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
• 200 g plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp tikka masala paste
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 0.5 cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 15g fresh mint, finely chopped
• naan or flatbreads, sliced red onion, and mango chutney, to serve

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk 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 bloom into the yoghurt as it sits — that's the whole point 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 at least 4 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge. The yoghurt's acid tenderises while the spices work their way in — under 30 minutes and you've just painted the surface.
3. Make the raita: stir the second quantity of 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. Toast the cumin? If you have the patience, warm it dry in a small pan for 30 seconds until fragrant before adding — bloomed cumin tastes of itself, raw cumin tastes dusty. Season with salt and pepper, taste, adjust, and 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. 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 or flatbreads. Pile the skewers onto a board with the raita alongside, scatter over the sliced red onion and fresh coriander, and tuck in the lemon wedges and a spoon of mango chutney for everyone to help themselves.