Minty Beef Kebabs

My failed attempts to make kebabs like the ones we used to enjoy at the Kareem’s restaurant in Old Delhi left me frustrated. I still dream about their taste – so flavourful, juicy and spicy too.

My kebabs were always dry no matter what I did and when I tried to make them moist they would crumble and fall while they were being grilled. I always used extra lean meat to keep them healthy. But my husband would argue and justify saying: “It is the fat that keeps the kebabs moist. All the restaurants use some fat in their kebabs and all that fat drips off when you grill them”, which took me a while to digest. Anyway, I decided to try them out with medium beef at his request, thinking, I am not going to make them often. Well I have an alternative for healthy eaters: you could try my Koubideh which are made with extra lean ground beef.

The medium ground beef did do the trick and my kebabs did turn out well this time and did not fall off when I grilled them. Not only this, the Shaan’s Chapli Kebab spices combined with fresh mint and cilantro enhanced their flavour. I rarely use store bought spice mixes in my cooking except for a few selected dishes like Haleem, Nihari and Chapli kebabs as these are actually good also it turns out easy instead of an elaborate preparation. The Chapli kebab spices have whole coriander, cumin and garam masala spices in them with white flour. So I decided to grind them fine. Then I added the fresh mint and cilantro. And I was very happy with the end result. They turned out not only juicy and flavourful but were very close to the ones we ate at Kareem’s restaurant in Old Delhi. My family loved them so much. I forgot all about the fat and enjoyed every bite of them.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
350gm medium ground beef
Shaan’s chapli kebab masala
1/2 cup cilantro
1/4 cup mint
1tbs vegetable oil
1tbs veg oil for basting
4 flat metal skewers

Instructions:
1. Quickly rinse the ground beef lightly in running water in a strainer without making it soggy. Leave it to drain in the strainer as it has to be dry and not at all watery. You don’t need to rinse it if the beef was washed before grinding.
2. Add half the pack of the Shaan’s chapli kebab masala to a dry grinder and grind it fine.
3. Wash the fresh mint and cilantro and towel dry them, then add to the grinder and grind them all together.
4. Mix together the ground beef, the dry ground masala and one teaspoon of vegetable oil.
5. Brush the skewers with oil, then dust them with flour as this makes kebab mix stick to them. And also the oil makes it easier to slide off the kebab when it is done.
6. With clean wet hands take a golf size ball of the prepared ground beef and wrap it around the skewer till it holds together. Clean and wet your hands again and shape it into a nice, long, smooth and round sausage then with your index and middle finger mimicking scissors pinch the kebab from one end to the other alongside to form ridges. Smoothen the edges.
7. Repeat the steps for all of them. Leave enough room on either side of the skewers so as to rest them on the grill.
8. Set your oven to broil on high (550ºF). Take an old cookie sheet and cover it with tin foil. Place the skewers on the cookie sheet. Then place it under the grill in the top position of the oven.
9. Broil for 3 mins on each side. Do not over cook as they would harden. When you see them turning golden brown turn over and cook for another 3 mins till they are just done. Keep some tin foil ready. Remove them from the oven. Discard the fat/oil drippings. Wait for sometime till they cool off a bit.
10. Slide them off with your hands (wearing clean oven proof gloves) into the tin foil and wrap them up immediately. This helps in retaining the moisture and heat till you serve them. You have to be very careful and use oven gloves while handling the skewers as they are very hot.
11. Serve them hot with rumali roti (thin flat bread like a hand kerchief) or naan and yoghurt mint chutney.
12. You can make the chutney by grinding together 1/2cup each of fresh mint and cilantro, 1 small green chilly, 1/2 an inch ginger, salt and pepper. Then add this mixture to 1/2 a cup of whisked sour yogurt. You could either use this chutney as a dipping sauce for the kebabs or spread it on the Naan or rumali roti, place a long kebab inside, top with sliced red onions sprinkled with lemon juice and chaat masala, roll it into a wrap and enjoy!

Notes:

1. The ground beef for the kebabs should be dry for shaping them, if wet and soggy the kebabs would fall off the skewer and it will be hard to shape them.
2. Please make sure to dry the cilantro, and mint well and the ground mixture should be powdery.

Recipe

Minty Beef Kebabs

Author: Fouzia Husainy

Delicious minty beef kebabs, so flavourful and juicy!

Course Main Dish, Side Dish

Cuisine Afghani Cuisine, North Indian Cuisine

Equipment

• Metal Skewers

Ingredients

  

• 350 g medium ground beef
• 1/2 pack Shaan's chapli kebab masala
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup mint
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 tbs veg oil for basting
• 4 flat metal skewers

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Instructions

 

• Quickly rinse the ground beef lightly in running water in a strainer without making it soggy. Leave it to drain in the strainer as it has to be dry and not at all watery. You don't need to rinse it if the beef was washed before grinding.
• Add half the pack of the Shaan's chapli kebab masala to a dry grinder and grind it fine.
• Wash the fresh mint and cilantro and towel dry them, then add to the grinder and grind them all together.
• Mix together the ground beef, the dry ground masala and one teaspoon of vegetable oil.
• Brush the skewers with oil, then dust them with flour as this makes kebab mix stick to them. And also the oil makes it easier to slide off the kebab when it is done.
• With clean wet hands take a golf size ball of the prepared ground beef and wrap it around the skewer till it holds together. Clean and wet your hands again and shape it into a nice, long, smooth and round sausage then with your index and middle finger mimicking scissors pinch the kebab from one end to the other alongside to form ridges. Smoothen the edges.
• Repeat the steps for all of them. Leave enough room on either side of the skewers so as to rest them on the grill.
• Set your oven to broil on high (550ºF). Take an old cookie sheet and cover it with tin foil. Place the skewers on the cookie sheet. Then place it under the grill in the top position of the oven.
• Broil for 3 mins on each side. Do not over cook as they would harden. When you see them turning golden brown turn over and cook for another 3 mins till they are just done. Keep some tin foil ready. Remove them from the oven. Discard the fat/oil drippings. Wait for sometime till they cool off a bit.
• Slide them off with your hands (wearing clean oven proof gloves) into the tin foil and wrap them up immediately. This helps in retaining the moisture and heat till you serve them. You have to be very careful and use oven gloves while handling the skewers as they are very hot.
• Serve them hot with rumali roti (thin flat bread like a hand kerchief) or naan and yoghurt mint chutney.
• You can make the chutney by grinding together 1/2cup each of fresh mint and cilantro, 1 small green chilly, 1/2 an inch ginger, salt and pepper. Then add this mixture to 1/2 a cup of whisked sour yogurt. You could either use this chutney as a dipping sauce for the kebabs or spread it on the Naan or rumali roti, place a long kebab inside, top with sliced red onions sprinkled with lemon juice and chaat masala, roll it into a wrap and enjoy!

Notes

1. The ground beef for the kebabs should be dry for shaping them, if wet and soggy the kebabs would fall off the skewer and it will be hard to shape them.
2. Please make sure to dry the cilantro, and mint well and the ground mixture should be powdery.

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