Guyss….In the coming two weeks you will witness plenty of dishes here that you might not even have heard of before, ooorrrr like me, you would have heard of them but have no clue how it’s made or how it tastes.
All the credit goes to my dearest friend and neighbor, Zahera Ummat. She’s too kind! Believe me, there are many people who would never actually share their recipes with others.
Most of Zahera’s recipes are traditional Mughlai ones, passed on to her from her mother and grandmother and are lip smackingly delicious. I am proud to share all these royal recipes with you all.
I am lucky to taste whatever she makes almost every day. She even pass me the recipes with accurate measurements so I don’t need to do any guesswork :). Every dish I try out following her recipe comes out looking and tasting almost the same like hers. And since she lives so close-by I make her taste-check too. I strive to give my precious readers nothing but the best recipes!!!
Since we both are from different places, our food is also different. As I have mentioned before, her mom is from UP, father from Bengal, husband from Orissa and she know a lot of Pakistani recipes as she have many Pakistani friends. That makes me exposed to 3 – 4 different cuisines and you can’t imagine how excited I am when I learn each one of them. Shes also excited to learn some of my Kerala dishes like appam, stew etc.
I am planning to post some of her bengali recipes and few traditional ones such as Mutton chaps, sheer khurma, shrimp ghonto, everyday chicken curry, turai chana dal, Ghugni, Chingri malai curry, Kolkatta fish biriyani, Gosht biriyani, murgh mussalum, chana dal halwa and mishit doi in the coming days. Though some names may sound unfamiliar and complicated, they are all easy to make, tastes yummy and most of the ingredients might be available in your pantry too. I will give you a small outline of each dish so you would be able to know more about it.
So today’s special is chicken shami kebab! I tasted this on her daughters birthday party. There were plenty of food adorning Zahera’s dining table that day and I just loved these kebabs. She says traditionally shami kebabs are made with minced meat and this is her version with chicken. I have already posted her recipe for shami kebabs with minced meat. You may find it here.
The taste is a bit similar to Kerala chicken cutlets but the texture is way different. Shami kebabs are very delicate and have a very soft melt in the mouth texture. And you can freeze the left overs. When ready to fry, just take them out of the freezer, dip both sides in beaten egg and shallow fry in oil. That makes it soo easy..right?They can be served with rice/ roti or as a snack as is or along with mint raita. Hope you give this a try.
Ingredients (Makes around 15)
1. Boneless chicken – 1/2 kg
Chana dal – 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp
Potato – 1 medium-large or 2 small
Onion – 1/2 cup, chopped
Ginger – 1 inch,roughly chopped
Garlic – 7 – 8, roughly chopped
Dried red chilies- 3
Whole black pepper corns – 10 – 15
Cloves – 5 – 6
Cardamom – 3
Cinnamon stick – 1/2 inch
Salt – To taste
Water – 1/4 cup
2. Onion – 1/4 cup
Cilantro – 1/4 cup, chopped
Green chilies – 2, chopped
Lemon juice – 1.5 tsp
3. Eggs – 1 – 2, beaten
4. Oil – To shallow-fry
Method
1. Pressure cook the ingredients numbered 1 for 2 – 3 whistles. Switch off. When the pressure releases, open the cooker and cook for a few minutes until the extra moisture evaporates. Set aside to cool. Transfer this to a food processor and add onion, cilantro, green chilies and lemon juice. Grind to a fine mixture. Transfer back to the cooker, grease your palms and form round patties. (If you are unable to form patties, keep the mixture in the refrigerator for about 1 – 2 hrs and then form patties).
2. Heat 2 – 3 tbsp oil in a pan at medium or medium-high heat. Dip the chicken patties in beaten egg one by one and shallow-fry until browned on both sides. They will be very soft and delicate immediately after frying but will harden up in a few mts. Serve after 15 – 20 minutes.
Tip
To freeze the kebabs – Arrange the shaped kebabs on a greased plate, cover with a cling wrap and freeze for 2 hrs or until hard. Transfer to a zipper lock and store in the freezer for up to 3 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.
Sham mi kababs looks yummy o yummy. Will try it out
Thanks a lot Maya for appreciating my recipes sooo much,its always a pleasure to share my recipes to an expert cook like you…Stay Blessed.
Thank u Zahera n Maya
Tried the kebabs today. They turned out very well and everyone enjoyed them
Thanks a lot for your feedback, Miriam Happy to know that it turned out well..
Maya, Do you use any sort if food processor for mincing all this through? Which one… The kebabs look yum
I use a hamilton beach food processor..heres the link
http://www.amazon.com/Hamilton-Beach-70450-8-Cup-Processor/dp/B000M2FCWC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1452273159&sr=8-6&keywords=hamilton+beach+food+processor