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For a food that is believed to have started when hungry soldiers skewered chunks of meat on their swords and held them over wood fires, the kebab has spread to countries as far afield as Greece with its gyros and Japan with its yakitori. Here are a few pointers:
- Whether they are made from chunk meat or forcemeat, from mutton or chicken, kebabs are classified according to their method of cooking. Fat, tenderizer, marinade or spices are added variously.
- Within India, the vast majority of kebabs originate in Lucknow or Hyderabad – two centres where meat cookery reached an art form. The rivalry between the two culinary schools is legendary; however, the real difference is the Hyderabadi’s penchant for using pronounced souring agents: lemon and tamarind for instance.
- Almost every type of chunk meat calls for a tenderizer: curd is the most common marinade, and is used for botis or boneless pieces of meat, raw papaya juice is used for burras or pieces of mutton on the bone. Malish kebab, originating in Hyderabad, is boneless mutton that is actually kneaded or massaged, hence the name.
- The tandoor, surprising as it may seem, started out as a short-cut for kebabs; its raison d’etre is baking breads. The traditional method calls for an open grill or bhatti, where the juice from the meat and/or marinade falls onto lighted coal, provoking a shower of sparks that in turn hits the meat and imparts the smoky flavour to it.
- Whereas the best Indian cooking is really in homes, kebabs – along with sweets – is one exception. Controlling the heat of a coal-based grill, getting the kebabs cooked through and handling forcemeat as in seekh kebabs is an art that housewives have traditionally left to specialists.
- The nomenclature of kebabs tends to be confusing. Dora kebabs refer to the string that they are tied with, Kakori kebabs, named after the village (near Lucknow) of their origin, are tenderized forcemeat wrapped on skewers and grilled. They are almost identical to gilauti kebabs, also from Lucknow, except that for the latter, the forcemeat has been shaped into patties and pan roasted. Tunde Mian of Lucknow was the most famous purveyor of gilauti kebabs. Recipes for each kebab tend to be standard. What differs is the level of expertise of the person making them.
- In some instances, it is the sophistication of the spicing that elevates a kebab to stratospheric heights. In other instances, it is the freshness of the kebab, hot off the grill, with the simplest of spices, that does the trick.
- In Kashmir, there are two types of kebabs that are popular. One is made from minced lamb and grilled on charcoal and is available on the streets in the evenings. The other is a marinated chunk of mutton from the head of the sheep. This kind of meat is distinctly chewy and is one of those love it or hate it things.
- In Iran, the most common type of restaurant serves half a dozen kebabs and nothing else! Barg (strips of lamb or beef strung together on a skewer), koobideh or minced lamb with onion juice arranged on a skewer, joojeh or chicken kebab (tikkas or minced, it doesn’t matter which) and baktiari kebab: ‘boxes’ of alternating minced chicken and mutton squares on the same skewer. Even the carpets woven by the Baktiari tribe of Southern Iran famously feature boxes with alternating designs on them.
- Every street corner in Turkey has a vertical spit grill turning slowly, with large slices of chicken, lamb or beef getting cooked and releasing tantalizing aromas. The dripping, some meat, a tomato slice or two, an onion and a gherkin with some meat between two fat slices of bun is the ultimate snack in that country.
- Where to eat: don’t knock London, Dubai and Paris for great kebabs. The settlers from Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have resulted in delicious street-corner snacks, taken in tandem with superior meats. It might be my patriotism talking, but no country can beat India for the sheer range of kebabs. We are the masters of spice, after all
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