Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •8 metal or wooden skewers (soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes)
• •Outdoor grill or cast-iron grill pan
• •Heavy frying pan for the flatbread
• •Rolling pin
• •Box grater for the cucumber

Instructions

1. 1

   Marinate the chicken

   Put the chicken pieces in a bowl with the olive oil, lemon juice, grated garlic, paprika, salt, and a good grind of black pepper. Mix everything together with your hands until every piece is coated. Cover and set aside for at least thirty minutes, or up to four hours in the fridge. The lemon juice and yogurt in the marinade begin breaking down the surface of the meat, and that's what gives you tenderness on a hot grill. Breast meat can't do this. It dries out before the peppers have even softened. Thighs have fat running through them, and that fat is your insurance.

   Four hours is better than thirty minutes. If you can marinate in the morning before work and grill in the evening, do it. The flavor gets deeper and the texture gets softer.
2. 2

   Make the yogurt sauce

   Grate the cucumber on the coarse side of a box grater. Squeeze the grated cucumber firmly in your fist over the sink to get rid of the water. This matters: watery cucumber makes a thin, sad sauce. Put the squeezed cucumber in a bowl with the thick yogurt, the finely chopped dill, the lemon juice, the grated garlic, and a good pinch of salt. Stir it together and taste. It should be cool, sharp, and green with dill. Adjust the salt or lemon until it tastes bright. Set it in the fridge until you're ready to serve.

   Squeeze the cucumber until almost nothing comes out. The difference between a sauce that clings to the chicken and one that pools on the plate is the water you removed.
3. 3

   Make the flatbread dough

   Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the yogurt and stir until a rough dough forms. Tip it onto a lightly floured surface and knead for two minutes, just until smooth. The dough should be soft and pliable, not sticky. Divide it into four equal balls and cover with a clean cloth while you prepare the skewers. The yogurt makes this dough tender without yeast, and it cooks in minutes. No rising, no waiting.

4. 4

   Thread the skewers

   Thread the marinated chicken onto skewers, alternating with chunks of pepper and wedges of red onion. Leave a small gap between each piece. This is important: if you pack them tight, the surfaces touching each other steam instead of grilling, and you lose the char that makes this dish work. You want each piece to face the heat directly. Eight skewers from this amount of chicken is about right, four pieces of meat on each with peppers and onion between.

   If you're using wooden skewers, soak them in water for thirty minutes first. Dry wood catches fire on the grill and the skewer snaps when you try to turn it. Metal skewers are simpler and last forever.
5. 5

   Grill the skewers

   Get your grill hot. If you're using charcoal, wait until the coals are covered with white ash and you can hold your hand over them for no more than three seconds. That's the right heat. If you're using a grill pan indoors, set it over the highest heat and let it get properly hot before anything goes on. Oil the grill bars or pan lightly. Lay the skewers down and leave them alone for three to four minutes. Don't move them. The char forms because the meat sits still against the hot metal. Turn them and grill for another three to four minutes. The chicken is done when the juices run clear and the peppers have softened and taken on dark grill marks at the edges. The onion wedges should be tender but still holding their shape.

   Resist turning the skewers more than once or twice. Every time you move them you interrupt the sear. Two good turns give you char on three sides, and that's enough.
6. 6

   Cook the flatbread

   While the skewers grill (or just before), roll each dough ball out on a lightly floured surface into a rough circle about 20cm across. Don't worry about perfect shapes. These are meant to look handmade. Heat a heavy frying pan over high heat and melt a small knob of butter in it. Lay a flatbread in the pan and cook for about ninety seconds on each side. You'll see bubbles forming on the surface and the underside will have golden brown spots. That's what you want. Stack the cooked flatbreads under a clean cloth to keep them warm and soft while you finish the rest.

7. 7

   Serve at the table

   Pile the skewers on a warm platter. Set the yogurt sauce and the flatbreads alongside, with lemon wedges and a few extra dill fronds scattered over everything. Let people pull the chicken and vegetables off the skewers themselves, wrap them in flatbread, and spoon on the cold sauce. This is summer faellesspisning, the shared meal, and it works best when everyone builds their own. Tak for mad.

Chef Tips

• •Use chicken thighs, always. I cannot say this strongly enough. Breast meat on a skewer over high heat dries out and turns chalky. Thighs stay juicy because of the fat that runs through them, and they take on the marinade better. This is not a shortcut. It is the right choice.
• •The peppers should be sweet and heavy in the hand. Red and yellow are best for the grill because they have the most sugar and caramelize instead of just charring. Green peppers stay bitter under heat and fight the lemon in the marinade.
• •Make the yogurt sauce first and let it sit in the fridge while you grill. Cold sauce against hot chicken is the contrast that makes the whole plate work. If the sauce is room temperature, you've lost half the pleasure.
• •If you don't have an outdoor grill, a cast-iron grill pan on the highest heat your stove can give you does the job. Open the windows. The smoke is part of the experience.

Advance Preparation

• •The chicken can marinate in the fridge for up to four hours. Longer than that and the lemon juice starts to change the texture of the meat, making it mealy instead of tender.
• •The yogurt sauce keeps well in the fridge for two days. The flavor actually deepens overnight as the dill steeps into the yogurt.
• •The flatbread dough can be made and portioned an hour ahead. Keep the balls covered with a damp cloth so they don't dry out.
• •Thread the skewers up to an hour before grilling and keep them covered in the fridge. Bring them to room temperature for ten minutes before they hit the grill, so the meat cooks evenly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)