Shami Kebab

About This Recipe

Shami kebab is the gentleman's kebab: soft, fine-textured patties made by simmering meat with chickpeas and whole spices, grinding the mixture smooth, then pan-frying. The chickpeas (chana dal) are the binding magic — they cook into the meat and create a silky, spreadable texture impossible to achieve with mince alone. It is a staple of Pakistani Eid tables and tea-time spreads.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 500 gboneless beef(or lamb, cubed)
• 150 gsplit chickpeas (chana dal)(soaked 1 hour)
• 1 mediumonion(quartered)
• 1 tbspginger-garlic paste
• 4 podsgreen cardamom
• 2 podsblack cardamom
• 1 stickcinnamon
• 4 wholecloves
• 1 tspcumin seeds
• 1 tspblack peppercorns
• 2dried red chillies
• 1 tspsalt
• 500 mlwater
• To finish:
• 1 smallonion(very finely chopped)
• 2green chillies(finely chopped)
• 1 small bunchfresh coriander and mint(chopped)
• 1egg
• 60 mlghee(for frying)

Instructions

1. 1

   Cook meat and dal

   Combine beef, drained chana dal, onion, ginger-garlic, all whole spices, salt and water in a pot. Cover and simmer 60 min until meat and dal are completely soft and water is mostly evaporated.

2. 2

   Dry off

   Uncover and cook on high until any remaining water evaporates — the mixture must be dry to grind properly.

3. 3

   Cool and grind

   Cool completely. Discard whole spice pods if visible. Grind in a food processor to a smooth paste.

4. 4

   Mix add-ins

   Mix in the finely chopped onion, green chilli and herbs. Adjust salt.

5. 5

   Shape

   Wet hands. Take a small ball of mixture, flatten into a 6cm patty. Make 16–18 patties.

6. 6

   Egg wash and fry

   Heat ghee in a non-stick pan. Beat egg in a shallow bowl. Dip each patty briefly in egg, then fry in ghee 2 min per side until golden brown.

7. 7

   Serve

   Drain on paper towel. Serve hot with mint chutney, sliced onion and lemon. Eat with naan or as a tea-time snack.

Variations

• •

  Mutton/lamb shami — same recipe with lamb shoulder

• •

  Chicken shami — reduce simmering time to 35 min

• •

  Stuff each kebab with a pinch of chopped onion and mint for added crunch

Storage

Refrigerate raw kebabs up to 3 days. Freeze raw kebabs up to 2 months — fry from frozen.

Frequently Asked Questions