Inspired by my Dad – Kebabs

My dad makes amazing Punjabi style kebabs, they would probably be described by many as koftehs, but koftehs to me are like a meatball in a curry.  These have the appearance of a small beefburger but they have a great spicy flavor. Lamb mince is more traditional, but I really like using turkey thigh mince for these.  They are at their very best cooked over a hot charcoal barbecue, but grilling them or even pan frying them works quite well too.  Delicious served in a pitta, with yogurt/raita, lime pickle and some sliced cucumber/salad/mooli (like a mild radish).

Mine are not as good as his, but this is super easy to make and cook.

Gear

• Mixing bowl
• Sharp Knife and chopping board
• Oven tray/grill/frying pan/griddle pan/barbecue (best)
• Tongs/implement for turning

Inspired by my Dad – Kebabs

Ingredients

• 500g turkey thigh mince or lamb mince (some fat content desirable)
• 2 cloves of garlic, very finely chopped/crushed
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, very finely chopped/grated
• 2 green finger chillies, very finely chopped
• A few stems/leaves of fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tsp of garam masala
• ½ tsp of chilli powder
• Good pinch of sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Put everything into a mixing bowl and get your hands in there giving everything a thorough mixing. (Told you this was easy!)
2. Once everything is mixed together we are going to shape the kebabs.  To do this it is useful to make sure your hands are wet to avoid the mixture sticking to them too much.
3. Grab a small handful of the mixture and shape it until you make a small, burger like shape, it should be smaller than your fist, sizewise slightly smaller than the diameter of a normal mug (ish).
4. Try to pack it fairly tightly, if it is too loose they will fall apart when cooking.
5. Your mixture should make about 10 kebabs.
6. Get your grill/barbecue, nice and hot, if frying I would recommend a medium heat.
7. Brush/pour a bit more oil onto the surface of the kebab and place on/under the grill for about 3 minutes (oiled side near to the heat).
8. At this point they should be safe to turn, carefully turn one and check it doesn’t stick/pull apart. Then turn the others.
9. Continue to cook and turn every few minutes until lovely and brown, if barbecuing you want a little bit of char on there.
10. Try not to overcook to avoid them drying out (this is why you want a bit of fat content)
11. Season with a bit more sea salt to taste.

These are also very nice the next day.  I have sometimes even sliced them up, pan fried them and served with fried eggs, hummus, halloumi and flatbread/pittas for a nice breakfast/brunch.