Kebab Night at Home: Sides, Breads and a Cooking Order

Everyone has had the kebab dinner where the skewers come off the grill, there is nothing to eat them with, and the first batch is cold by the time the bread arrives. The meat is only one part of a kebab night. What you put around it, and the order you cook, decides whether the table works.

This is a plan for four to six people with two kinds of kebab, built from recipes on this site. All times work backwards from "kebabs come off the grill".

Pick two kebabs, not four

Two is plenty: one mince and one marinated meat. For example, seekh kabab (500 g / 1.1 lb mince, 4 to 6 skewers) and chicken tikka (1 kg / 2.2 lb chicken). They want different timing, which helps. Seekh mix can be chilled the day before, and tikka marinates overnight.

If you want a milder second option for kids, malai boti stays pale and creamy. Our guide to chapli, seekh and shami explains how they differ.

The three sides every plate needs

Aim for one cool, one sharp and one crunchy.

Cool: raita. Whisk 250 g (1 cup) of yogurt with salt, a pinch of roasted cumin and a little grated cucumber, squeezed dry so it does not water out. Chill it. It takes 5 minutes and tames chilli heat.

Sharp: green chutney. Blend a handful of mint and coriander with a green chilli, lemon juice, salt and a spoon of yogurt or water. Our seekh kabab recipe lists 2 tablespoons of mint for serving. Make it a few hours ahead. Fresh herbs darken over a day, so a squeeze of lemon helps. [VERIFY: how long blended mint chutney keeps colour in the fridge]

Crunchy: onion rings and lemon. Slice a red onion thin, soak in cold water for 10 minutes, drain, and toss with lemon juice, salt and a pinch of chaat masala. Pile on a plate with lemon wedges.

Bread: pick one and be ready for it

• Tandoori roti and lacha paratha are the classic pairings. Both are best straight off the pan.
• Pita or naan from a shop is fine. Warm it in a dry pan or wrapped in foil in a low oven.
• Rice works too, but it changes the meal from a kebab dinner into a rice-and-kebab plate.

Roti and paratha are the last things made, because they cool fast.

The 90-minute order

Start the clock backwards from serving time. Call it T.

1. Day before or morning: chill the seekh mixture (at least 45 minutes, overnight is fine). Marinate the tikka (3 hours minimum, overnight is better).
2. T minus 90: make chutney and raita. Slice the onions and put them in cold water.
3. T minus 60: shape the seekh onto flat skewers, 12 to 15 cm (5 to 6 in) each. Thread the tikka. Soak wooden skewers if you use them.
4. T minus 45: heat the grill or oven to high. Make dough for paratha now if you are doing it from scratch.
5. T minus 25: tikka goes on first. It needs about 18 to 20 minutes at a hot setting, until it reads 74 C (165 F).
6. T minus 12: seekh goes on. It needs 10 to 12 minutes, until it reaches 71 C (160 F).
7. T minus 5: brush the seekh with melted ghee. Rest the tikka.
8. T: bread comes off the pan, the kebabs hit the plate.

You do not need two grills. Use the oven for tikka, a grill pan for seekh, or do them in two rounds and keep the first in a low oven, covered loosely.

Keep-warm rules

Hot food should stay hot, not just warm. A low oven at about 90 C (195 F) keeps cooked kebabs for a short while without drying out, covered loosely with foil. Do not leave cooked meat out for longer than about 2 hours at room temperature, and less in a hot room. [VERIFY: 2-hour guidance and 90 C hold temperature]

A shopping list for six

• 500 g mince, 1 kg chicken
• 500 g yogurt
• 1 bunch each mint and coriander
• 2 red onions, 1 cucumber, 3 lemons
• Green chillies, ginger, garlic
• Roti flour or bread

Add the items you already have to your Degchi pantry and it will show what is missing before you head out: degchi.matrixinn.net/#try.