Spiced chicken patties souvlakia with a cumin and sultana yoghurt sauce

An Indian-inspired Greek souvlaki / Σουβλάκια με μπιφτέκια κοτόπουλου και σως γιαουρτιού

Published originally on my blog on 25 July 2010

We really love burgers in this house and by burgers I mean burger patties, not the traditional American burgers even though, let's be honest, we never say no to one or two (or three) of those. Being Greek, burger patties are automatically associated with souvlaki, where you take a Greek pita, wrap it around a couple of patties, add tomatoes and tzatziki and you're set. But we were not in the mood for a traditional Greek souvlaki. We wanted to change things up a bit. The taste buds need a change from time to time, don't they? Keep them in shape. We were in the mood for a little spice; a little Indian spice.

The general idea here is the same as souvlaki. Pita, burger patties, some chopped vegetables, onions and instead of the Greek tzatziki, a raita-inspired yoghurt sauce. Raita is an Indian yoghurt-based condiment, flavored with spices and finely chopped vegetables or even fruit. Indian food is rather spicy so the raita works as a cooling agent. The acidity of the yoghurt cools the mouth down creating a pleasant sensation, taking away the heat of the spices.

Chicken is the meat of choice in this recipe, mixed up with a number of different spices like paprika and cumin. The yoghurt sauce echoes the flavor of the chicken patties with the addition of roasted cumin seeds and the sultanas, which are golden raisins, give a welcomed sweetness to the whole dish. The grilled pita halves are filled with the reddish-hued chicken patties—a color rendered to them by the spices—sliced cucumbers, red onion and flat-leaf parsley. They are full of flavor, with the spices waking up your senses. The slathering of a spoonful of yoghurt sauce on top of the patties adds another level of complexity to the dish and brings your palate to life.

Serve these delicious chicken souvlakia at a grill party—if you're lucky enough to have a yard and a barbecue grill, that would be perfect—accompanied by the yoghurt sauce and an array of sliced vegetables like cucumber, beefsteak tomatoes and carrots. To wash everything down, have an Indian beer like Kingfisher or an Australian Shiraz red wine. They are the ideal complement to this Indian-spiced dish.

Indian-spiced chicken souvlaki with a cumin and sultana yoghurt sauce

I wouldn't suggest you skip on making the yoghurt sauce since it complements the chicken patties/burgers perfectly. They are not the same without it.