Spiced Chicken Kebab

OMG I just made the most amazing dish! It was sooo good that I immediately rushed to the computer to post the recipe before I forgot what I put in it. Two days ago my cousin Elaine gave me a chicken sausage from her favorite Indian place and I immediately thought that I could replicate it. And then just yesterday in my Saveur magazine, my favorite food mag by the way, there was a spread about Istanbul and Turkish Food. There was a recipe for Urfa Kebab, Spiced Lamb Kebab, that was similar to what my cousin fed me. I used the recipe as a base and added some other flavors that I thought would go well and man, was it DELICIOUS! Rarely do I love the food I make. I am my own worst critic and I usually I'm never satisfied the way things turn out because it can always be better. But WOW this was good. It's perfect. I added some coriander, chili flakes, fresh mint and fresh cilantro to the mix because it really isn't a party without some herbs and spices. I stuffed the meat mixture into some sweet peppers but the recipe is so versatile you can use it to make patties and kebabs for the bbq grill, meatballs with a yogurt sauce, stuffed into a pita to make a gyro, or eaten alongside saffron scented basmati rice with golden raisins.

Your meat mixture should be studded with fresh cilantro and mint like this:
And I stuffed it into these sweet peppers (so sweet that I was eating them raw):

Turkish Indian inspired Kebabs
2lbs ground chicken, or turkey, or lamb
half of an onion, diced and sauteed in some olive oil
2 T paprika
2 T salt
2-3 t cumin
2 t dried oregano
1 t coriander
1 t ground black pepper
1/2 t dried chili flakes
1/2 t fennel seeds, or dill seeds
1 big handful cilantro, chiffonade
1 big handful mint, chiffonade

1. Mix everything together. I stuffed the meat into sweet peppers and steamed them but you can do whatever you like. They are especially delicious formed into patties and sauteed in a pan or over a bbq grill.

Update: Cumin is a very strong flavor that not many people like. I happen to love cumin but if you don't than perhaps you should add less or omit the cumin altogether.