Spicy Lamb Burger

Think of this recipe as a more refined, Moroccan-tinged, companion to my Spiced Turkey Burger. The fattier lamb can stand up to aggressive seasoning, so I use generous amounts of garlic, cumin, cinnamon, and dried mint to ground the recipe in North Africa, and add ginger, coriander and cardamom to bring it back to India. It’s a perfect exemplar of how I blend various ad hoc flavours and culinary influences into my own, personal, multi-culti offering.

Ingredients

For the burgers: 
1 small Red Onion (quartered)
6 cloves Garlic
2-inch piece Ginger (peeled)
2 tbsp dried Mint
2 tbsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
2 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp ground Cardamom
½ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Chilli powder
Salt (to taste)
2 lbs [1 kg] ground Lamb

1 tbsp vegetable oil
8 oz [225 gms] Feta cheese (crumbled)
8 round buns (cut in half and lightly toasted)

1. Put onion, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer paste to a large mixing bowl, add remaining burger ingredients, and mix well. Form meat mixture into eight patties, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30-45 mins. You can make the patties up to a day in advance and store in the fridge. 
2. Heat vegetable oil in a grill-pan or heavy skillet. Add lamb patties and sear on each side for about 4 mins. Alternately, you can also grill the patties over direct heat on a gas or charcoal grill. 
3. Set the broiler in the oven to medium. Sprinkle a generous amount of crumbled feta cheese on each burger and cook in the top rack of the oven for 2 mins, or until the cheese starts to melt. 
4. Place burger on a toasted bun and serve immediately.

Grilled Parsley-Lime Chicken Skewers

Just like my lamb kebabs, the secret of these succulent and fragrant chicken skewers is the marinade—a glorious, tangy and green flavour base with parsley for its grassy, herbaceous note, and lime for acidity, all rounded out with jalapeños for heat. The trick is to let the chicken sit bathed in the marinade for as long as possible—ideally 2–4 hours. But if you are pressed for time, then set aside ¼ cup of marinade and brush it on while the skewers grill.

Ingredients

4 lbs [1½ kg] boneless, skinless Chicken breasts and thighs, cut into 2-inch-thich pieces
Twelve 10-inch-long Skewers*

Marinade: 

1 cup flat-leaf Parsley (leaves and stalks)
Grated rind of 1 Lime
Juice of 1 Lime
½ small Onion, peeled and roughly chopped
4–5 cloves Garlic, peeled
1-inch piece Ginger, peeled
1 medium Jalapeño
Salt (to taste)
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1. Put parsley, lime rind and juice, onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer paste to a mixing bowl, large enough to accommodate the marinade and chicken. 
2. Add remaining marinade ingredients to bowl and stir to incorporate. Add chicken and mix well with marinade. Cover the bowl will plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hrs, or up to 1 day. Prior to cooking, remove bowl from fridge, thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and bring to room temperature. 
3. Pre-heat a charcoal/gas grill or grill-pan on medium for 25 mins. Turn the heat to high 5 mins before cooking. When the grill surface is smoking hot, add skewers, and let grill on their first side for 3 mins, or until well charred. Then gently turn every 2 mins until the remaining sides are well caramelised. 
4. Remove skewers onto a platter and let sit for 5 mins. Serve drizzled with olive oil and lime juice.

*TIP: If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for ½ hour prior to cooking, to prevent them from singeing on the grill.

Yogurt-Marinated Lamb Skewers

This is my signature, fail-safe lamb kebab recipe. It’s such a crowd-pleasing favourite, that no matter how much I make, the skewers always disappear in minutes. The recipe works just as well with baby lamb rib chops; but there is something incomparable and visually irresistible about aromatic, charred chunks of meat waiting to be plucked off of obliging skewers. This kebab is terrific paired with warm pita bread and any of my cool, crunchy side salads—
Radish Salad with Dried Mint 
Cucumber Radish Salad with Ginger and Green Chillies 
Jicama-Mango Salad
Pear and Watercress Salad with Szechwan Peppercorns 

Ingredients 

2 lbs [1 kg] boneless leg of Lamb, cut into 2-inch-thich pieces
Six 12-inch-long Skewers*

Marinade: 

1 small Onion, peeled and quartered
5–6 cloves Garlic, peeled
2-inch piece Ginger, peeled
½ cup plain, unsweetened Yogurt (preferably a strained, Greek-style yogurt)
2 tbsp ground Coriander
1 tsp ground Cumin
1 tsp ground Garam Masala
1 tsp Chilli powder
¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Salt (to taste)
Juice of ½ lemon (reserve the squeezed lemon piece—rind, pith, and pulp—cut into quarters, for use in the marinade)

1. Put onion, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer paste to a large mixing bowl, large enough to accommodate the marinade and lamb. 
2. Add remaining marinade ingredients to bowl, except the quartered lemon pieces, and stir to incorporate. Add lamb and mix well with marinade. Tuck in the quartered lemon pieces into the meat, cover the bowl will plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hrs, or up to 1 day. Prior to cooking, remove lamb from fridge, thread meat pieces onto skewers, and bring to room temperature.
3. Pre-heat a charcoal/gas grill or grill-pan on medium for 25 mins. Turn the heat to high 5 mins before cooking. When the grill surface is smoking hot, add skewers, and let grill on their first side for 3 mins, or until well charred. Then gently turn every 2 mins until the remaining sides are well caramelised. 
4. Remove skewers onto a platter and let sit for 5 mins before serving. 

*TIP: If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water for ½ hour prior to cooking, to prevent them from singeing on the grill.