Bengali Mango-Tamarind Barbecue Sauce

Bengali Shish Kebabs with Bengali Mango-Tamarind Barbecue Sauce and Naan!  I was talking to Zoë the other day about how she felt my WOTG (What’s on the Grill) series was becoming a little monotonous (Although, I thinkshe was seriously just getting tired of seeing grilled meat all the time).  Grilled steak this, grilled steak that and so on and so forth.  Admittedly, one of the reasons I started down the WOTGpath was to document what I had done in hopes of one, remembering what I did do; two, learning from it; and three, trying new things.  One and two are working well but three, I need to improve.  This brings me to tonight.

About ten years ago I purchased Stephen Raichlen’s The Barbecue! Bible.  This was probably the first cookbook (most certainly grilling book) I had ever bought.  I remember flipping through the pages and being amazed at all of the recipes.  Since grilling is essentially the oldest form of cooking, it should have been no surprise that a number of the recipes spanned not only traditional American staples, but Asian, Vietnamese, Thai and Indian as well. 

While stumbling for ideas for dinner, I pulled out the BBQ Bible and in so doing, had obviously forgotten what a great international resource this cookbook was. We already decided on kebabs for dinner, now the question was what kind.  The Bengali Shish Kebabs won out and mostly, because I had everything on hand!

I shall dutifully note in reference to the kebabs I skimped a little and used sirloin instead of tenderloin.  I went cheap and wished I wouldn’t have.  Not a deal breaker, but just not as tender as I would have preferred.  For the kebabs you use a rub of garlic, ginger, salt, coriander, cumin, black pepper and cayenne pepper.  All of the ingredients are mixed together and then placed on the meat to marinade for two hours.  I deviated from the recipe by adding in onion, green pepper and mushrooms.  The recipe calls for the meat to be grilled alone and then cucumber, tomato and onion added later.  I wanted that wonderful rub on the vegetables as well.

After the marinade, the meat is skewered and then grilled over direct medium heat until done.  I also made Naan, which I have done before and absolutely love.  But, by far the best part of the meal was the barbecue sauce.  I have had a block of wet tamarind sitting around for months and I was thrilled because I finally got to use it. Good times my friends, good times!  The barbeque sauce, with its sweet and sour taste, absolutely made the dish.  With the skewers cooked, I loaded a mound of meat and vegetables on to the Naan and then covered it in the sauce.  Great flavor and a great meal.

Bengali Mango-Tamarind Barbecue Sauce

From The Barbecue! Bible p. 464

1/2 cups Tamarind Water

1 cup diced ripe mango

1 medium onion finely chopped

1 piece green bell pepper finely chopped

2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

3 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar ( I ended up adding a 4th.)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

The tamarind water, mango, onion, peppers, ginger, brown sugar and salt are placed in a pot.  Bring the pot to a boil over medium heat and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for approximately 20 minutes.  The mango and onion should be soft.

Stir in the cilantro and lime juice and remove from the heat.

Using a food processor, puree and then serve.