Donner Kebabs with Pink Pickle
Try this healthy, vegan version of a well-loved junk food classic for a healthy and tasty mid-week dinner.
Servings
4
Ingredients
- For the Pink Pickle:
- 150ml cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 beetroot, peeled and cut into fine matchsticks
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1/2 fennel bulb, very thinly sliced
- 3 radishes, thinly sliced
- For the Kofta Seitan Sausage:
- 230g vital wheat gluten
- 30g nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 tablespoons plain flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- few turns of black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 320ml vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons harissa paste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- The the Kebab:
- Sunflower or vegetable oil, for frying
- 350g Kebab Kofta Seitan Sausage
- Small bunch of mint, chopped
- 200ml vegan yogurt
- 4 pitta breads
- Pink pickle
- 200g Hummus 80g interesting mixed salad leaves
- Hot chilli sauce, to taste
- 2 tablespoons Dukkah
Method
- To make the pickle, heat the vinegar, sugar, bay leaf, spices and salt in a pan until dissolved. Pack the sliced veg into a sterilized 500ml clip-top jar. Pour in the warm liquid to the top. Close and leave for at least a few hours until cold, but preferably for a couple of days, if not weeks.
- For the sausage, mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients and knead together, as if making bread, for 5 minutes, until you have a firm dough.
- Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Form each half into a rough log shape. Lay out a sheet of clingfilm and place 1 log in the centre. Roll the clingfilm around the log, push out any trapped air and twist the ends of the clingfilm together around the log to tighten it into a large sausage shape. This is best done by holding the clingfilm ends and rolling the log along the work surface a few times until the clingfilm is drum-skin tight.
- Wrap it neatly in kitchenfoil. Repeat the rolling process with the other half.
- Place the wrapped sausages in a large saucepan of water and bring it up to a low simmer. Poach the sausages gently over low heat for 1 hour, topping up the water if necessary, until they feel very firm when squeezed.
- Remove the logs from the water and leave to cool, then pop them in the fridge to chill overnight. Don’t remove the wrapping until they are completely chilled, or they will expand and lose their shape.
- The sausages will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for four or five days. When ready to cook, simply slice up the sausage and fry the slices in a little oil over medium-high heat for 3 minutes on each side, until coloured and crispy at the edges.
- To make the kebabs, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large frying pan, add the seitan and cook over a medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes, until nicely coloured and heated through.
- While the seitan fries, mix the mint into the yogurt. Lightly toast the pittas and split them open along 1 side.
Slather some hummus inside each pitta and add a spoonful of drained pink pickles. Tuck in a small handful of salad leaves, followed by a generous serving of the fried seitan. Add a drizzle of yogurt and as much chilli sauce as you fancy. Finish with a scattering of dukkah. Eat with gusto.
Taken from Dirty Vegan by Matt Pritchard. Published by Mitchell Beazley. Photography by Jamie Orlando Smith and Chris Terry.
