It has been absolutely scorching recently and our commitment to a British only holiday this year is appearing to be a wise choice if it continues like this. We risked getting the BBQ out yesterday. From the garage was wheeled the creaking cookery platform with distant memories of BBQs long gone still evident. A good scrub, some new coals and it was ready for some food.

Now I’ve always been a bit sceptical of BBQs of the British variety. Anything that gets a bloke who never cooks donned in a comedy pinny, lager in one hand and tongs in the other ready to tease a few economy sausages over the flames isn’t my idea of culinary heaven. Put it this way; I’ve had a few close shaves in one or two smokefilled gardens over the years. And salmonella roulette isn’t a game I enjoy too much.

Thankfully it was just the family around and it all turned out to be rather lovely if a little optimistic; 6pm in a small garden in South Tyneside is never going to be the Algarve no matter how you look at it. But a few sticks of tandoori turkey stuffed into warm flatbreads and smothered with cooling raita made for a nice introduction to, fingers crossed, good times to come this summer.

Tandoori Turkey Sticks with Mint Raita
1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground coriander and chilli powder
4 ground cardamom pods
Salt and pepper
200ml natural yoghurt
Juice of half a lemon
500g turkey breast cut into chunks
4 wooden skewers, soaked in water for a couple of hours, or metal skewers
For the Raita
3 tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped
Half a cucumber, peeled, deseeded and cut into chunks
200ml natural yoghurt
Salt and pepper
1 – Put the yoghurt into a bowl and stir in the spices along with a little seasoning and the lemon juice.

2 – Thread the turkey onto the skewers. Put the turkey skewers into a shallow dish and pour over the marinade, ensuring that it is covered. Leave to marinade for 2-3 hours or overnight in the fridge.

3 – To make the raita, mix everything together in a bowl with a little seasoning.
4 – BBQ the turkey skewers for 10 minutes, turning regularly, until golden and charred in places.
5 – Serve with chapattis or naan breads, plain or lemon rice and the raita.