The walled city of Peshawar is famous for a number of reasons. In addition to its rich history, architecture and traditions, it is especially well known for its delicious Khyber cuisine, with tender meat and perfectly prepared with aromatic spices.
Whenever Khyber food is mentioned, the first name that comes to mind is Namak Mandi. According to some, the place was the center of the salt trade in the region in the pre-partition era. The business reduced over the years, but the place retained its name. Although now the place is full of dry fruit shops, drugstores, grocery stores and even banks, much of the namak mandi is dominated by restaurants that serve mostly mutton and chicken dishes.
The two main dishes that have earned namak mandi its reputation are the charsi namkeen tikka and the lamb karahi. Namkeen tikka is a type of salty lamb chops marinated with just salt and then grilled. In addition to the hustle and bustle of the city, you can see the cooks vigorously fanning tikka skewed on open pits or barbecue grills and emitting white clouds of fragrant smoke.
Today I am sharing the recipe of this famous namak mandi namkeen tikka also called Peshawari namkeen tikka. As Eid ul azha is approaching do give this bakra eid special peshawari namkeen tikka recipe a try, I am sure you will love it.
Rub the salt over lamb chops and keep aside.
Take skewers (we need round barbeque skewers with sharp end on one side) and skewed the lamb chops over these. Try to skew through the bone as well.
Sprinkle some more salt as per your taste over the skewered lamb chops.
We will cook these lamb chops on very low heat so that meat could slow cooked and develop its own taste. If your are using barbeque grill, keep it over very low temperature. (you may even cook these in the clay oven or tandoor, cover the top for better cooking).
Fat will help in cooking the chops so no cooking oil/ butter or ghee is required.
After 8-10 minutes the chops will be ready take these away from heat.
Juicy and salty namak mandi style Peshawari namken tikka is ready to enjoy.