Tonur Kawap

Among Xinjiang's roasted lambs, the smoky open-fire kawap (charcoal kebab) belongs to Turpan, while Kashgar's signature is tonur kawap — lamb cooked inside the cylindrical clay oven (tonur, the Uyghur form of tandoor) that everyday households also use to bake naan and samsa. The lamb is cut into fist-sized bone-in chunks, then coated in a batter of egg, flour, cumin, turmeric, black pepper and salt and left to marinate. The chunks are pressed onto the scorching clay wall; the open fire is then raked out, the pit mouth is sealed, and the meat roasts in the trapped heat for about half an hour. Pulled out and sprinkled with more cumin and chili, the result is closer to roasting than grilling — the wall's radiant heat cooks it evenly, giving a crusty surface over juicy meat.

The lamb forms a golden, crisp crust while the inside stays dripping with fat. The meat next to the bone is the best part, carrying the smoke of the clay pit, with the egg-flour batter adding an extra crisp layer. Cumin and chili are sprinkled on the moment it comes out of the pit, and it's at its best eaten piping hot.

It all comes down to the clay tonur. The walls are first heated until scorching; once the lamb is stuck on, the fire is raked out and the pit sealed, so the radiant heat trapped in the walls cooks the meat slowly and evenly — more thoroughly than over a direct flame. The egg-flour batter sets into a shell that seals in the juices, giving a crusty outside and tender inside, while the smoke trapped in the closed pit soaks deeper into the meat than any open fire.