Marinating in yoghurt or quark before cooking both tenderises and moistens as well as giving the meat a lovely coating and flavour.
Quark is a Continental cheese, a fat free cross between fromage frais and a cream cheese. We have been using it for baking, to top porridge or cereal, adding a dollop to smoothies – it is relatively high in protein so fills me up. The latest use is for marinating chicken for kebabs.
Until recently most Quark for sale in the UK has been imported, but there is now a British brand of Quark that I buy and use – read more here.
My top tip for perfectly cooked kebabs is to start them in the oven, and then finish in a pan, griddle or on the BBQ. Cooked all the way though with just a little browning.
- 100 g plain quark
- 1 clove garlic – minced
- ½ cm fresh ginger – grated
- ½ tsp cumin – ground
- scant ½ tsp mild chilli powder – to taste
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- ½ tsp coriander seeds – ground
- Seeds from 3 cardamom pods
- 4 – 6 chicken thighs – depending on size cut into 2.5cm pieces
- Fresh red chilli and coriander to garnish
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Mix the quark and the spices together. Stir in the chicken pieces, cover and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
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An hour before you want to cook soak 4 wooden kebab skewers in water.
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Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers, and bake in the oven at 170C / GM5 for about 20 minutes until cooked through. Then fry, griddle, grill or BBQ for a minute or so to give some grill marks.
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Serve garnished with slices of chilli and some fresh coriander.
- This recipe is 7 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion
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Making your own kebabs is considerably cheaper than buying them so I am sending this to Credit Crunch Munch which I run with Camilla, hosted this month by Jo.
Post commissioned by Sainsbury’s – these would be perfect for your Easter menu – click for all your Easter groceries.
Camilla @FabFood4All
Gorgeous looking Kebabs Helen, I have some chicken thighs in the freezer so might give this a go!
Helen
Thank you Camilla. Let me know how they go.
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry
You are giving me ideas for lunch today then Helen.
Helen
I aim to please Bintu!
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We love Quark too, and it is great seeing it get some ‘recipe love’ from you. Many people that I see at work who are on chemotherapy can’t eat yogurt so I advise giving Quark and fromage frais a try as a very decent ‘non-bio’ alternative. An enticingly easy recipe Helen.
Helen
That is very interesting Kelly. I had no idea about chemo and not being able to eat yoghurt.
Kavey
They look delicious. And I do love your new Helen Best-Shaw stamp, very slick and looks gorgeous.
Helen
thank you Kavey. I love my watermark too.
Sarah Maison Cupcake
Mmm they look tasty. I’ve not tried chicken in quark but I know how tender it is in yogurt and must experiment next time I see some quark on sale (not that often to be honest).
Helen
It does need to be in more places. Waitrose have it.
Adam Garratt
They rather delightful Helen I must say. I’ve used yoghurt plenty of times for making tandoori chicken but never quark so I must give this a try. All the best
Helen
I am really enjoying using quark Adam, especially now there is a British brand.
Heidi Roberts
A sure sign the BBQ season is coming, tikka kebabs! Nice to see a healthy spin with the quark.
Helen
Thanks Heidi! I do like a good BBQ
Glamorous Glutton
These look really tasty. I love quark and use it often, this is definitely a recipe to add to my quark list. GG
Helen
I am a quark convert now! Such a useful tub to keep in the fridge.
Lou, Eat Your Veg
I usually use yogurt as a marinade and hadn’t ever considered quark, might do now though. Looks like a lovely spice mix you’ve got there too, no doubt exceptionally tasty!.
Helen
I love this British quark. It is that much thicker than yoghurt, well worth keeping in the fridge.
Janie
Mmm, they looks delish Helen and it’s a perfect recipe to have up your sleeve when camping.
Janie x
Helen
Good point re camping Janie. They’d be delicious over a camp fire.