Recipe of the week: spiced chicken skewers by Maunika Gowardhan

This recipe has always been a family favourite, says Maunika Gowardhan. The achari spice mix includes fennel, cumin, mustard and nigella seeds, all coarsely crushed, but the secret is using mustard oil – which is available online or from Asian grocers. I recommend keeping a small bottle in your store cupboard. The pungent, savoury flavour lends an intense taste to the tikka.

Ingredients: serves 4

• You will need: wooden skewers soaked in cold water for 30 minutes
• 640g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp chickpea (gram) flour
• 1 tbsp mustard oil
• 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
• salt, to taste
• melted butter, to baste
• juice of ½ a lime, to garnish

For the marinade

• 6 garlic cloves
• 5cm ginger root
• 1 heaped tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (or mild chilli powder)
• juice of ½ a lime

For the spice mix

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• 1½ tsp fennel seeds
• 1½ tsp cumin seeds
• 1½ tsp black mustard seeds
• 1tsp nigella seeds
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds

Method

• To make the marinade, grind the garlic and ginger with a splash of water in a blender to a smooth paste. Put this paste in a large mixing bowl with the chilli powder and lime juice, then add the chicken. Mix well. Leave to marinate for 20 mins.
• Heat a small, dry frying pan over a medium heat. Put all the spice mix ingredients in the pan and toast for 2 mins, shaking the pan a few times. Transfer the spices to a bowl and set aside to cool.
• Using the same pan, melt the butter over a medium heat and then add the chickpea flour. Stirring well to get rid of any lumps, roast the flour for about 2-3 mins, or until it has a nutty aroma and changes colour.
• Once cool, grind the toasted spices to a coarse powder in a pestle and mortar. Add the toasted spice mix to the marinated chicken along with the roasted chickpea flour mixture, mustard oil and yoghurt. Season to taste. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 hours, or preferably overnight.
• Preheat the grill to a medium-high heat. Line a baking tray with foil and place a wire rack over the tray. Thread the chicken pieces onto the soaked wooden skewers and place them on the wire rack. Place the tray under the grill and cook for 16-18 mins, turning halfway through cooking and basting with the melted butter, until the chicken is lightly charred around the edges and cooked through.
• Take the chicken off the skewers and serve on a platter with the lime juice squeezed over. Serve with roti, pickled chillies and green chutney.

Recipe from “Tandoori Home Cooking: Over 70 Classic Indian Tandoori Recipes to Cook at Home” by Maunika Gowardhan, published by Hardie Grant at £25. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £19.99, call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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