plans for this weekend? I sure hope so. With soccer fever at an all time high here in South Africa, there is just so much to celebrate and when we here in South African have some celebrating to do, nothing works better than a good old fashioned BBQ. Although from a distance, we did celebrate here at home with a BBQ and these delicious Spicy Chicken Kebabs.Last night, after the 2010 World Cup
Kick-Off Celebration Concert, I went to bed with vuvuzelas blowing in the distance and this morning I woke up with the vuvuzelas still going strong. Soccer fever is here for sure and in the next month there will be so many reasons to invite friends and family for a BBQ or "braai" to share in these exciting moments.
Now back to the Spicy Chicken Kebabs. Sosaties (so-sar-tee) are our own version of a kebab and traditionally it is made with lamb, My good friend Juno from Scrumptious South Africa made some mini Sosaties as part of her Football Snack Series. The trick is really in marinading the meat, which ever meat you choose. I opted for chicken as we are really trying to cut down on red meat. I made Chicken Kebabs before using a Cape Malay Marinade and they were delicious. I needed buttermilk for this recipe and because I have been in bed with flu this whole week, there was no buttermilk in the fridge. I had to make another plan and it was then that I remembered the Sosatie Marinade I made for my Lamb Chops with a Malay Twist. This marinade is awesome! The blend or spices comes together beautifully and the vinegar and wine tenderises the meat to perfection.
Like with Steak there are various ways to cook these kebabs, but to get that true South Africa Smoky flavor, grilling over an open fire is best. I have found that, because chicken dries out so quickly, the heat must be intense, but your grid must be high above the coals. The chicken kebabs will be ready in no time. I served it on a bed of warm couscous with roasted veggies for some Lekka African fusion.
1 kg chicken breasts - skin and boneless
12-15 pickling onions - peeled and halved
250gr dried Turkish apricots
For the Marinade
1 big onions - halved and sliced
2 cm piece ginger - grated
2 cloves of garlic - crushed
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 cardamom pods - crushed
1 tsp garamasala
1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbs sugar
125ml water
100ml vinegar
salt/pepper
vegetable oil
Crush all the dry seeds in your pestle and mortar. Heat the oil in a skillet and add the dry seeds. Fry the seeds for a few seconds just to release all the volatile oils and then add the onion, ginger, garlic, curry and garamasala. Fry the onions until they are soft. Add the water, vinegar and sugar and let the marinade cook for about 3-4 minutes. Taste and season accordingly. What you want is a sweet, tangy, spicy marinade. Let the marinade cool down completely .
Cut the chicken in bite size pieces and as soon as the marinade has cooled down, add the chicken, pickling onions and apricots to the marinade. BTW use a plastic or earthenware bowl for this. Keep refrigerated for at least a couple of ours...overnight is best. When using wooden skewers, also soak them overnight in water to prevent them from burning. When ready to grill, skewer the chicken onto the wooden sticks with pieces of onion and apricots in between. Grill and serve immediately.
11 comments:
Beautiful, Nina! Thanks for the mention. Hope you are totally well and fit to enjoy the soccer. x
OOoh Nina this looks fab! But I don't know if I'll be able to brave the cold weather to braai these on the coals - indoor grilling will have to do for me. :-)
This is a very flavourful marinade Nina. I can imagine the excitement in South Africa for the next month:D
Love the golden colour of these kebabs, happy eating and best wishes to South Africa as hosts of the World Cup.
Exciting times for South Africa! Your kabobs look beautiful and must taste delicious with all of those wonderful marinade ingredients. I'm sorry to read you haven't been feeling well. I hope you are feeling better now!
So much going in South Africa...hope you enjoy...the BBQ looks fabulous.
A great marinade for the chicken kebabs. They sound delicious!
I really don't like kebabs but your picture alone made me print and my husband had taken out chicken fillets. We made them yesterday and all I can say is WOW, even my husband (who is the chef in our house) said I'd made even better kebabs than he ever has! Only thing in your recipe, you don't say when to put the curry and garam masala in! Thanks.
Juno - you won't believe ti, but I am sicker than ever, but I did get to see the soccer...all of it!!
Marisa - indoor braais are the best...Our winters are far too long not tobe able to braai!
val - thx Val, yes for a non-soccer fan like me, I am amazed at the spirit!
peter - I am very proud of our organizers I must say!!
savoring time in the kitchen - I am sure I will be ok soon. Thanks for the visit!
juliana - oh yes indeed.
maria - you should try them.
rookie - wow, that is amazing. I fixed the little boo-boo in the recipe. I am glad you enjoyed them. Next time, try it with lamb!
Thx for the visit.Do you hvae a website?
Nina, I don't have a website, I love to check out what new things you and others do. i'm not very good in the kitchen and can only tweak others recipes. All I did with this one though is roast the seeds first, then crushed them. They crush much easier and I added cumin seeds too. (My husband says when I fart, it's like an air of cumin!!).
That is one flavorful sounding marinade! These kabobs look divine!
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