Chappali kebabs, popular throughout much of Pakistan but originating near its borders with Afghanistan, are actually beef patties (rather than skewered meat) shallow-fried in the fat rendered from the tail of a fat-tailed sheep. If you can imagine a juicy, spicy hamburger cooked in roast beef dripping, you get the general idea: delicious but iffy on the health front. Over the years, I have come up with my own version, using turkey meat.

I serve these kebabs with Thin Raw Onion Rings and Peshawari Red Pepper Chutney. You may even put this kebab in a hamburger bun, along with the onion rings and either a good squirt of lemon juice or some tomato ketchup

Makes 6 kebabs

* 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
*450 g/1 lb minced turkey, preferably a mixture of light and dark meat
*¾ teaspoon salt, or to taste
*1 tablespoon whole coriander seeds and 1 teaspoon whole cumin seeds, lightly crushed in a mortar, or put between sheets of foil and crushed with a rolling pin
*4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
*½ teaspoon crushed red chilli flakes
* 1 teaspoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
* 5 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil

Put the yoghurt in a small sieve and set it over a cup as you prepare the rest of your ingredients (10 minutes will do, but longer will not hurt).

Put the strained yoghurt and all the remaining ingredients except the oil in a bowl. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or as long as 24 hours, so that the flavours mingle.

Divide the meat into six pieces and roll into balls. Flatten the balls to make six clean-edged patties 9 cm/31⁄2 inches. Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over a medium–high heat. When hot, put in as many patties as will fit easily and fry for about 1 minute on each side, or until browned. Turn the heat down to medium–low and continue to cook the patties, turning frequently, until the juices run clear when the patties are pressed. Cook all the patties in this way and serve hot.

The Parsi community of India is of Persian descent. When the Parsis fled Iran in the 10th century, they settled on India’s west coast, where they managed to preserve not only their religious traditions – they are Zoroastrians – but many of their culinary traditions as well. This delicately sweet-and-sour dish of chicken cooked with dried apricots is one of them. However, Parsis gradually picked up customs from their Gujarati neighbours, and their 19th-century colonial masters, the British, in Bombay. I have a Parsi friend who puts in a healthy glug of Madeira towards the end of the cooking. This dish is generally served with a mountain of very fine, crisp potato straws but it may also be served with rice

Serves 4

* 1.25 kg/2½ lb chicken pieces (I use 8 thighs or drumsticks, or a mixture of the two, but a cut-up chicken would be fine)
* salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 12 dried apricots, preferably the orange Turkish ones
* 3 tablespoons olive or rapeseed oil
* 2 cinnamon sticks
* ½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
* 2 medium onions, peeled and cut into fine half-rings
* 3 teaspoons peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
* 1 tablespoon tomato purée
* 1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
* 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon garam masala, preferably home-made, but shop-bought will do
* ½–¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with ½ teaspoon salt and generous amounts of black pepper. Pat in and set aside.

Put the apricots in a small pan with 250 ml/8 fl oz water and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and gently simmer for 15 minutes, or until the apricots have softened but are firm enough to be cooked again later. Leave in their liquid.

Put the oil in a large frying pan or sauté pan and set over a medium–high heat. When hot, put in the cinnamon sticks and cumin. Ten seconds later, put in half the chicken pieces and brown them on all sides. Transfer to a bowl. Cook the remaining chicken in the same way. Add to the bowl.

Add the onions to the pan. Stir and fry until they brown at the edges. Add the ginger and stir for a few seconds. Add the tomato purée and stir once. Now return the chicken and all the accumulated juices to the pan, along with 350 ml/12 fl oz water and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and cook gently for 15 minutes, turning the chicken once during this time.

Remove the cover and add the sugar, vinegar, apricots and their cooking liquid, garam masala and cayenne pepper. Stir and cook over a high heat until the sauce is a bit syrupy.

(Recipe from Curry Easy/At Home with Madhur Jaffrey)

We have an abundance of vegetables and spices in India, so we’ve worked out ingenious ways to use any number of spices to cook our vegetables – techniques that have developed over centuries. We cook each vegetable in thousands of ways, depending on the region. Here are some things to keep in mind when cooking Indian vegetable dishes:

• Curries can be quick. India has recipes galore that can be made in a hurry.  Heat a little oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, whole dried red chillies and a few curry leaves. Then add whatever vegetables you have, say green beans with a dash of water. Once the beans are cooked, remove from the heat and stir-in grated fresh coconut (which you can buy frozen) and just enough yoghurt to moisten.
• Make a basic spice mix. Cumin, coriander, turmeric and chilli powder are essential. You’ll also need ginger, garlic and onions, plus green coriander. Keep your spices whole and they will last much longer as once ground, they slowly lose their potency. This is particularly true of coriander seeds – once you grind them, they last no longer than a month. However cumin lasts much longer.
• Follow some easy rules of regional Indian cooking. South Indians use curry leaves, mustard seeds, whole chillies, coconut or sometimes yoghurt. North Indian cooking features cumin seeds, asafoetida (which is wonderful with vegetables), fennel seeds and mustard seeds.
• Make the most of pulses: Use whole beans, split peas and lentils. Rice with lentils is called khichri, and is like a dried pilaf or a wet porridge (This is where the word ‘kedgeree’ comes from.)
• Add Indian spices to British dishes: Broccoli, potatoes or green beans are delicious with cumin seeds and chilli powder. Serve these as side dishes with a traditional British meal. Make Indian-style mushrooms and serve them on toast.
• Be inventive: We don’t make curry paste to a standard recipe in India because you want every dish to be different. A basic mix could be  made up of fried onion, garlic and ginger, ground with cumin, coriander, turmeric, chilli powder, or you could experiment with whatever you like.
• Try tamarind paste. I suggest you look for the Thai one. Add it as a souring agent to dhal, split peas or stews. You can also make chutneys out of it using raisins, sliced bananas, spices, sugar and salt. In India we always have chutneys and relishes on the table.
• Use coconut milk or yoghurt to make a creamy curry. Season vegetables with spices, cook them lightly and add some seasoned yoghurt or crème fraîche, just a tiny amount.

Aubergine with fennel seeds makes a great main vegetable dish for vegetarians. Try this quick recipe:  Put some oil in a pan, add some cumin and fennel seeds and let them pop. Add some onions, fry them and then put in some aubergine pieces to fry for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned. Add a little chopped tomato, some salt, pepper, cayenne and maybe a tiny bit of sugar. Add a little water and let it cook for about half an hour.

I hope you feel inspired to add some spice to your cooking. I would love to hear your favourite ways with Indian flavours and vegetables.

(This post originally appeared here)

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World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking
An Invitation to Indian Cooking
Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Spice Kitchen

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