. A quick salad of heirloom tomatoes and red onion dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt on the side is flavorful and cooling. This recipe would also work well with ButcherBox’s Rack of Lamb, sliced into individual chops.
This recipe comes to us courtesy of Asha Loupy, an Oakland, California-based freelance writer and recipe developer whose work has been featured in Bon Appétit, Food52 and Epicurious. She has also developed a robust recipe archive for Diaspora Co., which equitably sources spices from India and Sri Lanka.
Ingredients
- 2 lb ButcherBox Boneless Leg of Lamb defrosted and patted dry
- 1½ cups lightly packed mint leaves roughly chopped
- 1½ cups lightly packed cilantro leaves and tender stems, roughly chopped
- 2 serrano peppers stemmed and roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- 1 1-inch piece of ginger peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
- 6 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp canola oil plus more for oiling the grill
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1½ tsp cumin seeds
- 1½ tsp turmeric
- 1¼ tsp garam masala
- 2½ tsp Diamond Crystal or 1¼ teaspoons Morton’s kosher salt plus more
- 1½ lbs heirloom tomatoes cut into chunks and wedges
- 1 small red onion thinly sliced
- 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Special equipment: metal skewers or wooden skewers soaked in water for 30 minutes
Instructions
- Cut the lamb into ¾ inch-by-2-inch pieces (trim off any excess fat while cutting) and transfer to a large bowl.
- Place the mint, cilantro, serrano peppers, garlic, ginger, yogurt, 4 tablespoons of lemon juice, canola oil, coriander, cumin, turmeric, garam masala and salt in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Pour the marinade over the lamb and mix to coat the meat completely. Thread the lamb onto the skewers, place on a sheet pan, cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to overnight.
- Remove the lamb from the refrigerator 30 minutes before grilling. While the lamb is coming to room temperature, prepare a gas or charcoal grill and heat to medium-high.
- Grill the lamb until it reaches your desired temperature, 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare or 5 minutes per side for medium. Transfer the cooked skewers to a serving platter, tent with foil and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- While the skewers are resting, prepare the tomato salad. Whisk together the olive oil and remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Add the tomatoes and onion, and gently toss to coat in the dressing. Season with salt to taste.
- To serve, spoon the tomatoes around and on top of the lamb. Serve immediately.
