Seekh Kebab50g

Fifty grams doesn't look like much next to half a kilo of mince. That's the point. This is pure seasoning with no fillers, measured to disappear into 500g of meat and come back out as proper seekh kebabs, smoky, juicy and gone before the salad's dressed.

Most seasoning packets are mostly padding. Flour, rusk, things that bulk the sachet out so it feels like value. Look at how small this one is and read the label: there's nowhere for padding to hide.

Four things on the label, and that's the truth of it

Red chilli, cumin, coriander, salt. That is the entire list, and if it looks too simple, the kebab house will not tell you this: seekh kebab was never about a long spice list. It's chilli for warmth, cumin for smoke, coriander to round it off, and the meat does the talking. The blend sits at a confident medium, enough heat to be interesting, not enough to lose anyone at the table.

The salt deserves a word. It's in there at exactly the level 500g of mince wants, so the seasoning goes right through the meat instead of sitting on top. Don't add more, and don't guess. The maths is already done.

What it asks of you

One packet, 500g of mince, and your hands. Lamb is the classic, beef works, chicken works, plant-based mince works. Knead the packet through the meat properly, rest it, shape it, and get it onto a grill, a barbecue, or under the oven's top heat. The spicing was never the hard part of a seekh kebab. The handling is, and that part takes five honest minutes of kneading, not a longer ingredients list. Call it the Friday night fakeaway, minus the app and the delivery fee.

Not just skewers

The same 50g seasons anything built from mince. Koftas for the pot, meatballs for a quick curry, and, best of the lot, burgers. A seekh-spiced smash burger with mint yogurt instead of mayo will end arguments. Same packet, same ratio, different shape.

The full method lives on the Seekh Kebab recipe page, including the fat rule, the kneading test, why kebabs fall off skewers, and the oven version for the eleven months of the year that aren't barbecue weather.