Coriander Spiced Chicken Patties with Preserved Lemon and Cucumber Raita

A story of letting things just be

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Lie to you, I won’t.

Full disclosure: This recipe started out as an unmitigated disaster, with ground chicken clinging desperately to my drawer pull, me teetering on the edge of a meltdown, and Nick hovering over my shoulder, concerned, but supportive, asking if he could help. Which he could not, because if I knew what I needed I would have done it myself. You see, typical of me at 7pm on a Tuesday night, I wanted way too many things. I wanted a ground chicken kebab that was so moist and succulent from being pushed to its limits with sweet onions and spices that chewing was barely necessary, but I also wanted it wrapped passionately around a skewer like Jlo in Hustlers.

Ah, gravity. It doesn’t just remind me of my age (43, young at heart but not quite 23 anymore), especially as the shiny Peloton screen highlights my neck’s gentle descent. It also reminds me that it’s a law of the universe that applies to all matter. Like meat. So when you have meat that is so tender and juicy, the taste and texture is absolutely delicious. But it’s got noooo muscle to work that pole.

“Just make it into a patty” Nick suggested with an unbothered shrug.

Sure, easy to say when you haven’t been fantasizing about sexy skewered ground meat kebobs since 3 a.m.

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“But that’s just a burger without a bun, who wants that? That’s not sexy.” I flicked some meat off my hand in frustration. “ These poor people are paying for my recipes….uggghhhhhghgggraarrrgggrrrrhhhh” I moaned with my head thrown back.

“But it tastes the same, and your subscribers don’t want to cry while they cook dinner sweetie so just make it into a patty…..my love” He added that last endearment with a gentle smile.

I shot him “that look”…. I was not in the mood for such pragmatism. But since it was already 7:30pm and the girls were starting to come into the kitchen and do that thing where they open and close the cupboards knowing they aren’t allowed to snack before dinner but they also want to silently signal their starvation and disapproval that dinner was late, again … I was over it.