Instructions: Four wooden skewers about 25.5cm long

Dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds and the cardamom pods over a medium heat for 1 minute until the seeds begin to jump.

Remove from the heat and once cool remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and crush them with the cumin and coriander seeds using a pestle and mortar.

Add the ginger turmeric garlic and salt and mix everything well.

Cut each chicken breast into five pieces place them in a bowl and toss them first in the groundnut or flavourless oil then in the spice mixture mixing everything around so they get an even coating.

Add the yoghurt give everything a good stir and press the chicken down well into the marinade.

Cover with dingfilm and refrigerate for a few hours or preferably overnight.

To make the chutney simply whiz everything together in a blender then pour into a bowl and leave aside for 2 to 3 hours so the flavours develop.

When you are almost ready to serve soak the skewers in water for 20 minutes to stop them from burning then light the barbecue or preheat the grill to its highest setting.

Thread half a bay leaf on to each skewer then a piece of chicken a piece of onion and half a chilli.

Carry on alternating the chicken onion and chilli until you have used five pieces of chicken per kebab then finish with half a bay leaf on each.

Make sure you pack everything as tightly as possible then season lay the kebabs on the grill rack or barbecue and sprinkle with a little olive oil.

If youre grilling put a heatproof dish lined with foil under the rack and grill the kebabs for 10 minutes on each side about 100mm from the heat source or simply cook over the barbecue.

Slip the chicken and vegetables from the skewers using a fork to ease them off and serve with the spiced pilau rice with nuts (qv) garnished with lime quarters and the chutney handed round separately.

This is a heavenly combination of textures and fragrant spicy flavours and has the added advantage of not being too high in fat. The coriander chutneys is a perfect accompaniment but this dish also goes well with mango chutney if fresh coriander isnt available.

Serves 4

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