Charcoal-Style Chicken Kebab, Made at Home

The gap between a good shop kebab and a home one is almost entirely in the marinade and the heat. Get both right and you'll stop ordering it.

This is a yoghurt-based marinade, which is the traditional approach for a reason: the acid and the enzymes tenderise the meat without turning it mushy the way a straight lemon marinade will if you leave it too long.

What you'll need

Serves 4 · Marinate 4 hours to overnight · Cook 12 minutes

800g halal chicken thigh, boneless, cut into 3cm pieces

200g plain yoghurt

3 tbsp olive oil

4 garlic cloves, crushed

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp cinnamon

1½ tsp salt

Black pepper

Thigh, not breast. Breast dries out over high heat and there's no marinade that fixes it. Thigh has enough fat to survive a proper char.

Method

1. Whisk the yoghurt, oil, garlic, lemon juice, paprika, cumin, oregano, cinnamon, salt and pepper together in a large bowl until smooth.

2. Add the chicken and turn it through until every piece is coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Overnight is better, and the difference is real.

3. Thread onto skewers, leaving small gaps between the pieces. Packed tight, they steam instead of char. That gap is the whole trick.

4. Cook over high heat: charcoal if you have it, barbecue or a very hot chargrill pan if you don't. Turn every 2 to 3 minutes, about 10 to 12 minutes total, until the edges are properly charred and the chicken is cooked through.

5. Rest for 5 minutes before serving. Skipping this is how you end up with dry kebab and a plate of juice.

Serving

Warm flatbread, garlic sauce, pickled turnips or cucumbers, and a sharp salad of tomato, onion and parsley with a squeeze of lemon. Chilli sauce if that's your preference.

The pickles aren't optional in our view. Rich charred meat needs the acidity to cut through it.

A note on the meat

The recipe is only as good as the chicken. If you're buying from a halal butcher, ask for thigh with the fat left on rather than trimmed. You want it for the grill.

A few in our directory: Preston Halal Meats and Al-Fajr Halal Meats in Preston, Erdem Halal Meat Butcher in Thomastown, Moe Halal Butchery in Sunshine, and St. Albans Supermarket & Halal Meat in St Albans.

Good to know: if you're using wooden skewers, soak them for 30 minutes first or they'll burn through before the chicken's done.

Find a halal butcher near you in our directory.

Been to one of these lately? Tag us on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok @HalalFoodMelbourne and tell us what you ordered.