Shami Kabab Recipe

Wash the chana daal and soak it in plenty of water for an hour, then drain.

⏱ 60 min

Put the beef, drained chana daal, roughly chopped onion, garlic, ginger, all the whole spices, salt and water in a heavy pot. Bring to a boil and skim off the scum.

⏱ 10 min

Cover and simmer on low heat until the beef is very tender and the daal is soft enough to crush between your fingers.

⏱ 60 min

Uncover, raise the heat and stir until every drop of water has dried and the mixture starts to fry in its own fat. Pick out the bay leaves, cinnamon and black cardamom shells. Let it cool.

⏱ 15 min

Grind the cooled mixture in a chopper or on a sil-batta until fine and doughy, with no whole daal left.

⏱ 5 min

Knead in the finely chopped onion, green chillies, coriander, mint, garam masala and 1 egg. Taste and adjust the salt.

With lightly oiled hands, shape into about 24 smooth, round patties 1.5 cm thick, pressing the edges so there are no cracks. Freeze at this stage if you like.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Dip each kabab in beaten egg and fry, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper.

⏱ 4 min