Lamb kebab

“This inspired mix of flavours is from talented Melbourne-based chef Adam D’Sylva. The kebabs are great as party food, a starter or a main course. Plan a little ahead as you need to make a couple of pastes to add to the lamb and have time to rest the kebab mix before cooking. The results are fresh and delicious and can be cooked in a tandoor or on a charcoal grill.” Maeve O’Meara, Food Safari Fire

Credit: Food Safari Fire

• serves

  4

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Cashew paste

• 75 g (2¾ oz/½ cup) raw cashews

Ginger and garlic paste

• 3 tsp ginger, finely grated
• 2 garlic cloves

Red onion paste

• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Lamb mixture

• 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz) minced (ground) lamb, leg and shoulder
• generous pinch of saffron
• 1 tbsp cashew paste
• 1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
• 1 tbsp red onion paste

Spice mixture

• 1 tbsp white poppy seeds, ground to a powder
• 2 cardamom pods
• ¼ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp fresh white pepper
• 4 cloves
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tbsp besan (chickpea flour)

To serve

• 12 baby cos leaves
• Indian tabouli salad
• minted yoghurt 

Marinating time 3 hours or overnight

Instructions

To make the cashew paste, cover the cashews with water in a saucepan and place over high heat. Boil until soft, drain, then blend or pound in a mortar and pestle into a paste.

To make the ginger and garlic paste, blend or pound ginger and garlic in a mortar and pestle into a smooth paste.

For the red onion paste, combine the diced onion and olive oil in a saucepan and place over a low heat for 15 minutes until the onion is sweet and caramelised. Blend into a smooth paste.

Once you have all the pastes ready to go, combine the lamb and saffron with 1 tablespoon each of the three pastes. Mix thoroughly.

To make the spice mixture, grind the spices and besan in a mortar and pestle, or pulse in a blender.

Combine the spice mix with the lamb mixture and use your hands to mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least a few hours, or overnight if possible.

Form the meat into kebabs around metal tandoor skewers – three per skewer.

Cook in the tandoor at 350°C (660°F) for 4 minutes until caramelised on the outside and still feeling springy to the touch.

To serve, select a cos leaf, add a spoonful of the tabouli salad, one of the kebabs and spoon on the minted yoghurt.

Serve immediately.

Note

• If you don’t have a tandoor, Adam suggests rolling the mix into cevapi-sized sausages and cooking over a charcoal grill. Turn often until cooked, about 5–10 minutes depending on the size of your sausages and the heat of the fire – remember in a tandoor the cooking process is helped by intense heat from all sides plus the metal skewer which helps to cook from the inside as well.

Recipe from Food Safari Fire by Maeve O'Meara (Hardie Grant, hbk, $55). 

Food Safari Fire starts Thursday 7 January 2016 at 8pm on SBS. Visit the program page for recipes, videos and more.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.