Sekuwa

Ingredients

• 1¾ lbGoat meator lamb, pork or chicken thigh; cut into 3 cm cubes
• 1 tbspGingergrated or as paste, for the marinade
• 4 clovesGarlicfinely minced or as paste
• 1 tspCuminground
• 1 tspGround corianderground
• 1 tspTurmericground, for colour
• 1 tspChili powderto taste; fresh red chilies work too
• 1 tspSichuan peppercoarsely crushed, gives the citrusy tingling note
• 2 tbspOilfor the marinade; in one version heated to smoking point and cooled
• 3 tbspYogurttenderises the meat
• 1Lemonjuice for the marinade, wedges for serving
• Saltto taste, about 1.5 tsp
• 1Oniongrilled in wedges or served raw alongside
• 2 tbspCilantrochopped, for sprinkling
• 2 tbspButtermelted, for basting while grilling
• Black pepperfreshly ground (optional)
• 3½ ozBeaten rice (chiura)to serve alongside; puffed rice also used (optional)

Method

1. Pat the meat dry, trim off any coarse fat and cut it into even cubes of about 3 cm.
2. For the marinade, stir the ginger, garlic, ground cumin, ground coriander seed, turmeric, chili powder, coarsely crushed timur and salt together with the mustard oil, plain yogurt and lemon juice until smooth; add freshly ground black pepper if you like.
3. Coat the cubes of meat thoroughly in the marinade, cover and chill for at least 1 hour — 4 hours to overnight is better.
4. Light the charcoal or wood in good time and let it burn down to an evenly glowing bed of embers; soak bamboo skewers while you wait.
5. Thread the meat onto the skewers with small gaps so the heat can circulate, setting onion wedges in between.
6. Grill the skewers over the embers, turning every few minutes and brushing with melted butter or oil, for 12 to 20 minutes, until the outside is well charred and the meat is cooked through.
7. Let the skewers rest briefly, then slide the meat off.
8. Scatter with chopped cilantro and serve with raw onion, lemon wedges and chiura or rice.

Tips and variations

Instead of goat you can just as well use lamb, pork or chicken thigh; for colourful skewers, alternate cubes of chicken with prawns, pearl onions and cherry tomatoes. The marinade can be blitzed to a smooth paste in a blender and rounded out with nutmeg, asafoetida and curry powder, and chopped ginger pickled in vinegar along with spring onions works well in it too. Some cooks heat the mustard oil to smoking point and let it cool before it goes into the marinade. Without wood embers, sekuwa also works in a grill pan or on a gas grill — and for something more festive, serve the skewers on rice pilaf with chutney instead of chiura.