Heat up the grill and grab a skewer

Gholam Rahman

Of all the foods with an Arabic-sounding name, nothing is more popular around the world than the kabab, no matter how you spell it.

To my mind, and probably to that of almost anyone from the Middle East or India, kabab is primarily of beef, or lamb or goat meat. That is not to say you can’t grill a decent kabab with chicken, fifish or even vegetables.

In fact, one of my favorite kababs from my longago past in British India, one I can still savor in memory, is the lobster kabab our cook Tipu Mia used to grill over an open wood fifire. But meat, especially “beef,” has that psychological word-connection that leaps up to mind when you say “kabab.”

And that is what I did last week. Got a large piece of roast beef from Publix and grilled quite a few skewers of spicy kabab. My wife Kaisari, who is the usual cook in the family, and a very fifine one, too, allowed me a free hand to bumble around, bemused at my effffffffffffort. But I am happy to report that to my delight, the result came out excellent, if I say so myself.

She acknowledged my kababic skills — I felt a bit grudgingly though — and packed away the savory pieces in several small freezer bags to be used over a period of weeks. (We limit our meat consumption nowadays.) Beef kababs are great served with naans or parathas (fried flflat breads), with sweet onion rounds and mint-yogurt chutney on the side; with basmati rice and daal (spicy lentil gruel); or as hors d’oeuvres with small pieces of kabab served atop crackers or toast points with a bite of cheese set over each fifinger delicacy.

All you need to do is thaw the portion needed and think up fun ways to serve it. Can’t go wrong!

Those who know kabab know that it can be made many ways — with the beef cut in cubes or sliced in thin slices, and marinated in many masals (spices). But this is how I made it that day, simplifified a bit for your ease.