Some time back my 6 year old nephew Ayaan had claimed that
“This proves that the men in our family are better cooks than their wives”
And I am not here to deny it! 🙂 If only the men in my family find the inspiration to cook everyday it will be amazing! But I think the secret of their better cooking lies in the fact that they do it occasionally. Yesterday Sikander was checking our freezer when he saw the mince chicken packet. After some time he comes to tell me “I’ve put the mince chicken out… I don’t know yet, but I will make some kind of kebabs today”. I was like “sure! Why not”. It’s weekend; it’s weekend kitchen – time to explore and experiment 🙂
So he looked up a number of recipes on the net and finally zeroed in on Chicken Shammi Kebabs. Initially we had thought we would freeze some of it as 250gms chicken is a bit too much for two people, but when once the first batch of kebabs was done and we tasted it, we knew there is no scope of freezing! They all simply disappeared into our mouth :). I also made the coriander-mint chutney to go with the kebabs (will post the recipe separately.. this space is just for the hero of the dining table!)
Here’s is the original recipe: http://www.northindiancooking.com/chicken-shammi-kebabs.html. We pretty much followed the recipe to the T, expect for adding additional seasoning to our taste. Here’s what we followed:
Chicken Shami Kebab
Ingredients for preparing the meat:
250 gms minced chicken (we used Venky’s frozen mince chicken available in all supermarkets)
¼ cup chana dal
5 cloves of garlic, grated
1 inch ginger, grated
2 Bay leaves
Salt to taste
Ingredients for making the kebabs:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 Medium green chilies –fine chopped
3 tsp garam masala powder
2 tsp chaat masala
1 tsp roasted cumin powder (bhuna zeera)
2 tbsp of chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsp ghee
1 Medium onions sliced in circles
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Coriander-mint chutney
Oil for shallow frying the kebabs
- Wash the Chana dal and soak it in hot water for 30 minutes
- Wash and rinse the soaked dal, add in the pressure cooker with minced chicken, add grated ginger, garlic, bay leaves, salt and 1/2 cup of water, mix everything together and close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook on medium heat.
- After one whistle, turn the heat down and cook for another 10-12 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and wait till the steam escapes on its own.
- Open the pressure cooker and mix everything together. If there is water in the mixture, cook open on medium flame until all water evaporates. Remove from heat.
- Remove the bay leaves and grind the chicken and dal mixture to a smooth paste using a hand blender. It is absolutely important that you dry all the liquid before grinding otherwise you can’t get the consistency to make kebabs.
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add chopped onions, green chillies, coriander leaves, garam masala, chaat masala, bhuna zeera and ghee. Mix everything well and keep aside
- Grease your hands a little and make small patties of the mixture. Make small patties of around a couple of inch in diameter else they might break while frying. We tried making one as big as a burger patty and since the patties are so smooth it broke while turning :o!
- Heat a non-stick shallow pan. Once the pan is hot, spray some oil. Spread the patties on the pan and spray some oil on top of the patties
- Turn the patties after 4-5 minutes. Be careful in turning so as not to break the patties. Spray some more oil around the patties. It takes around 10-12 minutes for the patties to fry.
- Transfer to a serving dish. Serve with sliced onion ring; lemon wedge and coriander chutney!
Nice Post and spicy ,tasty recipe !
Thanks! The spice is up to the one making it but then the spice gives it the taste 😉
You are so right !
Thanks,Happy Sunday 😀
To you too! 🙂
Thanks -My Pleasure nice friend 😀
Made these and they were yummy!! Thanks! 🙂
Great! thanks for trying and liking and telling me 🙂
Tried your recipe today..it turned out awesome…everyone in my family loved it!!
Since I was a little short on time, I boiled the chana dal instead of soaking it in hot water for 30 minutes…Also, I added khada masala while boiling the mince chicken and dal to get the flavor and removed it before grinding the mixture.
I also added a little bit of besan to give the mixture a firm consistency!
Thank you so much for posting this recipe 🙂
Wow! Thanks Sonali! 🙂 It feels so great when someone tries my recipe and posts about it 😀
I’m glad everyone in your family loved it! I will have to tell his t my husband as he is the one who made these for the first time! And thanks for the suggestions.. I will also try with Khada masalas next time..
Cheers,
Ashima
When I made these the second time I had added a little whisked egg to the mixture ( my wife does not like the taste of besan in the patty! 🙂 that too firmed them up. Only had to make sure that the egg cooked thoroughly! Kudos to Sikandar, great recipe…. 🙂
That’s a great idea! Egg would really hold them together well 🙂 Thanks Ashish! 🙂
(I’ve passed on your kudos to Sikander and he is beaming!) 🙂
I don’t have a pressure cooker. How do I go about it?
Hello Marium,
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can cook it in a saucepan covered with a heavy lid for longer time. In this case around 30 minutes, but do check if its cooked and adjust time accordingly.
-Ashima
Hi Ashima!
It’s a great recipe. I tried it n’ it was so tasty. Thanks a lot for making my day 🙂
Thanks Muhammad! Glad you tried one of my recipes! 🙂 Always brings a smile when I get a feedback on them!
Making it for 30 persons, what should be the quantity of all the ingredients? Meat and chana daal?
Hello Irshad,
Sorry wasn’t able to respond earlier! I am not sure if you have already had the party. What a coincidence that I made them recently for 20 people last week! 🙂 We made with 1kg mince chicken and I have to say that it was enough but then there were more starters as well. so for 30 people if chicken shammi is one of the starters, I would say go with 1.5 kg chicken and adjust other ingredients accordingly.
best,
ashima
Excellent recipe Sue! I followed it to a T, and it tasted just like the Kebabs at Tehran-a favorite restaurant of ours in Las Palmas. The Sumac you sent was the perfect compliment! I served the Kebabs with Miller’s Iranian Kebabs, and basmati rice (even did the bit of saffron flavored rice on top), a roasted tomato and an egg yolk. This was one of the most delicious meals ever! I can’t wait to make it again! Thanks Sue!
Hey Rafal,
I believe Sue sent you this recipe! 🙂 Thanks for trying it and sharing your feedback!
How many kababs can be made with this quanity
Hello Shubha,
This quantity will make approximately 20 kebabs of about 2-inch diameter.
Hope that helps, sorry for the late response.
love,
ashima
It is not always that males are best cooks. But your tips make it happen. Now the lady of my house will be damn happy.
I love chicken. Thanks for sharing yummy recipe.
I am glad you liked it Manvi! Do share pictures of your dish!
lots of love,
ashima
Hi
Your recipe is really great! However, u can make huge burger patties without them breaking in oil by tightly shaping them removing all air and double dipping patties in egg and rolling them in bread crumbs- do it twice- roll them again second time in egg mixture n bread crumbs n slide huge patties in oil n they come out clean, delicious crumbly on the outside n melting goodness on the inside!!! U can make as big a patty as you desire!!
Of course, I don’t cook my chicken/meat mince in cooker- I sauté with in a pan with aromatics n then grind them.
Thanks for your idea Manu!