Garlic & Cilantro Marinade
½ cup (packed) fresh cilantro leaves
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup dark raisins (beware: these don’t chop very easily)
½ tsp. garam masala
1 ½ Tbsp. juice from 1 lemon
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Process all ingredients in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade until smooth, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape sides of work bowl with rubber spatula, as needed.
Kebabs:
1 recipe marinade
2 ¼ lbs. boneless leg of lamb (shank end), trimmed of fat and silver skin and cut into 1-inch pieces (I don’t like lamb, so I use rib eye steaks from the butcher for the adults and sirloin from the butcher for the kids, you can use more meat if you want)
3 medium bell peppers, 1 red, 1 yellow, and 1 orange (about 1 ½ lbs.), each cut into twenty-four 1-inch pieces
1 large red onion (about 12 oz.), cut into thirty-six ¾ inch pieces (wedges)
Toss marinade and meat in gallon-sized Ziploc bag or large, nonreactive bowl; seal bag pressing out as much air as possible, or cover bowl and refrigerate until fully seasoned, at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
Ignite about 1 large chimney full of charcoal and burn until thin layer of ash forms, about 20-30 minutes. Spread coals evenly over grill and add another chimney full of unlit coals on top of hot ones. Position rack over coals and heat till very hot, about 15 minutes. (I like to use the gas grill if I don’t have time to mess with charcoal).
Gas grill instructions: Turn all burners to high, close lid and heat til hot about 10-15 minutes before placing kebabs on grill. Cook according to instructions below.
Starting and ending with meat, thread 4 pieces meat, 3 pieces onion (3 – 3 layer stacks), and 6 pieces pepper in mixed order on 12 metal skewers. Grill kebabs, uncovered until meat is well browned all over, grill marked and cooked to medium-rare, about 7 minutes (8 minutes for medium), turning each kebab ¼ turn every 2 minutes to brown each side. Transfer kebabs to serving platter and squeeze lemon or lime wedges over them, if desired.
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