As a bit of fun for Burns Night we give you Tony Singh's fusion of Scottish and Indian cooking, the cock-a-leekie kebab
As part of a campaign to celebrate the end of Scotland's Winter Festivals (though perhaps not the wintery weather!) this year www.scotland.org are celebrating the connections between Scotland and India.
Which is timely, as this year is also the 150th anniversary of India’s national poet Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore penned the popular traditional Indian song “Purano Shei Diner Katha” (Memories of the Good Old Days) which was inspired by Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne”. Don’t believe us? Check out the youtube clip below.
The recipe
Ingredients
2 tbps fresh lime juice
4 garlic cloves
1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches)
2 Green Birds Eye chillies, chopped
200 mls Greek plain yoghurt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 tsp ground paprika
A few drops of red food colour
20g pack fresh coriander, chopped
3 skinless chicken breasts cut into 2 inch pieces (you need 15 bits)
2 large leeks with quite a bit of green top
15 pitted Prunes
Method
- In a blender, puree lime juice, garlic, ginger, and chillies
- Add yoghurt, spices and colour and blend until smooth
- Mix with the chicken pieces and leave over night if possible. If not, you need at least 4 hours in the marinade
- Cut the green part of the leek off as close to the white as possible
- Blanch the leek in boiling water and wrap the prunes in the green of the leek
- Cut the white part of the leek on the slant to get 15 pieces and blanch as well
- Thread three chicken pieces on each of three long wooden or metal skewers followed by a bit of white leek, then prune until you have used up all of the chicken, leeks and prunes (if you are using wooden make sure you soak them so they don’t burn)
- Heat grill to high heat and lightly oil grates
- Place skewers on grill
- Cover grill; cook, turning occasionally until grill marks are visible and chicken is cooked. If you do not have a grill you can use a very hot oven.
- Serve with Tamarind Sauce
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