Seekh kebab – spicy lamb skewers

Seekh kebab are delicious, spicy lamb skewers loaded with big Indian flavours and grilled over open flame. Serve them up with a bit of mint coriander yogurt dipping sauce and you have an appetizer that can eat like a meal.

If that sounds good to you, you need to make these. Soon.

Who doesn’t like meat on a stick? It’s everywhere. Japan has yakitori. The Turks have shish kebab. South east Asia has satay. And India has seekh kebab.

I don’t know the origin of seekh kebab. But I would guess it’s that Persian influence you see in so much Northern Indian cooking. From Turkey to the rest of the Middle East. Through Pakistan and then India. Makes sense. To me anyway.

I do know I like it though. A lot. But I am a big fan of meat on a stick. On a small scale like this. And on a big scale. Like spit roasted chickens. Something about meat basting itself over fire just does it for me.

Seekh kebab are like a twist on middle eastern kofta

I think seekh kebab are an Indian variant on kofta. At least how I was taught to make kofta. Lots of chopped parsley, onion, garlic and lamb. Some salt and pepper.

Rolled around a skewer and grilled. Served with a bit of lemon and a yoghurt based dipping sauce. A simpler version maybe. But very similar. I love how cooking evolves across borders. And through time.

Grilling technique really matters with seekh kebab

I say grilling technique is important a lot. And I truly believe it. With seekh kebab it is really important. These are little bits of ground lamb wrapped around a stick. Disaster waiting to happen. Pretty much guaranteed.

Slap these on the grill and hope. That will not work. Don’t even try. These things are delicate. So they need to be babied a bit.

Medium fire. That’s important. If they do stick a bit you don’t want them burning before they release. They cook fast anyway. No need to sear them.

A fine grate helps. Look at the picture. See the grate I’m using? That helps a lot. You can get them for next to nothing at Asian groceries and kitchen supply stores. And they are super handy to have. For all kinds of delicate grilling.

Oil your grate. No matter what grate you use do yourself a favour and coat it with a bit of oil before you start. That will make a big difference.

Use tongs and a spatula. You don’t have time to go running back to the kitchen to get tools. It goes fast. So have them both on hand. Tongs work if the meat releases. Spatulas help if it doesn’t.

Ingredients Seekh kebab mixture

• 1 lb ground lamb

• 2 green chilies - I use finger hot green chilies

• 1/2 cup shallot - as finely chopped as you can get it

• 1/2 cup cilantro stems and leaves, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp yoghurt plain (unflavoured)

• 2 tsp garlic ginger paste

• 1 tsp cumin powder

• 1 tsp coriander powder

• 1/2-1 tsp kashmiri chili powder

• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Seekh kebabs

• 12 wooden skewers soaked in water

• the seekh kebab mixture

• 4 tbsp mint coriander chutney store bought or home made

• 2 tbsp plain yoghurt

• lemon to garnish

Instructions Prepare the seekh kebab mixture

• Combine all the ingredients listed in the seekh kebab mixture ingredient list. Work the mixture with your hands to thoroughly combine. You don't need to be gentle here. Really work it all together.

• Refrigerate for 20 minutes or so while you get your grill ready. Start soaking your skewers now.

Make the seekh kebabs

• Light your grill. You want to grill over medium high direct heat. But you also want to leave yourself a cooler zone. For charcoal bank your fire on one side. For gas simply leave an element on low with the rest on medium high.

• Prep your dipping sauce. Combine the mint coriander chutney with the yoghurt and stir to combine. Set aside.

• Wet your hands. Grab a large golf ball worth of seekh kebab mixture. Roll it into a ball. Pass the skewer through the center of the ball. Now spread it out along the skewer. You are making little lamb tubes here. If the first couple don't quite work out just pull the lamb off and start again. You will get the hang of it.

• Once you have skewered all the meat, transfer the kebabs to the grill. It's never a bad idea to give yourself a little insulation over the exposed wood portion of the skewers. A little strip of tin foil can make the difference between burned skewer stumps and useful skewers.

• Grill, turning every couple minutes until the lamb is cooked through. You want an internal temperature of 160F. I know that is high but in the case of ground meat you need to be careful. Sucks. I know. Safety first.

• Drizzle with a bit of fresh lemon juice. Serve with mint coriander chutney mixed with a bit of yoghurt.

Notes This is a recipe that lends itself well to tinkering. You can vary the amount of shallot and cilantro to your taste. Mix up the spices a bit. Just keep the total ground spice to around 1 Tbsp in all. Have fun with it. It's a pretty forgiving recipe. If you don't want to make mint coriander chutney yourself they sell it jarred in Indian groceries. Just mix the mint coriander chutney and yoghurt 2:1. The recipe makes just over 1/4 cup of dipping sauce but you can make as much as you like. 2 parts chutney to 1 part yoghurt.