When we’ve exhausted ourselves with museums and know we’re not cooking, Lowell has
enjoyed comparing the Kebab shops on Wood Green High Road. They’re all good, it
tends to be the service that differentiates them. Most of them consider speed
of assembly the most important factor. When they ask if you want Chilli or
Garlic sauce, I always want chilli – sometimes I want both. Always I ask for
more than they initially give me. Here are authentic versions for making your
own.
Greek Chilli Sauce
1.5kg ripe tomatoes, peeled
2 onions, grated
½ each green & red pepper, finely chopped
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne (though I would double this)
3 cloves
1 small stick
cinnamon
1 tsp mustard powder
250ml red wine vinegar
Garlic Yoghurt Sauce
250ml Greek yoghurt
2 cloves garlic, crushed (I’d use three)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Dill, finely chopped
Salt & white pepper.
Start with the chilli sauce. Put the tomatoes, onion and
peppers in a pan and boil gently for 25 minutes. Pour into a blender and
process until smooth. Return to the Pan and add the rest of the ingredients.
Simmer until thickened. Remove the cloves and cinnamon and allow it to cool.
For the garlic sauce, simply combine everything and chill in
the fridge.
Both suit lamb cooked any way. But back to kebabs. 8 things
that make good kebab places stand out:
1)
Proper Greek or Turkish bread, rather than the standard Pitta bread
2)
The lamb is crispy and tastes of roast lamb
3)
They’re not stingy with the chilli sauce
4)
The pickled chilli tastes either mild or hot and
not just of vinegar
5)
You get a lemon wedge to squeeze over the salad
6)
The onion is dressed with parsley
7)
The kebab is double wrapped in paper to keep it
warm
8)
They take their time assembling it, listening to
what you want. (This is rare).
Once, when the place was busy, we were invited to sit down
and were given free Turkish tea because we would have to wait until the lamb was
crispy enough. Since then I’d forgive them most things.
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