Shikampuri kebab (cheese stuffed kebab)

Recipe adapted from Vah Chef (makes around 20)

Meat- 500 gms (I used minced beef, you can use beef cubes, minced lamb, lamb cubes, or even chicken)

Chana dal- 1/2 cup, washed till water runs clear

Ground pepper- 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon- 2, 1 inch pieces

Cardamom- 3 pods

Cloves- 2

Dried red chilly- 3

Salt- to taste

Mint leaves- 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Coriander leaves- 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Fried onions- 2 tbsp

Cumin powder- 1/2 tsp

Garam masala powder- 1 tsp

Red chilly powder- 1 tsp

Lime juice- 1 tbsp

For the filling

Ricotta cheese- 250 gms (Traditionally, hung curd is used)

Green chillies- 2, finely chopped (add more if you want it spicy)

Coriander leaves- 1 tbsp, finely chopped

Onions- 2 tbsp, finely chopped

Salt- to taste

Oil- to shallow fry

Cook together the meat, chana dal, ground pepper, whole spices and red chilly in a pressure cooker with little or no water. I used about 1/4 cup water.

Once you open the cooker, if there is lot of stock, cook on high flame till most of the water has evaporated. 

Keep aside to cool completely and then blend to a paste. Do not add any water.

Transfer this mix to a mixing bowl and add the mint, coriander, fried onions, cumin, garam masala, red chilli powder and lime juice. 

Using your hands, mix the masala into the meat paste, as evenly as possible. 

If you feel that the mix is slightly moist, keep in the refrigerator so its easier to shape.

While the meat is cooking you can also get the filling ready.

Mix together all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Keep refrigerated till ready to use.

I used ricotta because it was a more convenient option. But even then there was quite a bit of water content in the cheese, so i still hung it in a cloth and tried to get as much water out. 

Assembling

At this stage if you fee that the meat mix is too dry, as in, its cracking while you are tying to make balls, then sprinkle some water and knead well. Add water bit by bit, or else the kebab will fall apart while frying,

Make lime size balls out of the meat mix, you should get around 20 of them.

Flatten it out , make a well and stuff about 1/2 tsp of cheese filling. Bring edges together and seal.

Gently flatten the kebab using your palm, and shape into a round

This takes a wee bit of practise. If the filling is too much then it oozes out, so start with a small quantity and once you get the hang of it, add more filling.

Heat a tawa and drizzle the oil. Not too much oil, just enough to shallow fry.

Fry the kebabs on medium heat till both the sides turn crisp and brown.

Serve with mint chutney.

Notes:

If you are using minced meat, you can cook it in a frying pan as well.

Ive also tried it with Mascarpone cheese and it works fine.

Make sure your filling isnt loose, as it will ooze out of the kebab while frying. remove as much water content possible.

Shami kebabs with coriander-mint chutney

 

I love kebabs, and its a pity we don't get them as frequently as we did back home. We had this really nice tandoori restaurant near home and my dad would so often go pick up tandoori chicken, seekh kebabs, chicken tikka and the like from there. Even now when i go back home, he gets me the kebabs and it tastes just as nice, but i just haven't had anything close to that here. I mean Tayyabs is good and so is Kadiri's but they are so far away, and i miss those corner kebab places you find in abundance in India.

So the next best thing is to try and make your own. I have a few favourites that i have proudly mastered, like the Afghani murgh malai kebabs, the beef seekh kebabs and chicken tikka, and they make it to the table at most of my parties because they are so easy to make. Shami kebabs on the other hand is a bit difficult to make, i admit, but so frikking tasty and def up there on the kebab list. Like seriously melt-in-the-mouth types.

I had some friends over last weekend and I made these kebabs as starters and served them with a spicy coriander mint chutney, which i must say came out so well. The one time i previously made them, they were bitter...its a problem i always seem to face with coriander leaves when ground. I started putting it together with a plan b in mind, 99 percent sure it wasn't going to turn out nice, but then, it just did...and i decided to post it here before i forgot the measurements.

The recipe is from Maya's Yummy O Yummy, a blog i religiously follow for all my mallu recipes. She's really got some amazing stuff up there so do drop by and check them out. 

Makes 25 to 30 small patties

Ground beef- 1/2 kg

Chana dal- 1/2 cup, rinsed

Ginger- 1 1/2 tsp, peeled and chopped

Garlic- 2 tsp, peeled and chopped

Onion- 1 cup, roughly chopped

Dried red chillies- 2

Salt- to taste

Water- 1/2 cup

To grind

Coriander seeds- 1 tbsp

Cumin seeds- 1 1/2 tsp

Whole peppercorns- 1 tsp

Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch

Cardamom- 2 pods

Cloves- 4

Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup, washed and roughly chopped

Mint leaves- 25 (around 1/4 cup packed)
Onion- 1/2 cup, roughly hopped

Oil- enough to shallow fry the patties
Egg- 1, beaten

Into a pressure cooker throw in the ground beef, chana dal, ginger, garlic, onion, red chillies and salt.

Break the meat down, while mixing in the other ingredients as well.

Pour in the water and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes or for around 2 to 3 whistles.

Once the pressure releases, open the cooker and add the ground mix.

If there is any water, put it back on medium-high heat and cook till the water completely evaporates, while stirring continuously.
Keep aside to cool.

Once cool, transfer the contents of the cooker into a food processor/ blender along with the coriander, mint leaves and onion and grind to a paste.
(I do not have a food processor and my spice mill is too small, I'd have to grind it multiple times, so i used my immersion blender which surprisingly worked fine. I think I've solved my minced meat dilemma for cutlets)

 

Transfer the ground meat to a large bowl and start making small lime size balls and flatten.
You can freeze the patties at this point and continue with the next step once you take them out of the freezer.
When ready to cook, heat oil in a pan, dip the patties in the egg and fry till brown on both sides.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot with the chutney.

Notes: The shami kebabs are traditionally made with ground mutton, but i went with beef. Feel free to use the exact measurement of ground lamb.
The kebabs weren't spicy at all, and so i made the chutney a wee bit spicy, which worked well.

Coriander-mint chutney

 

Coriander leaves- 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
Mint leaves- 1/4 cup
Cumin powder- 1/4 tsp
Lemon juice- a generous dash
Green chilli- 1, chopped
Salt- to taste
Yoghurt- 2 heaped tbsp

Blend together all the ingredients, except yoghurt, in a food processor (I used my spice mill).
Transfer to a bowl and stir in the yoghurt.
Adjust seasoning if required.
The chutney stays in the refrigerator in an air tight container for about 5 days.