Nawabi Kabab

*Both non-vegetarian and shakahaari versions ahead :)

 

I lived in the City of Nawabs for the first 26 years of my life. Apart from Pehle Aap, Lucknow is synonymous with Kabab and Biryani. Going to roadside joints like Shekhawat, Zeeshaan, Awadh Biryani or Tunde for lip-smacking Mughlai cuisine was a weekly affair. We use to go with full preparation - a tray in our lap for comfortable eating in the car and a bottle of water since Mum thought it was useless to pay for 'Bisleri' if you can take water from home! The guy would lovingly bring tastier-than-anything-else-in-the-world kababs or biryani and we would slurp and sigh. I liked my kababs soft – the melt in your mouth variety. I even liked a hint of coriander and onions in the masala. Whatever the preference, Lucknow never disappointed as far as kebab and biryani is concerned. 

I knew I would miss family and friends after marriage. But I realized that I missed the food as much! Thankfully, I was given this recipe by one of my aunts and missing kabab was not a problem anymore. No, this is NOT a Tunde Kabab recipe. I’m posting a vegetarian version of kababs today. I make these with minced mutton/chicken as well. With Fortune Rice Bran oil, this sumptuous starter can be made more healthy. How? – read on:

For an exotic Luckhnawi experience, you will need:

1 cup each of Chana Daal (Split Bengal gram) and Kaale Chane (Brown Chickpeas) If you want to make it with minced meat, read the notes at the end.

1 large pod garlic minced

2 inch of ginger minced

3-4 green chillies

2 finely chopped onions

Handful of finely chopped coriander

Red chilli to taste

½ tsp Haldi

2 tsp Coriander powder

Salt to taste

Oil to shallow fry (The new Fortune Rice Bran oil is a healthier and definitely a tastier version)

Masala to be roasted and powdered:

2 tablespoon of Jeera (cumin seeds)

2 Tez Patta (bay leaf)

1 medium Dal Cheeni (cinnamon stick)

4-5 Laung (Cloves)

5-6 sabut Kaali Mirch (peppercorns)
2 Green cardamom
1 Black cardamom

A few urdu words (Janab Pehle Aap would be enough for the first dose of laughter!)

                                

 

Easy Procedure for a Yummy Experience:

Soak the Chana and Chana daal overnight. 

In the morning, put this in your pressure cooker and fill it with water just till where the daal and chana are. We don’t need much water for kababs. Just enough for the ingredients to cook well.

Ground the whole Garam Masalas to powder. If you are the Nawabi (read: slightly lazy) kinds, you can skip the grinding and add store bought Garam Masala powder and Jeera powder. For a more aromatic experience, griund this masala yourself. 

Add the masala, red chilli, haldi, coriander powder, salt and green chillies to the dals.

Mince ginger and garlic and add to the kebab mix. Be generous. Except for the salt and chilli, you can increase the quantity and not regret it.

Now swirl the mix with a spoon and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles on medium flame. When the heat escapes, open the cooker. 45 minutes to an hour in the cooker will do the kabab mix good.

Remove excess water if any.

When this mix is cool, grind this in your food processor. If you need to add a little water for smooth grinding, do it. But be careful. We don’t want a runny masala. Remember, we have to make round tikkis with it. My mother has help at home. Sometimes she asks her to ground this on the good old Sil Batta. Believe it or not, the taste is divine!

 

Once you grind the whole thing, add finely chopped coriander and onions to it. Taste the mix and add chilli, salt or garam masala if needed.

Now make tikkis with this mix and shallow fry. No, it doesn’t need any cornflour, bread crumbs or besan to hold. The chana daal acts like a binder. But since these are soft, melt-in-your-mouth variety, you cannot make tikkis and place them in a plate before-hand. You will have to put them directly on the tawa with hot oil on it.

And you will need a spatula and a spoon to turn them. It’s the only tricky part. It’s the last thing before achieving nirvana.

 

 

 

 

Serve with mint chutney mixed with yoghurt. Place onions and lime at the side for a twist.

Don't go overboard with Urdu, you can ruin the whole thing.

Notes:

**As I said before, these can be made with minced meat as well. Replace the bowl of chickpeas with Minced mutton and you will get the real feel. A cup of daal for 400-500 gms of minced meat should be enough. Just soak the daal for a few hours before putting everything in the cooker.

**You can increase the spices according to taste. I wouldn’t recommend decreasing.

**The mix settles after a few hours of refrigerating. So even if its slightly wet, you can refrigerate it and breathe a sigh of relief. Also, this mix makes about 25-30 kababs. You can refrigerate and use it for over 5-6 days. You can even make tikkis and freeze them for a month. 

**Use oil generously for a crisp outer layer. Really, don’t be on a diet here. And now that we have heart healthy stuff around, we can indulge without guilt.

This post is a part of Healthy & Tasty Recipe Contest with Fortune Rice Bran Health Oil & The Best community for Indian Bloggers BlogAdda.com