Kebabs that cool

Pushpesh Pant 

Barbeques are associated with winters, when glowing embers and curling smoke drive the chill away. However, there are kebabs for summers too and their allure is equally strong. Recently, on a short trip to Warsaw, where people love to dine on the streets and where sunlight lingers on till late in the night, we enjoyed a wonderful ‘shish’ that seemed just right for a hot day in India.

Seekh Kebab, which is believed to have descended from the Turkish ‘shish’, is seldom served on skewers in India. What fun it is to remove succulent chunks of meat and vegetable from a skewer and pop them in mouth! A bowl of salad balances the meal perfectly and if you are one with a healthy appetite, we have nothing against a phulka or a bowl of rice. Our recommendation is: please don’t douse this ‘shish’ with chutneys or sauces and, for that matter, by sprinkling chaat or tandoori masala either. Let the natural taste of the ingredients mesmerise you.

Method: Clean trim and wash the chicken and cut it into large bite-size pieces. Prepare a marinade with soya sauce and powdered spices. Place the chicken in it for 30 minutes. Peel the onions, cut into four and halve again. Wash the peppers and core and then quarter and halve them again. Wash and quarter the tomatoes. Don’t peel the pumpkin. Just wash it and cut it into large chunks. Parboil and peel the potato or sweet potato and cut into 2-inch pieces. Scorch the pumpkin on open flame. Take long wooden skewers and soak them in water to avoid burning. Heat a non-stick pan and grease it with a little oil. Pan grill the chicken until light brown. Remove and, in the same pan, grill the vegetables lightly. Carefully pierce the chicken, peppers, tomatoes, onions and other vegetables. Place skewers in the pan, check seasoning and turn carefully once or twice to ‘finish’. Enjoy.

Shish Kebab

Ingredients

• Chicken (boneless) 200g
• Red & yellow bell peppers 1 each 
• Onion 1 (large)
• Tomato 1 (large)
• Potato/sweet potato (medium sized) 1 
• Pumpkin 100g
• Soya sauce 3 tbsp
• Red chilli flakes 1 tsp
• Black peppercorns (fresh, coarsely pounded) 1 tsp 
• Salt to taste
• Oil to baste/pan grill