Who doesn't love a dirty kebab? That's right, nobody. We all love it. BUT what if you've decided to go vegan or vegetarian? You don't want to eat meat, but you still long for the tasty, meaty, spicy, dirty food that you loved?! Just because you don't eat animal products doesn't mean you can't still enjoy those flavours! Plus, although this feels dirty to eat, this version is super low in fat, high in protein and won't make you feel like shit afterwards! Happy days! Now.. let's get started..
Go and get this stuff first:
200g Vital Wheat Gluten (I get mine online, but you can buy from any good health food store), 2 tbsp nutritional yeast (available in every supermarket these days!), 3tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp mixed herbs, 1 tbsp Moroccan spice blend (I use Morrisons own), 2tbsp turmeric, 2tbsp coriander, 2tbsp cumin, 2 tbsp garlic granules, 1 veggie stock cube (or meat free beef stock cube), 1/2 onion, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 3tbsp drained kidney beans, 250-300ml hot water, 1 tsp mint sauce, tin foil, cling film, a blender, 2 tsp oil for frying, pan of boiling water
1. Mix together all the dried herbs and spices in a small dish (easy) In a small frying pan, brown and soften the onion before adding 2 tsp of the spice mix. Keep on a low heat and keep stirring until fragrant. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a jug add the soy sauce, stock cube, tomato puree, nutritional yeast, and 250ml (ish) hot water. stir to dissolve and set to one side.
3. To a blender, add the kidney beans, fried onion mix, mint sauce and stock mixture along with the rest of the spice blend, keeping 2 tsp to one side (we'll need it later!) then... BLEND until smooooooooth
4. Put 200g vital wheat gluten in a large bowl and tip in the blended goodness. Use a spoon to start, but then get your hands in there and knead lightly until all the liquid is incorporated and you've got a weird, stretchy, soft doughy thing. You might need to add a bit more gluten if too wet or soft. Just keep slowly adding the liquid until you get a stretchy dough, don't worry if you have a bit of blended stuff left over! Lightly stretch and knead for just a couple of minutes to get the gluten working (the more you work it, the firmer the texture will be later. Keep it softer for kebab realness)
5. Stretch out the seitan to a rectangle, and now we need to fold and roll! Fold the sides over, then the top. Tightly stretch and roll it towards you to make a log (I know what it looks like, grow up.), the tighter the better! It's a bit fiddly and feels kinda gross, but you'll get there. Then we have to tightly wrap in cling film TWICE to make sure it doesn't escape when cooking. Then a double layer of tin foil.
6. Add to a pan of boiling water and leave to cook with the lid on for about an hour, turning over half way. Then carefully remove from the pan, take off the tin foil and let the kebab cool in the cling film (to keep it's shape, and keep the flavours in!) it will spring back when pressed, and bounce if you drop it from a small height (unnecessary to do, but fun to watch)
7. Once cooled, slice thinly and fry in a pan with the remaining spice mix. You just want to heat it through and get some tasty, crispy edges going on.. and you are good to go!!
YOU'RE WELCOME.
Serve with fresh salad, flatbreads, pickles, sauces of choice... stay tuned for my easy flatbread recipe, garlic and herb sauce and sweet red onion pickle recipes! The perfect match for this delicious vegan kebab!
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