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One found with joy that the south Indian seasoning podi – a rubble of fiery, coarsely crushed spices, which you stir into a little oil and use as a sauce for dosa or idli – is also known as “gunpowder” spice mix. This is accurate if you were using my grandmother’s personally dried peppers, but it would be charitable to say that I’m far less daring with chilli, so here I suggest crushed chilies instead. It’s an extraordinarily good marinade for these paneer and potato skewers.

Gunpowder Paneer and Potato Skewers with Citrus-Mint Dressing

Gather six to eight barbecue sticks (if wooden, let them sit in water for 10 minutes first).

Prep 10 minutes
Cook 30 minutes
Serves 2

14 ounces firm potatoes, sliced into 1.5-inch chunks
8 ounces paneer, diced into 0.8-inch cubes
One teaspoon coriander seeds
Half a teaspoon fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
One teaspoon black peppercorns
1 tsp chilli flakes
1½ tsp flaky sea salt, with more for serving
2 garlic cloves, prepared and minced
Two and a half centimeters piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
Forty milliliters flavorless oil
One red onion, peeled and cut into eight wedges, then cut in half horizontally

For the dressing
Lime zest and juice, freshly prepared
Ten grams fresh mint leaves, minced
Half a tsp flaky sea salt
One hundred grams natural yoghurt

Cook the potatoes for 9 minutes, then pour off the liquid and let them dry from steam for a minute. At the same time, put the paneer cubes in a pot of hot water for five minutes, then strain and blot dry.

Add the spice seeds into a pestle and mortar or blender, add the seasonings, then crush or grind to a rough rubble.

Transfer to a sizable container with the minced ginger and garlic, add the oil, then lightly combine with the paneer cubes, boiled potatoes, and onion wedges to coat. Skewer the components on to barbecue sticks, then transfer to a baking sheet and set aside until needed – optionally, you can at this stage cover and refrigerate the skewers.

Stir all the dressing components in a container. Turn on the grill to its maximum heat, then cook the skewers for 5–7 minutes on each side, until the paneer is browned and the potatoes are starting to char. (This may take a variable duration depending on the fierceness of your grill, so keep an eye on them, especially when cooking the first side.)

Serve the skewers hot, scattered with a little more flaky salt and the dressing alongside for dipping.