Start by making the saffron butter. Add the butter to a ramekin and microwave for about 30 seconds until it’s melted. Add in the pinch of saffron, give it a good stir, and let it infuse while you make the kebabs.

Grate the onion into a large mixing bowl. You can also use a food processor to do this. DO NOT chop the onion with a knife, you want to almost turn it into a paste.

Squeeze the grated onion until you get all the juice out - you want it as dry as possible. You can also strain it using a cheesecloth or a strainer and press till all the water runs out.

Add the ground meat to the grated and strained onions. Season the meat well with salt, pepper, turmeric (optional) and sumac (optional) and mix all of it well for a good 3-4 minutes. You want to mix it till the meat has an almost tacky, pasty consistency to it and all the ingredients are completely incorporated into it.

Once it’s all well mixed, place a steel or oven-proof ramekin right in the centre of the meat mixture. Heat a piece of charcoal over a naked flame, till it’s red-hot and glowing. Place the charcoal in the ramekin while still red hot and quickly pour about a teaspoon of melted butter or ghee over it. As it begins to smoke, place a heat-proof lid quickly on the mixing bowl. The idea is to trap all the smoke inside the bowl and let it infuse into the meat for about 20 minutes. Then chill the mix to make it easier to shape.

Preheat the oven at this point to the highest temperature, which in my case is 230C/450F (no fan).

If you’re not using skewers, simply shape the meat mixture into an even square about an inch thick, then use a knife or spatula to separate them into individual rectangular kebabs. Use your thumb to thumb to make indents every few centimetres so it resembles the shape of traditional kebab koobideh.

Place it in the oven with the parchment paper and let it cook. Halfway through cooking, baste the kebabs with the saffron butter. Give it another few minutes, then flip it over and baste again with the saffron butter. Let it cook for the full 12-15 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and if you want more colour outside, hit it with a blowtorch like I did.

If you don’t have flat metal skewers, improvise them by wrapping a pair of chopsticks or four wooden skewers with tape and then with aluminum foil and flattening it out.

If you’re using the skewers, grab a handful of the meat mix and proceed to shape it around the skewer till you have a rough log. Flatten it out and use our fingers to make indentations by gripping it lightly. (This is best explained via video).

Get a cast iron skillet on the stove and add some avocado oil. Let it get nice and hot, then place the kebabs in the pan.

After about 3-4 minutes on high heat, flip them over. Baste the kebabs with the saffron butter

After about 3 more minutes, flip the kebabs and baste the other side with the butter and take them off the pan.

To the still hot pan, add in the halved tomatoes, onion quarters and chillies, season them with a bit of salt and let them just char in the skillet.

Baste the veggies also in the saffron butter and cook till just softened and charred.

Place the kebabs on a plate with the charred veggies, pour the remaining saffron butter over it and serve!