My greatest kebab

Kebabs are things of beauty.

Not a hint of irony there, kebabs really can be a fantastic example of simple flavours expressed and combined in a remarkably complimentary way.

I went to university in Manchester and lived there for 15 years, the peculiarly Mancunian combination of chicken or lamb tandoori with red onions wrapped in a naan bread with salad and chilli, mango, yoghurt, mint and garlic sauces is a true gastronomic wonder.  I urge anyone who's discounted kebabs following a sorry 'elephant's leg in a pitta' affair to head somewhere inside the M60 and give one a go.

The title of this blog is however "My greatest kebab" and you may get an inkling from my picture that this isn't Fallowfield but somewhere farther afield and the kebab's a very different beast indeed.

My greatest kebab was consumed in the Djemaa el Fna in Marrakech, was very different from my previous Mancunion favourite and is fortunately much more amenable to home preparation.  It's simple cubes of marinated lamb barbecued over charcoal and served with a tomato sauce and bread. This is my guess at what went into my Moroccan kebab and it makes a deliciously simple supper, obviously you'll just have to imagine the snake charmers and North African drums....

Ingredients (makes 4 kebabs);

Cubed lamb (shoulder's fine but use fillet if you want a more tender mouthful) 500g
Juice of 1 lemon
Ground cumin 2 tsp
Garlic 2 cloves

Ripe tomatoes (overripe's fine) 500g
1 red onion
Juice of 1 lemon
Small bunch of coriander herb

Directions;

1) Mix together the lamb, lemon juice, cumin and garlic.  Place in the 'fridge and leave to marinate for at least 4 hours and up to 24.

2) Remove from the 'fridge and allow to come to room temperature.  Light the barbecue or place a heavy griddle pan on a high heat until smoking.

3) Thread the lamb onto metal kebab skewers (or pre soaked wooden but metal's best), remove excess marinate and lightly oil the kebab.

4) Barbecue / griddle the kebabs until they are browned on the outside and still pink and moist inside.

5) For the sauce; blitz the tomatoes in a food processor, finely dice the onion, add the lemon juice and finely chopped coriander.  For absolute authenticity don't add salt (although I usually do as I prefer the flavour).

6) Serve the lamb with the tomato sauce and some bread, along with simple chargrilled onions and peppers or salad.

In Morocco food's always served with salt, pepper and ground cumin to season to your own tastes.

Simple, but remarkably effective definitely worth a try (chips are strictly optional)!