Braised Lamb in Yogurt Sauce

Braised Lamb in Yogurt Sauce
-a work in progress-

2 shoulder lamb chops
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP water (or maybe, white wine)
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 small shallot, diced
3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes with liquid

Rub coriander, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, and garlic powder into chops. Let sit at room temperature at least 15 minutes. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Brown lamb chops, about 3 minutes per side. Remove chops and pour off fat. Add 1 TBSP water and deglaze. Saute shallot. Return lamb to skillet and cover with tomatoes and yogurt. Braise 20 minutes, turning once about 1/2 way through.

Notes: My idea for this came from reading several recipes for braised lamb shanks and the memories of one of my favorite dishes at the Istanbul Cafe, finest Turkish restaurant in Connecticut. It didn't come out quite the way I envisioned. Though the chops were certainly tender and the seasoning was delicious, the tomato/yogurt concept didn't work out as anticipated. Because, of course, the yogurt separated - so I didn't end up with the sauce I wanted. Rather tasty anyway, and I have a couple ideas for "fixing" it the way I'd like it to be: (1) braising it in just the tomato, perhaps with some wine or water for extra liquid and adding just a 1/2 cup of yogurt towards the end to thicken things up and make them creamy, and (2) cooking the lamb chops a bit more on the first phase so that I can get rid of more of the fat so that it doesn't have so much of an effect on the consistency of the sauce.