We’re at the stunning, non-vegetarian conclusion of the Chickpea, Butternut, and Lamb meal. The lamb in this case is in the form of a kebab. When I was younger, kebab meant cubes of meat threaded onto a skewer between chunks of tomatoes and onions. Those kebabs are good, but I’ve learned that the term kebab opens up to a world of flavorful creations in many forms. This could mean chunks of meat, like the aforementioned cubes on a skewer, but the ground meat possibilities are even more interesting. Sure, you could have ground meat on a skewer, but it could also be baked in a pan, or made into patties and fried. In learning about Indian cuisine, I’ve encountered all 3, and I would be hard-pressed to pick my favorite kebab archetype. Today, we’ll focus on ground meat, heavily seasoned, fried in a pan.
Since we’re dealing with Indian food, and most Indians don’t eat beef, the primary red meat source is going to be lamb (and goat). You could certainly do this recipe with beef or any other ground meat. The recipe I’m using is from “From Curries to Kebabs” by Madhur Jaffrey. This book, as you may guess from its title, has a number of kebab recipes from many parts of the world. I really like the original recipe, which calls for mint, but I had cilantro on hand. That’s the only change from the original recipe.
There are a couple of interesting parts to this recipe, different from many other “meatball” recipes I’ve encountered. First, the meat is mixed with the seasonings and left to mature for up to a day. From my experience in trying to rush things, this appears to accomplish a few goals. The meat breaks down a little, thanks in part to the salt, which gives the kebab a smoother texture, and allows the meat the ability to bind together without much help from, say, an egg. The recipe recommends serving with thinly sliced onions and mint chutney.
Lamb “Galavat” Kebabs (Galavat Kabab)
Meat & Seasonings
1 pound ground lamb
1T finely chopped fresh mint leaves (I used about 2T cilantro)
1 1/2 T peeled, grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 1/2 t garam masala
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t salt
1/2 t finely chopped fresh rosemary (optional)
Binding & Frying
Peanut or corn oil for shallow frying
1 medium onion, sliced into fine half-rings
4 t chickpea flour
4 t plain yogurt
2 T kewra (screw pine) water (optional)
- Put the meat in a bowl.
- Add all the rest of the seasoning ingredients and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 24 hours.
- Pour oil in a medium pan to a depth of 1/8 inch and heat over medium-high heat.
When the oil is hot, put in the onion and fry, stirring, turning the heat down as needed, until the slices are reddish-brown and crisp (they will crisp more as they drain). This will take 10-12 minutes.- Remove the slices with a slotted spoon, saving all the oil left behind in the pan, and spread on paper towels to drain.
- Once the onions have drained and cooled, crumble or chop finely (or put them in a clean coffee grinder) and add to the meat mixture.
- Toast the chickpea flour in a small heavy-bottomed pan and add to the meat mixture.
- Add the yogurt to the meat mixture and mix well.
- Wet your hands (with the kewra water, if using) and form about 20 meatballs, flatten slightly into patties.
- Strain the oil used from frying the onions and add additional oil to a depth of 1/4 inch.
- Heat pan over medium-low.
- When hot, add as many kebabs as will fit in a single layer, fry 2-3 minutes on each side or until reddish-brown.
- Drain on paper towels.
The kebabs come out crunchy on the surface with a soft, moist interior. They go great with any Indian bread, but we usually serve rice.
