You can make this easy mint chutney quite hot, and it still seems balanced, especially when served with a rich, flavorful meat like lamb. Heat, as aficionados know, comes in a wide variety of flavors, and what works best here is a bit of roasted fresh habanero (also called Scotch bonnet), the hottest chile you can find. But minced raw jalapeño or hot red pepper flakes are also good. No matter what you use, add a little at a time (I’d start with a quarter teaspoon if you’re using habanero) and taste repeatedly, bearing in mind that the heat of chiles can “bloom” after a few minutes. Serve this with a neutral dish like plain rice, and perhaps a cooling salad.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　Juice of 2 limes

　　1 garlic clove, peeled

　　One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

　　Fresh or dried chile to taste

　　1 cup yogurt

　　1 tablespoon sugar

　　2 cups fresh mint leaves

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　8 lamb chops, preferably from the shoulder

　　

Step 1

Start a charcoal or gas grill or preheat the broiler; the fire should be moderately hot and the rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source. To make the chutney, combine the lime juice, garlic, ginger, chile, yogurt, and sugar in a food processor or blender and puree. Stir in the mint by hand, then add salt and pepper.

　　

Step 2

Grill the chops for 3 to 4 minutes per side, by which time they will be medium-rare, or until they reach the desired degree of doneness.

　　

Step 3

Serve the lamb chops hot with the cool chutney.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.