Madhur Jaffrey’s Boti Kebab (Spiced Yogurt–Marinated Lamb Skewers)

Madhur Jaffrey, one of the greatest cookbook authors of all time (as well as an illustrator, television personality, writer, and actress), changed my life in a single meal. Jaffrey’s first book, An Invitation to Indian Cooking, was published in 1973, and her book World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking made its way into my family’s kitchen by 1981, an impulse Barnes & Noble purchase spurred by my dad’s lifelong fascination with the vast and faraway country. With two young children at home, it seemed unlikely that my dad could find time to make a trip to India himself, so this was the next best thing, especially since he was on the hook for weekly Sunday suppers while my mom taught at our parish.

One such Sunday, I walked into the house after church, and I found a new religion: food. Until then, only standard Midwest home ec recipes had been in regular rotation. In this meal, the tempering spices, which my dad had gone to great pains to find in pre-internet suburban Kentucky, changed not just the scent of the air but my senses themselves. Even more so when I tasted those first forkfuls of Spiced Rice with Nuts and Raisins; Very Spicy, Delicious Chickpeas; and the first yogurt I’d ever had that didn’t involve stirring a slurry of fruit from the bottom of a plastic cup.

The dinner bell could not be unrung, and it reverberated through my hunger from then on, especially after my dad bought An Invitation to Indian Cooking, where Jaffrey first published the recipe for Boti Kebab, grilled skewers of lamb tenderized in a spiced yogurt marinade, that ran in Food & Wine as part of her “Indian Barbecuing” feature in Summer 1980.

In the F&W story, Jaffrey shares the richly nuanced world of Indian barbecuing. She delves into the history of marinades, explaining that some Indian goat, lamb, and chicken can be tough, so cooks developed techniques to tenderize and flavor proteins at once. She contrasts the American ethos of barbecue (“a private summer pleasure”) with India, where, she says, “barbecuing is a serious, perennial business” and the domain of often tall-toqued professional chefs. Jaffrey further detailed the two schools of Indian barbecuing: one that calls for resting skewers over live charcoal, another where skewers are cooked inside a tandoor.

And then there are the recipes, which remain as vibrant today as they were 43 years ago. In addition to the Boti Kebab (see the retested recipe at right), Jaffrey shared recipes for swordfish cooked with fresh green chutney; a potato pilaf; and a chicken makhani that she casually mentions impressed James Beard.

Jaffrey’s recipes didn’t just give my family (and millions of others who didn’t grow up with these foods) an entrée into a vast and varied cuisine and the confidence to try them at home; they generously, explicitly invited us to more deeply explore the places we live, in pursuit of these flavors she’s taught us to love.

These days, I take a train to Jackson Heights for a spectacular dosa. I buy thickly fatted lamb at the halal butcher around the corner from my Brooklyn apartment. I wander the aisles of Kalustyan’s specialty market in Manhattan in search of asafoetida, and when I go to pay, Jaffrey’s face smiles out from the book jackets behind the counter. I grin right back. — Kat Kinsman