Chicken Tikka Skewers with Mint Raita

Ingredients

• 800 g chicken breast, cut into 4cm cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• salt
• 400 g full-fat Greek yoghurt, divided
• 2 tbsp tikka masala paste
• 1 lemon, juiced
• ½ cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 15 g fresh mint, finely chopped
• Black pepper
• 4 naan breads
• 4 tbsp mango chutney

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk 200 g of the yoghurt with the tikka paste, minced garlic, grated ginger and the lemon juice into a thick, deep-orange marinade. The raw garlic and ground spices in the paste will mellow and develop in the yoghurt as it sits; that's the aim of marinating, so don't shortcut it. Season generously with salt and stir through the chicken cubes until every piece is properly coated.
2. Cover and marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge. Give the chicken the full 30 minutes so the marinade has time to cling.
3. Make the raita: stir the remaining 200 g yoghurt together with the squeezed-dry cucumber (squeeze it harder than feels reasonable; watery raita is sad raita), chopped mint, crushed garlic and the ground cumin. Season with salt and pepper, taste, then chill until needed.
4. Thread the marinated chicken onto soaked wooden skewers, leaving a finger's gap between each cube. Crowded skewers steam in their own marinade; spaced skewers char.
5. Heat a griddle pan or grill to very high; you want it actually smoking before the chicken goes near it. Lay the skewers down in a single layer with room between them and don't move them for 4 minutes. If the pan is crowded, work in two batches; the marinade is wet, and a packed pan will boil rather than char.
6. Turn once and cook another 4–5 minutes, until the marinade is blackened in patches and the internal temperature hits 75°C for 30 seconds. Taste a corner of one cube; season with another pinch of salt if it needs lifting.
7. Rest the skewers for 2 minutes so the juices settle back into the meat instead of pouring out the moment you bite in.
8. Warm the naan breads and serve them with the hot skewers, mint raita and mango chutney.