Chappli Kebabs for all times!

Things have been unusually hectic this month. Lots of birthdays including hubster's. One weekend, we had to attend three birthday parties back to back and once we were done, it struck us perhaps we really are getting old, me and hubster that is. It was tiring. The only thing going for me was the fact that I hardly cooked most weekends, that is a welcome break. So many invites! But I cannot stay away too long, cooking in my kitchen relaxes me. September also saw a spate of invitations to attend cooking demos, exhibits and festivals and blogger meet ups. I had to say no to each sadly. I just don't have the time or the energy to network, even if it is food related! A friend of mine who is very active on the food network scene in Dubai lamented at the lost opportunities, but really, after living eight years in Dubai, the one thing that has not become 'my thing' is networking. I am such a home-body. I like being home. The only time I like stepping out is when I know I am going to be shopping. Typical. It seems I have missed many chances, of meeting celebrity chefs, celebrity food bloggers (what in the world are those?), food blogging meet ups and cooking lessons/demos et all. I have a feeling my friend will now stop sending me invites and passes. Sorry V!  Oh well. It is simply too much of an effort honestly. Inspite of having a hubster who wishes I go out more and a chauffeur to drive me around. Naah. I will pass. 

In between attending parties and pacifying miffed blogger friends, I made some Chappli Kebabs for breakfast the other day. Lightly spiced, easy to assemble and non fussy, it is different in that, we use lots of tomatoes in it. These are traditionally from Pakistani homes but you will find  them in North Indian muslim homes too. I myself  learnt it from our family lawyer's wife , back in Varanasi. I thought it was super easy and pretty versatile given that she was serving it for breakfast with hot, butter laden paranthas and a big cup of Chai. Serve it whenever you like actually. As an appetiser, as a side, for breakfast or even tea time. We are a meat loving family, so for us anytime is a good time to eat kebabs, we don't wait for any special times around here. 

Here is what you will need:

Finely minced meat of Mutton or Beef :               500 gms
Meat Tenderizer 1 tsp or grated  raw Papaya : 2 tbsp 

1 Medium onion, very finely chopped
2 Medium tomatoes, very finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh corriander, finely chopped
3-4 fresh green chillies, very finely chopped
1tbsp garlic paste
1.5 tsp ginger paste

1tbsp roasted and crushed cumin seeds
2 tbsp roasted and crushed corriander seeds
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper corns or 1/2 tsp of crushed dry red chillies
1 tsp roasted and crushed anaardana (optional)
1 tsp garam masala (optional, I did not use any)
Salt to taste
Oil for shallow frying. I used unsalted butter. 
As always, adjust the chillies according to taste, this is actually supposed to be a mild Kebab with not many spices being used. 

Mix the mince with the meat tenderizer or grated Papaya if you are using that. Add all the dry spices along with ginger-garlic paste, green chillies and fresh corriander. Do not add  salt, onions and tomatoes just yet so that there is no moisture released from these, making your mixture too wet. Keep aside for 1-4 hours. Just before you have to fry the patties, about fifteen minutes before, add the chopped oinions, tomatoes and salt. Mix gently. Take a largish amount in your palms, make a ball and flatten in to broad patties. These kebabs are almost as large as a standard burger patty.

 Heat oil in a wide, shallow frying pan or your 'tawa'. Once hot, fry the kebabs on medium to low flame, a good five minutes at least on each side. Because we add onions and tomatoes both, the mixture tends to be a little wet. So take care when shaping the patties, be gentle when placing them in oil or when you flip them over. Once they are cooking though, they will begin to firm up.  Fry them untill browned and done, keep checking for it's 'doneness'.

 Serve warm with paranthas or naans along with a chutney of choice. Isn't it the easiest? 

Bihari Boti Kadai- a rustic, fiery gateway to bliss...

My husband loves my cooking but has one significant gripe. I am never consistent in rustling up the same-tasting dish over and over, especially if he has liked a particular curry a lot. He says he can guarantee, I wont be able to come up with the same stuff again. Whis is true! I cook everyday, but in all these years of our marriage and being a family, I am quite surprised to recall that, indeed, I not only hardly repeat recipes, I also go on a different tangent even when I am supposed to stick to it... do any of you have that 'problem' too? Strange! Good thing then that I am writing some of the favourites here. Today I am sharing a rather easy lamb recipe. Bihari Boti Kadai- lamb or beef chunks cooked in a spicy blend. No onions-no chopping required. Which is always a bonus.

I dont really know for sure if this dish is from the state of Bihar, India. I simply, know it as Bihari Kadai and have been making it since forever. Boti ofcourse, refers to the largish chunks of meat with bone in. Kadai- as a dish refers to any 'gravy-curry' made in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent/Pakistan. The gravy could be thin and runny or even a thick masala flavoured one, to be eaten with breads. Bihari Boti kadai is quite spicy, so adjust the chillies according to your preferance and you wil be good.

Here's what you will need.

Lamb/Mutton/Beef  : 1 kg, I usually take shoulder cuts of a baby goat.
Ginger-Garlic paste : 1 tbsp heaped along with paste made of 5-8 (reduce if you want)- I simply ground them all together.

*You may even take boneless chunks of meat of your choice.

For the Bihari Masala, spices to dry roast and grind to a coarse powder:

Cumin seeds: 1.5 tsp
Corriander seeds: 1.5 tbsp
Pepper corns      : 1 tsp
Gram flour (besan) - 1tbsp (optional)
Dry roast the spices and gram flour on a gentle heat. Cool and girnd.

Salt to taste.
About 5-6 tbsp of oil (reduce if you aren't big on cooking with lots of oil)
A fresh lemon to squueze over in the end and a few ginger jullienes to garnish (optional).

Marinate the meat in the ginger-garlic-chilli paste along with the spices you powder. If you have time, as always I recommend a marination of at least 4 hours or more, even over night. However, if you dont have time, worry not, just marinate and mix, and begin to cook! I did too this time because I had surprise visitors. And I served this for breakfast actually with parathas and a big cup of masala chai. Heaven!

Heat the oil in a 'kadai'-  Add the marinated meat and cook(really that simple) initially on high heat for a couple of minutes then reduce the heat to medium/low. This dish is supposed to be dry, so aim for that in the final stages. A lot of moisture will be naturally rleased by the meat/salt combination, let it all help cook the meat and then gradually let it dry on its own while cooking.

The colour here is still that of raw meat and spices, the water is being released now...

Again, over the next forty-fortyfive minutes, if you are slow cooking it on the stove top, you may have to baby sit it and watch for any burning/sticking -to- the -bottom action happening. In which case, all you need to do is keep adding a little water, say about 1/3 cup of hot water. Always try and add warm/hot water to curries, helps retain the flavours better than just adding regular/cold water. I usually keep a big mug of hot water around myself. You may also pressure cook with 1 cup of water to hasten the process but dont omit the 'bhunoing' process in the begining for at least twenty minutes and untill oil has seperated.

Half an hour in to cooking, see how the colours change! I added extra hot chillies for our guests who enjoy it like that. So just follow the recipe if you are not ok with too much heat.

Then go ahead and pressure cook, once 'almost' done, remove lid, leave the pan open and cook to evaporate any water/moisture left.  Keep mixing and stirring untill the final look is thick, dry with the marinade sticking to the meat pieces. In the last few minutes, while you are letting the excess water evaporate, all 'doneness' of the meat will be achieved now. So dont worry even if pressure cooking it hasnt cooked the meat completely. Usually, you will find beef taking time.

Do you see how all the moisture is gone and the spices stick to the meat? Using 'besan' also helps in that.

I used thai red chillies to garnish as well as in my marinade paste, feel free to use whichever chillies you enjoy normally.

Garnish with ginger jullienes and serve with a wedge of lime to sqeeze over if preferred. Also ofcourse, you will need to make some warm chapatis to make it a perfect meal.

My Favourite and The Very Desi- Shaami Kebabs

My maternal grandmother was an awesome cook and although she is no more with us, her strongest legacy perhaps, are her desi recipes. They have been passed down to almost every family member and we have all taken great pains to continue cooking certain dishes just the way she taught. My own mother does not cook at all but she has ensured that Nani's traditional recipes carry on being cooked and served by our family cook. My mother's cook had the good fortune to have met my Nani and managed to learn much from her. Thankfuly, she does a great job! Some of our family favourites include Yakhni Gosht Pulao (Pulao cooked on slow heat in a meat stock and yoghurt), Bhuni Kaleji (Fried liver), Mata Keena (Mince with peas), and ofcourse Shaami kebabs.

Shaami kebabs remain an absolute favourite of every member in our family and even amongst friends who have been visiting us for years. Mom gets this made especialy for her X'mas parties, kilos and kilos of it. We have been told by our friends that they wait the whole year especially to get invites for X'mas and eat shaami kebabs to their heart's content! Not that they need to wait for Xmas per se! When I visit Benaras for my holidays, mom makes sure there is plenty of Kebab mixture kept in the fridge so that my entire holidays are spent in utter bliss-think kebab parathas for breakfast, Dal-chawal and kebab for lunch, Kebab and buns for tea and so on....

It is easy enough to prepare. Once you have the mix ready, you can alsomake patties and keep a batch in the freezer for use later. They can be simply taken out and shallow fried straight away. No need to even thaw!

Here's the How To:

500 gms Calf/Mutton mince
1/2 cup of (medium sized) Soaked chana dal-10 mins
1' stick of cinammom
4 green cardamoms
1 big black cardamom
4-5 cloves
10-15 black pepper corns (depending on your taste)
5-6 whole red dry chillis
1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp Saunf- fennel seeds (this is my addition and not a part of Nani's recipe)
1tbsp ginger-garlic paste

Boil the above in 1 cup of water in a pressure cooker. Untill completely done. About 5-6 whistles on medium flame.

When the mince is bolied along with the spices, open pan, take out the mixture, let cool on a plate. Also, fish out the cinammon, big cardamom, cloves(if you can) and chuck them away.

Once the above is cooled, grind them in your mixer to a paste. Ensure that it does not become too thin a paste. Coarse is fine. The picture above is of the bolied and cooled mince with the spices.

To this now add :

1 medium sized onion, very finely chopped.
A handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
A handful of fresh corriander leaves, finely chopped
4-6 fresh green chillis ( or as many as you prefer) finely chopped. I make it rather hot.
*2 eggs beaten or *1 tbsp of hung yoghurt or *2 slices of stale white bread. Either one is fine although using hung yoghurt gives it a nice flavour and a hint of tanginess.

* Add salt to taste (and onion too), at the very end, just before frying the kebabs so that you dont get a wet, soppy mix due to the moisture content in the salt and onions.
* Instead of fresh onions, you can also use fried/caramelised onions.

Mix and make patties. Shallow fry in very little oil. Say about 2 tbsp. If you use too much oil, the kebabs will surely crumble, like it happened to my kebabs in the picture below...I used more than 2 tbsp because I was distracted. In my next batch, I used only 2 tbsp and they were perfect!  Fry them untill browned on both sides.

 Serve warm with mint chutney/dip and some onion rings. As a starter or even as a side to your main course.