Today’s recipe is from one of my dear friends – my neighbor and a wonderful cook Zahera Ummat! People who live here in the U.S might know what I mean if I say that, I got friendly with my neighbors just recently i.e. from the time spring season is on! Although we moved to our new home in November, I couldn’t meet my neighbors as it was winter then. I had to wait till April for that. Yes, it is true that seasons play a huge role in the lives of people here. Zahera lives just two doors next to ours, and she is a Bengali Muslim, who is very passionate about cooking good food. Maybe it is this love for food that brought us close. Anyways, we regularly meet nowadays for tea or lunch, at her place or mine, and talk about food in the main, and of course gossip a bit too!
Zahera is a Bengali but her mother is from Uttar Pradesh and her husband is from Orissa. So she makes a lot of variety food, recipes gathered from all these places, and she is very happy to share her recipes too. What a lucky lady I am !
I have now learnt to cook karahi chicken, Bengali begun bhaja, Bengali fish curry, haleem, bhuna gosht and lots of other muslim delicacies. And I am going to share them here one by one, starting with Shami kebabs.
Shami kebabs are a part of Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi cuisine. It is made of minced beef/mutton, chana dal and spices. They can be served with rice/ roti or as a snack along with mint raita. It is really drool worthy as the kebabs just melts in your mouth! They also freeze very well and can be stored up to 2 – 3 months in the freezer. Try it and satisfaction is guaranteed!
Ingredients (Makes 25 kebabs)
1. Minced meat (beef or lamb) – 1/2 kg (I used ground beef)
Chana dal – 1/2 cup, rinsed
Ginger – 1/2 inch, roughly chopped
Garlic – 5 – 6 large cloves, roughly chopped
Onion – 1 cup, roughly chopped
Dried red chilies – 2
Salt – To taste
Water – 1/4 – 1/2 cup
2. Lemon juice – 1.5 tsp
3. Egg – 1 – 2
To grind
4. Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp, heaped
Cumin seeds – 1.5 tsp
Whole pepper corns – 1 tsp
Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch
Cloves – 5
Black cardamom – 1
For the hara masala
5. Cilantro – 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
Mint leaves – 20 – 25
Green chilies – 1 – 2, chopped
Onion / spring onion – 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
Method
1. Add in the ground meat and all other ingredients numbered 1 in a pressure cooker. Mix well and pressure-cook for 2 – 3 whistles. Open the cooker after the pressure releases. Add the ground garam masala powder (ingredients numbered 4, powdered). Mix well and cook over medium heat while stirring often until the water completely evaporates. Set aside to cool.
2. When the mixture is cooled, transfer it to a food processor / large jar of a mixie. Add the chopped cilantro, mint leaves, green chilies, 1/2 cup onion and 1.5 tsp lemon juice. Grind to a fine mixture. Transfer it back to the pressure cooker. Roll the mixture into lemon-sized balls and flatten. (If the kebabs break while shaping or frying, add some mashed potatoes and mix well).
3. Beat the egg in a small bowl. Dip both sides of the kebabs in beaten egg and shallow fry in batches until browned on both sides. Serve with chapathi / naan / rice/ mint raita etc.
Recipe Courtesy – Zahera Ummat
What do you do with “2. Lemon juice – 1.5 tsp”?
I have updated the recipe. Thanks for letting me know..
Delicious and lovely looking shami kababs. This is my idea for a prefect meal.
Deepa
Thanks a ton Maya for this…u r a very good cook and more then that a nice person…keep up the good work
Looks as yummy as your blog
Thanks
Can it be stored as ready to fry? Should we dip it in egg n then store?
Yeah, you can freeze it for as long as 6 – 8 months. When you are ready to fry, take it out and dip in egg and then shallow fry. You don’t have to thaw it.
Wow!!! That one was a real amazing recipe!! and I want to try this asap.. the kebabs are looking crispy and yummy… Recently I found yet another kebab recipe… Aleppo Kebab Skewers in club noor page.. its basically a bamboo skewer.. but turned out to be a wonderful I have had.. Folks try this one too http://www.clubnoor.com/en/recipe/aleppo-kebab-skewers
Do you add water to the pressure cooker? If you do how much
Add around 1/4 – 1/2 cup water. I have mentioned that in the recipe..
I tried this today and the mix turned out be sticky. Is it because i added potato? What can be done now to get the correct texture? Cant shape it and when fried its breaking and getting soggy. Pls reply soon
Add some mashed potatoes or a little bit of flour/ corn flour or bread crumbs if the dal-keema mixture is moist and the kebabs break while frying.. dip it in beaten egg before frying as it acts as a binding agent..also shallow fry them in 2 – 3 tbsp oil at medium heat and do not flip them immediately…cook them completely on one side and flip. hope this helps!