A simple, exotic, fragrant midweek meal. 30 minutes, start to finish. Adapted from a recipe by Effendi restaurant in Balmain, Sydney, as shown in the Food Safari "Fire" TV series. See notes for changes made to the original recipe.
1small onion, grated or minced using a food processor - about 1/4 cup (white, brown or yellow) (Note 1)
1garlic clove, minced
1/4cuppistachio nuts, ground (Optional. I use my food processor) (Note 2)
1 1/2tspsalt(table salt, not flakes, use 2 1/2 tsp if using kosher or sea salt flakes)
1tspblack pepper
1tbspcumin powder
1tbspred pepper flakes
1tbspolive oil
Yoghurt Sauce
3/4cupplain yoghurt(I use Greek)
1tbsplemon juice
1/2garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
To Serve
Pita bread or lebanese flat bread, warmed
Lettuce leaves of choice
Sliced tomato
Sliced red onion
Instructions
Mix together Yoghurt Sauce ingredients and place in the refrigerator to allow the flavours to develop.
Place the Kebab ingredients except the oil in a bowl and use your hands to just combine (don't over mix).
Divide into 8 portions and mould onto skewers.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add skewers (I could fit all in, placing them in alternating directions) and cook for 8 minutes, turning to brown all sides.
Meanwhile, slice tomatoes and red onion.
Serve kebabs with pita bread, lettuce, tomatoes, red onion and yoghurt sauce on the side. Wedges of lemon are also a great accompaniment.
Notes
1. I used an ordinary box grater, but it would have been smarter to use my food processor which I used to ground the nuts! You could also finely chop it, but I find you get better flavour by grating because the juices mix throughout. 2. The pistachio nuts are included in the original recipe and add richness and flavour but these are still really delicious even if you exclude them.3. The original recipe is more complicated because it requires a mix of lamb and veal mince PLUS lamb fat. So this is a simplified version using just lamb. To compensate for these changes, I added more flavour by adding onion and garlic.Also, these are traditionally cooked over charcoal, but they are great made on the stove! Great for summer grilling too!4. If you want to cook these on a BBQ with a GRILL, as opposed to a hot plate, soak the skewers for at least 30 minutes in water so they don't burn.5. Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings, for kebabs and Yoghurt Sauce only (2 kebabs per person, bread not included).