Chef Rishi shares his grilling and barbecue tips

Mention grills to Chef Rishi, and he’ll begin to tell you about feasting on post-cricket kababs as a child and learning how to make marinades as a young chef. To celebrate the launch of our all-new Grill Kits, ideal summer party food for the BBQ (or the kitchen grill as little monsoons occur often in the UK) thanks to how easy they are to make, it feels only fitting he share some of his mouth watering memories.

As a thirteen year old boy in Delhi with endless energy and appetite, I treasured Sunday mornings. I’d wake up early, jump on my rickety Hero Cycle bicycle and hurriedly pedal five miles to a park close to Shantivan and Raj Ghat. There, me and my friends would set-up makeshift stick stumps and play cricket for hours… or until our minds and bellies turned (inevitably) to food.

This particular park held special importance for me, partly for the cricket, but mainly for the grills. After our sporting endeavours, we’d pack up and queue up outside our favourite grill vendor, waiting for the coals to be lit. As soon as they were ready, we’d eat a champion feast of sheekh kababs, murgh malai and chicken tikka covered in spicy-sour marinades and cooked on the open grill. We were more often than not the first customers of the day to pile in – loyal, some would say but perhaps it was more an over-fondness for food.

My life is peppered with rich memories of grills. The scent of charcoal wafting on the morning air as my father lit coals for the tandoor on our terrace (it was there that I pulled my first naan at the age of 6!). Balmy evenings spent in Colaba, Bombay, watching skewers of meat, seafood and vegetables smoke and sizzle and spit on open flaming grills as chefs toss and stretch dough to make fresh rotis. Deep enjoyment, guaranteed!

In my experience, and after enjoying many kebabs, I have learned that the finest grills are made up of three key steps:

The very best starting produce – be it meat, fish or vegetables.

An ideal marinade. A balance of spice, sour and, in some cases, a little bit of sweetness make the best coating for your grill of choice. When I was training to be a chef, we would make the murgh malai marinade by vigorously whisking cheese, yoghurt, cream, egg, salt and cornflour by hand for half an hour until we had a smooth paste. Mercifully, modern-fancy appliances have made such chores much more simple though they cannot help with the marinating time. Grills must be left for at least 12 hours (though 24 is actually best) to slowly soak up the marinade not only for flavour but texture as well. Indeed, at Dishoom our Spicy Lamb Chops are twice marinated over 24 hours for extra sweet-sour harmony.

The perfect char. Charring is part of grilling and key to the very best flavour. In my humble opinion, the best way to cook grills at home is on the BBQ, if you can. Though domestic grills also work well.

The above will give you grills fit for a feast.

And I should add, those lazy-hazy days of playing cricket and eating delicious grills with my old friends have certainly paid off – not as premier cricketers I hasten to add – but rather, we’re now all chefs.