North African inspired Harissa Paneer Kebabs

At Spyce, we love folks with sorts of all dietary preferences - vegan, vegetarian, non-vegetarian, pescatarian, eggetarian (yes, that's a thing!) and everything in between. We believe food should be completely democratised and enjoyed by one and all and to that end, we're building a recipe library for everybody, regardless of your dietary preference of your cooking ability - we've got recipes for everyone. Like this North African inspired classic, albeit with a vegetarian twist.

Kebabs, especially the ones from the Middle East or North Africa, are usually meat based and are therefore not devoured by our vegan and vegetarian friends - except the ones who cheat (you know who you are :-)).

Now, we don't use the word 'devoured' often. But when we do, it's for good reason. Kebabs from that neck of the woods, for those unaware, are phenomenal - the taste, texture, flavours are all playing in complete harmony, and we find no other way to eat them, but to devour them. If that makes us greedy, we'll take it!

So, this is our humble attempt to recreate some exceptional flavours from that region and make it accessible for everyone. Here's presenting our version of 'North Africa inspired, harissa paneer kebabs'!

For this recipe, we recommend using homemade paneer for the following reasons:

• It's super easy to make - you'll find innumerable recipes to do this on YouTube.

• Homemade paneer is generally more crumbly than store bought paneer and therefore better for this recipe. But if you only have access to hard paneer, a quick blitz in the food processor can help achieve the crumbly or pasty texture.

• It's healthier i.e. you know exactly how you're making it and the ingredients you're using.

• You can control the fat content, which is handy, if you're calorie-counting.

  In essence, full fat milk = high fat paneer, but recommended for it's consistency, texture and flavour. Inversely, low fat milk = low fat paneer, which not as luxurious and rich like it's full fat cousin.

• And lastly,  it's so much cheaper than store bought paneer, especially if bought from speciality shops.

Btw, we've tried this recipe using other ingredients, like potatoes and mushrooms, but the paneer one is the clear winner. It's a great carrier for flavour and it naturally contains fat, making it far more flavourful than the other options.

To this paneer, you only need a handful of more ingredients:

• Onions. We prefer to grate them over having chunky bits in our kebabs.

• Herbs. We've used parsley, a fairly common herb used in cuisines in North Africa. Feel free to use coriander, if it's easier to access.

• Breadcrumbs. Acts as a binding agent to ensure the kebabs don't completely crumble.

• Spyce Harissa Seasoning. You need no other seasoning.

• Olive oil. Or any other fat of your choice. Ghee tastes great as well.

Once all the ingredients have been thoroughly combined, you simply need to wrap them around your skewers or if skewers aren't available, you can shape them however you like, long like kebabs or round like patties, ready to pan fry. Pro tips: keep some drinking water handy while shaping the kebabs in case the mixture get's sticky. And if you only have wooden skewers, soak them in water before cooking - the wood may burn and release a not-so-pleasant flavour in to your kebabs.

That's it! Once your kebabs are either skewered or shaped, pan fry them for 4-5 minutes on each side on medium flame, turning once, to ensure all sides are golden browned and charred. These phenomenal vegetarian kebabs make for the perfect appetiser or you can wrap them in pita bread or roomali roti and enjoy a full, well balanced meal. And like all kebabs, they're best enjoyed with some raw onions, lime and a spicy dipping sauce. You could enjoy with some classic Indian style coriander chutney but we've taken it up a notch and served ours with our very own 'levelled up Harissa sauce', that takes the humble harissa seasoning and transforms it in to a super versatile, spicy, delicious sauce that can be used in so many ways.

Fuss-free, speedy, flavourful and cost-friendly recipes is all we're about and this delicious recipe checks all the boxes. Please do give it a try and tag us on Instagram (ILoveSpyce) when you do. Please subscribe to our newsletter where we share weekly recipes. And if you liked our Harissa spice blend, please check out our other blends from around the world - we promise you'll love them too!

You can check out some more amazing recipes on our YouTube and for this one, the recipe card can be downloaded from below - feel free to use it yourself or share it with someone who'll love this recipe. And to grab the Spyce Harissa spice blend, the listing is right here!

Harissa | 130g

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Thanks for reading and remember, #saynotoboringfood!