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One learned that the south Indian blend podi – a rough grind of fiery, roughly ground spices, which you mix with a little oil and use as a sauce for dosa or idli – is also known as “gunpowder” blend. That’s not a misnomer if you were using my grandmother’s personally dried peppers, but it would be generous to say that I’m far less daring with chilli, so here I suggest chilli flakes instead. It’s an extraordinarily good marinade for these paneer and potato skewers.

Spicy Paneer and Potato Skewers with Mint-Lime Dressing

Prepare six to eight barbecue sticks (if made of wood, soak them in water for 10 minutes first).

Prep a quick 10 minutes
Cook 30 min
Serves a couple

400g starchy potatoes, sliced into 4cm chunks
225g paneer, diced into two-centimeter cubes
1 tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
One tsp chilli flakes
One and a half teaspoon flaky sea salt, with more for serving
2 garlic cloves, skinned and shredded
2½cm piece fresh ginger, prepared and minced
about 3 tablespoons neutral oil
One red onion, peeled and cut into eight wedges, then sliced across

For the dressing
Lime zest and juice, freshly prepared
10g fresh mint leaves, diced small
½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
3.5 ounces natural yoghurt

Cook the potatoes for 9 minutes, then pour off the liquid and leave to steam dry for a minute. At the same time, put the paneer cubes in a bowl of boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

Pour the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds into a grinding bowl or mill, add the peppercorns, chilli flakes and sea salt, then crush or grind to a coarse mixture.

Transfer to a medium-large bowl with the shredded aromatics, add the oil, then carefully mix in the cubed paneer, cooked potatoes and red onions to coat. Thread the paneer, potatoes and onions on to barbecue sticks, then move to a sheet pan and reserve for later – if you like, you can at this stage cover and refrigerate the skewers.

Beat all the sauce elements in a mixing bowl. Turn on the grill to its maximum heat, then grill the skewers for 5–7 minutes on each side, until the paneer is crispy and the potatoes are beginning to blacken. (This may take a different amount of time depending on the heat of your broiler, so watch carefully, especially when cooking the first side.)

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