Spiced Lamb and Cashew Kebabs

When I was fortunate enough to have a holiday in Hong Kong, I visited a restaurant at Repulse Bay called Spices. I was so taken by the spicy kebabs I had there that on my return home I immediately tried to make them – and I think this is fairly close to the original!

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  Serves 4

Ingredients
12 oz (350 g) neck fillet of British lamb (80 per cent lean meat, as some fat is important to keep it juicy)
4 oz (110 g) roasted and salted cashew nuts
1 level teaspoon cumin seeds
1 level teaspoon coriander seeds
1 small onion, quartered
1 clove garlic
3 level tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
juice ½ lime
1 fresh green chilli, de-seeded
a little groundnut oil
salt and freshly milled black pepper

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Equipment
You will also need 4 long, flat metal skewers.

This recipe is taken from Delia Smith’s Summer Collection.

Method

First of all you need to roast the spices and, to do this, place them in a small frying pan or saucepan over a medium heat and stir and toss them around for about 1-2 minutes, or until they begin to look toasted and start to jump in the pan. Now transfer them to a pestle and mortar and crush them to a powder.

To make the kebabs you need to cut the meat into chunks and place it in a food processor along with the onion, garlic, fresh coriander leaves, lime juice, cashews, crushed spices, chilli and seasoning. Now either switch the machine to pulse or, if your machine does not have a pulse switch, turn the motor on and off until you have ground everything together but it still has some identity – it needs to end up like very coarse sausage meat.

Now take about a tablespoon of the mixture (don't forget to remove the blade first!) and roll it on a flat surface into a sausage shape, squeezing the mixture firmly together. Pat and square off the ends to give a nice shape. Repeat until you have used all the mixture: you should aim to finish up with 12. Thread these on to skewers, 3 on each. Cover them with clingfilm and keep them in the fridge until you need them (it's important to leave them for at least 2 hours to firm up).

Before grilling, brush the kebabs with oil and cook for about 5 minutes on each side either indoors, 2 inches (5 cm) from the grill, or outside, over hot charcoal. Serve with some Spiced Pilau Rice.

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Spiced Pilau Rice

The amount given here will be enough for 6 people with a curry comprising several dishes, but if it's to be served with just one dish, the pilau will serve four. For what's commonly known as pilau rice, you simply follow this recipe, omitting the her