Though not truly authentic there must be countless versions of this in Turkey and the Middle East. The flavours here balance together well along with the char from cooking. I like to eat it with flat breads, turkish pilaf and grilled peppers.
Giving the marinade at least 12 hours to work is essential. It gives more time to get the moisture and flavour into the chicken. The use of an electronic thermometer so you can put the probe inside the chicken and have the device outside telling you the temperature is essential. I use one with an alarm feature that means it buzzes when it has reached the right temperature.
What it should look like before going in the oven.
Serves:4-5
Time: 30 minutes the day before and 2 hours on the day
Need: temperature probe, wire rack & kebab skewers
25g of fresh corrainder (stems and all)
8 Chicken Thighs
1 large Baking Potato
500ml of Yoghurt
5 Cloves of Garlic
1 thumb sized piece of Ginger
2 Chillies
1 tablespoon of Tumeric
1 tablespoon of Cumin
1 tablespoon of Salt
1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of Ground Cloves
1 teaspoon of Cracked Black Pepper
Day before
1. Debone and remove the skin from the chicken thighs. Keep the chicken skin aside.
2. Prepare the marinade by blitzing together in a food processor the coriander, yoghurt, garlic, ginger, chillies, turmeric, cumin, salt, cinnamon, cloves and pepper.
3. In a large plastic tub mix the marinade with the chicken thighs and skins.
4. Leave to marinade overnight.
On the day
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Place a wire rack over a large oven proof dish.
3. Cut the potato in 2 large slices.
4. Take three long skewers and skewer one slice of potato at one end. Add two chicken skins on top of this and then begin adding the chicken thighs. Then add on two chicken skins and then the potato. Press together.
5. Place on top of the of the wire rack and if you have a temperate probe insert this into the deepest part of the kebab.
6. Place into the oven. Set the temperature probe for 75 degrees Celsius, the temperature at which chicken is safe to eat. It will take about one and a half to two hours to reach this temperature.
7. Rotate the kebab every 30 minutes it is in the oven.
8. Once it has reached temperature serve removing skewers and carving into bite size pieces at the table.
9. Serve with flat breads, grilled vegetables and yoghurt.
Recipes from my kitchen, Edinburgh, Scotland 