Tandoori Kabobs with Cucumber Raita
Ingredients
Tandoori Marinade
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1/8 teaspoon (or more to taste) ground cayenne pepper
Kabobs
- 1 pound boneless chicken, lamb, and/or vegetables (fingerling potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, onions, carrots, cauliflower, tomatoes), cut into large bite-size chunks
- bamboo skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes
Raita
- 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
- 1 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh spearmint
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Serves 3–4 Stir the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl. Place meat and part of the marinade in a ziplock plastic bag (reserve enough to marinate the vegetables). Seal the bag and allow meat to marinate at least 6 hours in the refrigerator. For the vegetables, bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Parboil long-cooking vegetables, like potatoes and carrots, so everything will finish cooking at the same time on the grill; boil potatoes for about 8 minutes, cauliflower for about 5, carrots for about 2. Hint: Cook them all in the same pot, staggering cooking time based on vegetable type. Drain the vegetables, dunk them into cold water, then drain again. Coat the vegetables in the remaining tandoori marinade in a shallow dish, toss to coat, and let marinate at least 15 minutes (at room temperature) or 12 hours (in the fridge). Stir the raita ingredients together in a small bowl. Let stand at room temperature for at least 10 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld together. Prepare a medium-hot grill. Thread meat and vegetables onto soaked skewers. Grill the kabobs until vegetables are tender and meat is cooked to your preference. Serve the kabobs hot, with raita on the side or spooned over the top of de-skewered meat and vegetables. The raita provides a mouth-cooling contrast to the spicy marinade.
