Lamb Merguez Kebabs
By Beth Jones
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon whole cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds
- ½ teaspoon whole fennel seeds
- 1 pound ground lamb from Sunshine Harvest Farm
- 2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 2 cloves garlic, or 2 Tablespoons garlic scapes, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon cayenne
- 2 Tablespoons sunflower oil
- 4 pitas
- 1 large tomato, halved and cut into slices
- 1 jar Shahiya Chutney
Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
- 2 cup good quality yogurt, preferably Greek
- 1 Tablespoon minced scallion
- ½ cup small dice cucumbers
- Juice and zest from half a lemon
- 1 Tablespoon chopped mint
- 1 dash Shahiya Chutney
- Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic, or garlic scapes, minced
Instructions
Toast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds in a dry saute pan until fragrant. Grind the seeds finely in a spice grinder, or with a mortar and pestle. Mix the spices with all the remaining ingredients and divide the meat into 8 equal portions, roughly 2 ounces each. Form into sausage shaped kebabs around 8 skewers. Chill the kebabs thoroughly, 1-2 hours.
Next, mix Cucumber Yogurt Sauce ingredients thoroughly and chill for 1 hour.
When kebabs are finished marinating, preheat the grill to medium high heat. Spray grill thoroughly just before putting the skewers on to cook. Grill for 2 minutes, then turn kebabs. Grill another two-three minutes and check the temperature. Kebabs should reach 160. Remove from the grill. Brush the pita lightly with oil and grill for 30 seconds on each side.
Serve the kebabs on the pita with, chutney, tomato and cucumber yogurt sauce.
