Facing the heat Monish Gujral demonstrates how to prepare Kabab Butter Masala Photo: V. Sudershan

The hot summer shows little sign of abating. Sometimes it kills the appetite, but more often than not, it kills the desire for cooking! Still, it is important to eat a good, nourishing, meal. And I look at it this way. Stepping into the kitchen and standing over the hot stove may be hot work, but it saves us the trouble of going for a sauna. So you have the combined advantages of working off some calories, feeling refreshed with a cool shower afterwards, and the pleasure of eating a special dish.

To start off this column, I chose a recipe that is derived from the Moti Mahal signature dish, Butter Chicken.

In the West, butter chicken is morphed into chicken tikka masala. I have created a different variation using mutton seekh kabab, which I consider the king of kababs! Combined with the famous Moti Mahal butter sauce, the kababs take on a softer texture, giving a kakori kabab feel.

Many advantages

There are a number of advantages to this recipe. First of all, you can make the kababs separately and serve them as a snack. But even mixed with the sauce, you have the option of cooking it with less liquid as a dry snack dish, or with more liquid to be had as a main dish.

Don’t be intimidated by the number of ingredients or length of the recipe. If you prepare the kababs and other elements beforehand, it will take only 10 minutes to cook. But remember, the butter and cream should be put in at the end, just before the dish is removed from the stove and served hot. Reheating the gravy once butter and cream have been added will lead to wrecking the dish.

I invented this dish by chance. I might introduce it in the Tandoori Trail winter menu, but meanwhile, you can try out the recipe as a sneak preview.