Every culture seems to have found a way to grill meat on a stick and, more often than not, serve it with a flatbread.
In many places, we might call that kebab or shawarma, but cookbook author Rosie Reynolds looked at all the world's skewered and wrapped meats to create "Posh Kebabs: Over 70 Recipes for Sensational Skewers and Chic Shawarmas" (Quadrille, $19.99), a collection of recipes connected by this vast category of foods.
Plenty of the recipes are for skewered meats, including Japanese yakitori or Thai satay, but in these tandoori salmon tacos, the salmon isn’t cooked on a stick. Cooking it on a flattop grill on your stove or under the broiler will lightly char the edges and complement the raita, a sauce you could use on countless wraps, tacos and sandwiches.
Tandoori Salmon Tacos
Sometimes it’s great to be given permission to cheat; do just that and buy a good quality tandoori paste. It will capture all the flavors of a decent Indian takeaway in a jar, meaning you can whip up a delicious dinner in minutes.
— Rosie Reynolds
2 tablespoons tandoori paste
1 tablespoon Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon ground coriander
4 (4-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets
2 red onions, cut into wedges
For the raita:
1/2 cucumber
Handful mint, finely chopped
Handful cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 garlic clove, crushed
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 lemon (1/2 juiced, 1/2 cut into wedges)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
4 tortillas or chapati
Shredded lettuce or spring greens
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
In a bowl, mix the tandoori paste, yogurt, oil and ground coriander. Add the salmon and turn to coat in the marinade, then add the onions and coat with a little marinade, making sure most of it stays on the fish. Set aside.
To make the raita, halve the cucumber lengthways and use a teaspoon to scoop out and discard the seeds, then chop the remaining flesh. Put in a bowl, then stir in the mint, most of the cilantro (reserving a little for garnish), the garlic, sugar, yogurt and lemon juice. Season and set aside.
Heat the grill to high. Put the salmon skin-side up on a baking sheet with the onions and grill for 4 minutes. Flip over and grill for a further 2 minutes, giving the onions a stir — remove any that are getting too charred; they should begin to soften but retain some crunch.
Heat the tortillas, flake the salmon over each and serve with the onions, lettuce, tomatoes, a big dollop of raita, any reserved herbs and a lemon wedge. Serves 4.
— Adapted from "Posh Kebabs: Over 70 Recipes for Sensational Skewers and Chic Shawarmas" by Rosie Reynolds (Quadrille, $19.99)
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