“What is patriotism but the love of the food one ate as a child?”
Lin Yutang
Shami Kebab is a popular Pakistani and Indian kebab, that is composed of small patty minced mutton or beef, ground chickpeas and spices. Shami kebabs are an extremely popular snack in Pakistan and India. They are often garnished with lemon juice and/or sliced raw onions, and are usually eaten with chutney made from mint or coriander.
Some are of the opinion that these kebabs were introduced to South Asia during the Mughal era by Muslim emigrants from the Middle East. They had employed cooks from all over the Muslim world to serve in the royal kitchens. The Shami Kebab are also popular in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan. Another source states that the word Sham is evening in Hindi and Urdu and Sham-e-Awadh, evening in Lucknow of yore since the time of Nawab regime. The Awadh region has its own distinct Nawabi style cuisine, with various kinds of biryanis, kebabs and breads. Kebabs are also of different types – Kakori Kebabs, Galawati Kebabs, Shami Kebabs, Boti Kababs, Patili-ke-Kababs, Ghutwa Kababs and Seekh Kababs are among the known varieties.
Chicken Shami Kebabs
Minced chicken 500gms {from thigh tenders}
5-6 cloves garlic
1″ piece ginger, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chana dal, washed and soaked overnight in fridge
1 portion fresh garam masala {recipe follows}
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup water {adjust if required}
2 tsps clarified butter, gheeSalt to taste
Method:
Place the mince with all the ingredients, except the clarified butter / ghee, in a pressure cooker, and cook under pressure, on medium-high heat for about 15 minutes.
Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, open and dry any remaining liquid on high heat. Discard the bay leaves. Adjust seasoning if required, and grind in a processor, adding the clarified butter / ghee to the cooked mince.
Take walnut sized portions, and make neat, tight patties between the palms of your hands. If you wish to freeze them, do so with parchment paper/wax paper/cling wrap between layers. This way, you can just remove a few from the freezer instead of defrosting the entire lot.
Serve hot with a green chutney, and finely sliced onions tossed in lime juice and salt.
Fresh Garam Masala
6-8 balls whole pepper
4 cloves
2 tsp cumin seeds / zeera
1 stick cinnamon {small}
3-4 green cardamom / chhoti elaichi
2-3 black cardamom / badi elaichi
2 pinches nutmeg, freshly grated
A bit of mace
1 tbsp white poppy seeds / khush khush
Method:
Place all ingredients except poppy seeds / khush khush in a heavy bottom saucepan or griddle and roast the whole spices on low heat till fragrant. Add poppy seeds and stir continuously for under a minute. The seeds will begin popping, Remove from heat immediately and cool. Grind and sieve.
Note: Be careful that the whole spices don’t burn, so stir them constantly and don’t leave them unattended. If you don’t have some of the spices, you can still make fairly good garam masala, so don’t fear! The magic comes from the freshly made masala, so do give it a shot.
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Deeba, Lamb Shaami kababs are my absolute favorite. I haven’t tried them with chicken yet. But yes, my father is not supposed to have red meat any longer due to health concerns, so I had tried shaami kababs with soys granules. They turned out just perfect.
Deeba, I’m bookmarking this recipe!!! Love the Shammi Kebabs recipe! My mouth is watering right now! I love your pictures of Luknow…my dream is to visit India one day! 🙂
The time is now to try these shami kebabs Deeba:D
Love all these pictures Deeba! These kebabs sound intriguing!
yepp something different from your regular posts. i love shami kebabs and all things kebab bring fresh childhood memories from back home. those kebabs look well done and your family must have emptied the plates in a jiffy!
Pictures of lucknow is wonderful and the kebabs looks delicious….Treat to eyes Deeba
Delicious post Deeba. A childhood of kormas, biryanis and kebabs is just what I would love. The kebabs look scrumptious.
These look divine Deeba! And hehe you’re right, I did a bit of a double take as I was used to seeing delicious sweets. Now there are delicious savouries! 😀
What a great change from sweets…Lentils are also popular in Poland, I am going to use this recipe…and, as always, great pictures. I hope I will visit India one day.
BTW, my quite close Polish friends are so fascinated by your country that they even named their daughter India 🙂
I like the freezer tip – indispensable if you are feeding a crowd. These look so good and the photos of Lucknow are fascinating.
Love the various shades of Lucknow. Awadhi cuisine is a royal treat any time.
Hi Deeba,
First timer here. Love your food styling techniques.. Food looks scrumptious 😀
I love your savory dishes and want to eat at your house. These are perfect! Yes, I usually use lamb but I will try these. Perfect for a dinner buffet and love the flavors. Yum yum!
I love this dish, Deeba! So simple yet delicious. I’m very excited to try it soon. I love the idea of that zesty pepper salad accompanying it. 🙂
Lovely kebabs… will going to try after Diwali. Bookmarked 🙂
Am definitely trying these and you have inspired me to take up the challenge of making my own Garam Masala! What a great idea to substitute chicken. Loved the recipe, the history, the smoked tip and the pix. Beautifully done, as always Deeba.
I have never tasted Chicken Shami Kebabs. Thanks for sharing. They look yummy. Love all of the pictures 🙂
mmm, deeba, i adore chicken shami kebabs. and i love all the beautiful photos you have put up- the taj mahal, especially! the kebabs look scrumptious- my Ami is visiting and this is smthg we do together- make shami kebabs. hopefully we wont get lazy and will do it this time round, too. love your version with chicken. delish. x shayma
Look absolutely delicious enough to temp me 🙂
Chicken Shami Kebabs! Wow. I was in the mood for Indian/Pakistani food for a while and now I know what to make! Thank for sharing this. I will make it soon and suprise hubby with it 🙂
Love that you added the chana dal to these kebabs.
Your kebabs look wonderful! It is kebab week at Get Grillin’. Cookin’ Canuck & I would love it if you linked up this recipe & any other kebabs you might have 🙂
Hello! I’ve been following your weblog for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Lubbock Texas! Just wanted to tell you keep up the good job!
Hi Deeba,
Did you miss to mention eggs? Because when I tried your recipe the patties all came apart in the pan.
Neelima
Hi Deeba, for over 2 years i have been making cakes and other spicy dishes from your site. Today i had Kheem left and sat down on making these kababs!! all looked great and turned out well until i got to fry them. as and when they got fried the started crumbling and so my heart!!! so here is what i did. around 250 gms of kheema i had so i reduced the complete receipe by half- i suspect i dint get the channa dal measurment right (i blame it to my math i could fig out half of 1/4th) and hence i suspect the crumbled kababs. now i want to damage control. can you sugest what i could do now to make sure the remaining ones turn out well? add mashed potato?? or dip it in Egg whites and bread crumb which i think might not help too.. potato? is that the solution.
Hi Debi,
I just made a batch yesterday too. I’m sorry yours crumbled. Either the dal measure was out, or they were not dry enough on roasting. Do you have bhuna chana at home? You can grind some and add a tbsp or two to it. Dried breadcrumbs also help to bind and absorb excess moisture, but I prefer the first option. Or then roast some besan on very low heat till fragrant and add a little at a time.
Do let me know what works for you! Good luck.
First, thankyou for your prompt response. you have always been that way. remeber i had gotten intouch with Focaccia disaster, but later all turned well.
Is channa the whole version of besan?
Of course I remember. Been a long time!! I think besan is made from chana dal, but bhuna chana reminds me of roasted chick peas. Maybe I’m wrong, but the two are different.
Hi there- You talk about adding coriander and onions in the narrative and then leave it out in the recipe itself. I’m guessing that’s the “hara masala” that my mom adds… hers includes some hari mirch also, I think. Any suggested proportions? Thanks. I can’ t get straight answers from my mother about anything food related. Thanks
Sorry Salma, My mind sometimes thinks faster than the recipe I type. Sorry for the omission. I add fresh hara dhania and onions after I’ve minced the cooked kebab mixture {yes, I include hari mirch as well now as my boy can tolerate more chili}. 1 bunch of hara dhania, 1 medium onion {50gm} and 2-3 green chilies, depending on how hot you like your food. I also smoke {dhungaar} the mince sometimes for a flavour variation. Not sure if I’ve updated the recipe, but I also now add the juice of 1 lime to the cooked mince.
You sound like you make interesting food indeed! Do you blog?
Ha, I wish I had the skill and time, but I guess you could say it’s something I secretly aspire to do at some point. At this stage my only media presence is in a science podcast I host (only half-willingly) as part of my job at a US University. I’ve just discovered your blog in search of shami kabab recipes, and am eager to dig in and explore it more. Are you based in India? I have a feeling I’ll be checking in often…
Thanks A ton for sharing the recipe,,.:) prepared today ,,,:)
I just finished making a batch of Shammi kababs and so wish that I had a look at your blog before starting to cook. Well your blog is an accidental find and its just so visually appealing. thanks for sharing…
Thanks for your sweet words. I need to update this recipe with stuff I keep changing! Nice to meet you though, Must check out your Shammi kebabs!
Awesome blog. wish I discovered it before cooking my batch of shammi kebabs yesterday
Yummilicious recipe and pics
I am not a fond of chicken but this one is like different regular chicken. I will surely try this or may be order this.
Compliments are offered for an excellent explanation of the ingredients and the pressure-cooking preparatory to readying the kababs. I mean, I am now holdng the tight patties …….! What/where do I put them now? Or are they to be served “as is”? Thanks in anticipation!