Chicken Tikka Kebabs--The Power Outage Improvisation

Chicken Tikka is my favorite grilled chicken dish. I like it because of the Indian spices, which add a lot of flavor, and the yogurt, which makes it always very moist. I usually buy a ready made tikka paste in the Indian spice store, add yogurt and marinate chicken breasts in it. It has a very intensive red color.

I was planning on buying a new jar for the rest of the grilling season but during the recent power outage, when my refrigerator was thawing, I had to improvise and make the marinate myself, desperate to save the most vulnerable chicken breasts.

I remembered the recipe from one of the magazines that I constantly browse. It was a simple recipe using traditional Indian spices but what made it particularly interesting was the generous use of whole cumin seeds.

Chicken Tikka Kebabs

Ingredients:
2 lb chicken breasts, boneless,
1/2 cup natural yogurt,
2 onions,
2 garlic cloves, minced,
3 tbsp lemon juice,
3 tbsp oil,
2 inches of a fresh ginger root, peeled and grated,
1 tsp red chili pepper,
1 tsp red paprika,
1 tbsp cumin seeds,
1 tsp cardamon powder,
1/2 tsp salt,
1/4 tsp pepper.

Preparation:
1. Cut chicken breasts into medium cubes.
2. Mix yogurt, 2 tbsp oil, lemon juice, grated ginger, minced garlic, and all the dry spices. Mix well and let it marinate for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.
3. Peel off onions and cut in quarters. Stick chicken cubes on the grill skewers alternating with slices of onion. Drizzle with the remaining tbsp of oil.

4. Preheat the grill to 350 F. Place Tikka kebab on a grill and grill for about 10-15 minutes turning frequently and brushing kebabs with the remaining marinate.

Serve with the Naan bread or rice and salads.

Coconut Beef Satays--For Hurricane Season

Grilling season is still going on, but that is not the reason for my today's post and recipe. We were lucky in my area not to be in any way hurt by Hurricane Irene. On the same Saturday evening when Irene was picking up around DC we were able to land at Dulles Airport in a pouring rain quietly and smoothly. But some were not so lucky. My niece, visiting her friends in New Jersey experienced (I guess for the first time in her life) a five day long power outage.

I think many understand how long those day feel in our "modern" civilization when you no access to phone, computer, or even TV. No light for reading either. And If you are one of those people who like me have this sleek and shiny electric cooktop (which otherwise I love deeply as it heats to a maximum temperature and cools down in just nine seconds) you may have had no warm meal for five days either. My niece survived on grilled food and just wished to have more grilling ideas.

Power cuts, which happen on my street from time to time, due to weather condition was one of the reasons I decided to get a beautiful new outdoors kitchen and grill, to have a backup gas option when disaster strikes. At the same time I started to enjoy grilling and I do that at least once a week. Here is my latest grilling recipe, which comes from the Asian culinary tradition.

Coconut Beef Satays

Ingredients:
1 lb skirt steaks cut into thin slices (in Asian food stores you can buy them already thinly sliced),
1 lime,
2 garlic cloves,
1 tbsp dark brown sugar,
2 tsp ground coriander,
2 tsp ground cumin,
1 tsp turmeric,
4 tbsp coconut milk,
salt and pepper.

Preparation:
1. Squeeze juice from the lime and sprinkle over steaks.
2. In a small bowl mix garlic, salt, sugar, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and coconut milk and make a thick paste.
3. Rub it all over the steak strips. Cover and marinate for a minimum an hour, but preferably overnight.
4. Thread beef on bamboo skewer, brush gently with oil on top.

5.Grill quckly on a very hot grill.

Coriander Beef Kebab--Another Afghan dish

Since my outdoor grill is now ready and the weather has been very pleasant almost the whole June--quite hot but dry, I have been experimenting a lot with grilled food. So far, I tried almost every type of and made many salads to accompany it. I discovered that the easiest way to make something good on the grill is to buy good quality steaks, or even better fillet mignon (beef tenderloin), do not even marinate them or add spice beyond salt and pepper and in minutes they are ready. But since they seem every one's favorite thing to grill, I like to serve something that others do not make too often. I also like my dishes to be aromatic and spicy and tenderloin in its delicacy and perfection is too mild for me.

Not so long ago I got a recipe for kebabs from my Afghan friend and ever since I make them pretty often. They can be served with different sauces and chutneys (with coriander or mint and yogurt),and various Middle-Eastern breads or rice.

They are moist inside, if made carefully, and never overwhelmingly spicy, as coriander is the main and the only spice except for salt and pepper. The same kebabs can also be made on a frying pan, if you do not have a grill. I am sure you will also find them delicious, either way.

Beef Kebabs
(Makes 6-8 kebabs)

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef,
1 bunch of scallions, white parts only,
1 half a small red onion,
about 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves,
1 green chili pepper (optional, if you like your kebabs more spicy),
1-2 tsp ground coriander seeds,
about 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.

Preparation:
1. Put chopped scallions, onion, fresh coriander, and green chili in a food processor and blend until they become minced.
2. Put ground beef in a large bowl, add the content of the blender, dried ground coriander seeds, salt, pepper and knead the mix until all the ingredients are well combined.

3. Take small pieces of meat and rolling in hands form kebabs.

4. Preheat the grill to 400 F, grill meat for about 3 minutes, then turn the heat down to a low temperature and cook for about 3-5 minutes until the meat is cooked through but still juicy inside.

Serve with Afghan chutneys--with yogurt and mint, or coriander, or the peach chutney that I will post shortly.

Steaks Marinated in Sumac--A More Exotic Grilling Idea

Whenever I visit a Middle Eastern food store, I am always intrigued by a variety of different spices one can find there. I would love to use them all, but often have no idea where and how to add them.

Last year, I got a box of spices coming straight from a Turkish food market in Istanbul--the famous Spice Bazaar, also known as the Egyptian Bazaar. It had ten small capsules filled with a variety of spices. Some, like mint, cumin, curry, or saffron, I knew very well and used very often, but others, like sumac, I probably ate, but never cooked with.

Having sumac already at home, I called my Afghan friend for advice and have learned that sumac is mostly used for meats, especially grilled ones, like kabob. I got from her a simple recipe for steaks that are marinated briefly in sumac and grilled. I have also learned that in Turkish cuisine, for example, sumac is sometimes added to hummus and salad because of its slightly salty and sour taste. Furthermore, in many Middle Eastern restaurants sumac is put on the table, as a basic spice, alongside salt and pepper.

Basically, it can be used whenever a recipe, especially coming from the Middle Eastern tradition, calls for a "squeeze of lemon". Since the grilling season is approaching, here is the simple recipe I got from my friend, to introduce sumac to our summer diet.

Steakes Marinated in Sumac
(Serves four)

Ingredients:
4 pieces of New York strip steaks,
2 garlic cloves, minced,
1 tbsp ground coriander,
2 tbsp sumac,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Rub garlic and all the spices onto the meat and let it marinate for about an hour.

2. Grill or fry on oil and serve with salads, potatoes, rice, or Middle Eastern bread.

Coriander Chutney--Afghan All the Way

Last Saturday afternoon I finally got together with my Afghan friend for a long planned cooking session to delve into the mystery of Afghan cuisine. Our plans for the day were very ambitious. I wanted to learn how to make at least six of my favourite Afghan dishes. Fortunately, just at the beginning while making the shopping list, we decided to skip a half of what we were intending to make. As it turned out later, even the remaining half was probably too much for a one, leisurely Saturday.

First of all, I learned that Afghan cuisine is as labor intensive as Polish cuisine. Just cooking my favorite rice is not only tricky--it has to be soaked, cooked, and baked at the end--but it also needs to be planned in advance so it can soak for several hours to wash out the whole starch from it in order loosen the grains.

Preparing kebabs was even more complicated. We decided on trying a Pakistani beef version with beans, potatoes, and many spices and a somewhat simpler Afghan version, with just with potatoes and spices. We cooked all the ingredients in two pots, cooled down, than we ground them, and finally we fried the kebabs on a pan. While the meat was cooking I wrote down some other recipes and in the meantime we prepared a coriander chutney to serve with kebabs.

Almost four hours later, when dinner was served and we sat at the table, we both were exhausted. We had a great time talking not only about the culinary subjects and laughing a lot but somehow the whole event wore us out. And as always the most uncreative and tiring part of cooking was the measurement of all the ingredients used. For both of us a method of dipping a spoon or, even better, a finger to try and decide what else should be added works the best.

I am still processing all the information and wisdom from that even, so please forgive me that for the time being I only have this delicious chutney to share. Mostly because it is not only delicious but also very easy to prepare. It takes a couple of ingredients and two minutes of blender's work.

Chutney can be stored in a refrigerator for weeks and used with grilled meats, rice, or flat breads. It was such an instant hit that the big jar I made to keep for later disappeared within two days and I am sure it will be very popular during the grilling season, especially if I serve it with fresh beef kebab, which I will post soon.

You can decide how spicy you want your chutney to be by adding more or less jalapeno peppers, but an important tip is to use apple cider vinegar. It harmonizes nicely with the coriander and, unlike lemon, it helps preserve and store the chutney for weeks.

Coriander Chutney

Ingredients:
2 big bunches fresh coriander,
1/2 cup walnuts,
4 garlic cloves,
1/2 - 1 jalapeno pepper (depending how spicy you like it to be)
1 tbsp sugar,
1/2 tsp salt,
1 and 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar.

Preparation:
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix first on and off to mince them and then run a motor on high speed for about 1-2 minutes until the chutney becomes smooth.
2. Transfer to a jar that can be sealed tightly, seal it, and store in a refrigerator.

Serve with meats and vegetables, especially grilled.