I made this recipe twice due to my little family's demand (with just a little tweak on the encore). I love adventurous eaters because they give me more reason and motivation to keep trying new things in the kitchen. I grew up in a home with eclectic gastronomic tastes. My mom is quite the home cook and my dad would bring home these unique and exotic things from his world travels. Easily my most favourite thing about growing up the way I did, was that my parents always encouraged us to try new things. This is something I have now passed on to my own little family and it makes cooking (and eating out sometimes) a breeze because we don't have to deal with a picky eater. Haha!
INGREDIENTS:
1 LB ground beef (I used wagyu) OR 1 LB ground lamb (or a combination of both--which is what I did for today)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 TBS chopped mint leaves
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c fresh cilantro, chopped
*You may want to toss in about 3 ounces of beef or lamb fat in case the ground meat you have is a little leaner than you like. The secret to keeping these skewers juicy and flavourful is to make sure they're enough fat in it.
DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, mix up all your ingredients really well. You'll want to really knead them together and then set it aside for about an hour to absorb all the flavours you've put together.
While preheating your grill (traditionally, they would cook this over charcoal but all I've got is a gas grill), start building little sausages from the meat mixture and skewer them. I like to flatten them a little so they cook better and more evenly. If your'e using bamboo skewers, make sure to pre-soak them in water the night before so they don't burn in the grill. I always just used metal skewers now because I keep forgetting to soak my bamboo skewers.
You are going to love the way these bad boys smell while grilling, which makes the cooking experience both torturous and exciting. They only really need about 6-7 minutes on each side and if you heat up your grill right, they should have gorgeous char marks but still stay juicy.
My favourite way to serve this is always with a side of roasted tomatoes, grilled onions, and a bed of buttered basmati rice. But I want to be good today and sub the rice for veggies. They are already so tasty on their own, but serving it with a side of yogurt dip won't hurt.
Enjoy!
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