Shami Kebabs

Shami kebab literally means Syrian kebab (Sham) in Arabic. These succulent Juicy kebabs have been around since the Moghul era.I however, learned how to make them from my mom who is the best cook i know :)

Shami kebabs are very popular in India and are usually made with beef, Channa dal(lentil) and a bit of rice.I have gone for the healthier option and chosen chicken here instead.It tastes equally good with chicken as it does with beef.

These kebabs make a grand starter and do not take much time to prepare.They have always been a hit at my dinner parties.They can also be served as a whole meal dish with freshly cut salad, naan bread and any sauce of your choice.

Shami kebabs need a bit of pre planning though.The chicken needs to be marinated in ginger garlic paste and left over night or for a minimum of 4-6 hours.The daal and rice also needs to be washed and pre soaked in hot water for an hour to ensure they are soft and get cooked well. Use just enough water to soak the daal and rice. 

To make these delicious kebabs you will need


Cooking time - 20 minutes
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Makes roughly 40 medium sized kebabs

Ingredients
1kg bonless chicken washed and cut into cubes and marinated in 2tsp ginger paste and 1tsp garlic paste

175g channa daal

75g rice
7-10 whole red chillies

1tsp red chilli powder

1/2 tsp garam masala(mixed spices)

1 handful chopped corriander

1tbsp whole cumin seeds

1tbsp whole corriander seeds

2eggs lightly beaten

salt to taste

Procedure

• Place the marinated chicken and pre soaked dal and rice in a pressure cooker along with the whole red chillies and salt to taste. Cover with the water in which the daal was soaked. You can add more if required. Make sure there is just enough water to cover the chicken.Adding too much water will make the kebabs soggy and hard to make.

• Pressure cook until chicken is tender. This usually takes 20 minutes
• Make sure there is no left over water in the chicken, daal, rice and chilli mixture.If there is any water remaining, dry it on high flame making sure you dont burn the mixture.
• Wait for it to cool. Then using a hand blender or mixer grinder, blend this mixture into a paste.It will be thick and slightly sticky due to the presence of daal. Transfer into a big mixing bowl.
• To this add the chilli powder(the red chilli powder can be adjusted to your level of spice. The kebab mix already has whole chillies in it so adjust accordingly.), garam masala and chopped corriander.
• Put the whole cumin and corriander seeds on a pan and roast it until it crackles.Add this to the Chicken mixture. Mix well until evenly spread

• Add eggs to this and mix gently. The eggs should be added just before you make the kebabs. Egg ensures proper binding of all the ingredients

• Then make small balls and flatten them with your hand.Shallow fry this in a pan and serve hot with onions and lime.Mint chutney goes great with this.

Note

1kg chicken makes around 40 medium sized kebabs but if you don't want to make so many kebabs, you can halve the quantity of all the ingredients and make half as many. I usually freeze them and store them in food packets to fry and have later. Its great to have these in the freezer for those lazy days when you don't want to cook. Just fry these delicious kebabs and enjoy with naan bread and salad. 
Update
If you shami kebab mixture does become soft/sticky then add a slice or 2 of plain bread into the mixture. Knead it into the mixture so it absorbs the excess water. You can also add bread crumbs or toast the bread slice and powder it before adding it to the mix. Alternatively you can add 1-2 tbsps of gram flour. Addition of gram flour does change the taste a bit.

Shabnam