Tikkas
This is my favorite Pakistani dish. Tikkas are grilled chunks of marinated meat (beef, goat, lamb) or chicken. We used to go fishing and take along a hibachi and an ice chest full of marinating chunks of meat. Someone would grill the Tikkas and hand you a sizzling skewer, pita bread, onion and cucumber. Many made sandwiches, others couldn't wait for the bread and they just ate them from the skewer. Tikkas are incredibly easy to prepare, and you can marinate the meat for anywhere from 1-36 hours before broiling on the barbecue grill or hibachi. You can also make them under the broiler in your oven, but they aren't quite as wonderful. They are also very low fat, very healthy. What more could anyone ask?
Ingredients: 2-3 lobs of meat or chicken cut into one 1 inch cubes (boneless)
8 oz. low fat yogurt
2 Tbl. lemon juice
1 ½ tsp. salt (or salt substitute)
½ tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. ginger powder
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. Garam Masala (available at most markets)
½ tsp. red pepper
black pepper to taste
Mix yogurt spices and lemon juice. Add meat or chicken and refrigerate for 1 or more hours (Cover the bowl tightly or put the whole mess into a big ziplock baggie like I do). Put marinated meat chunks on metal skewers and grill on barbecue or hibachi. Turn frequently and squirt a little lemon juice on the meat skewers just before you remove them from the grill. Serves 4-6. Note: The Pakistanis I knew called them Candy Meat because everyone ate them like candies. Additional note: We even used this marinade on Fish once (one of the more successful fishing trips). Chunks of catfish were dipped in this yogurt sauce and then fried in hot oil. It was delicious.