World Kebab Day: Mouthwatering kebab recipes to satisfy your taste buds

World Kebab Day is celebrated every second Friday of July to honour one of world’s most loved foods. This year, it falls on July 14. Kebabs have been around for at least a thousand years and as per Chef Kunal Kapoor, the lip-smacking dish was first mentioned 1000 years back in a cookbook written in 10th century called ‘Kitab Al Tabikh’ which means ‘Book of the Dishes’, written by Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq. As per TOI, Ibn Battuta, a popular Moroccan traveller had once said that kebab was an integral part of the daily diet of Indian royalty in 1200 AD. It apparently entered the Indian kitchen even before Mughals did. There are a variety of kebabs out there that are loved by foodies across the world from sheesh kebab, seekh kebab, kofta kebab, Galouti kebab among many others. (Also read: Kebab Day 2023: Must-Try Kebabs in India that will leave you craving more)

Here are some best recipes suggested by Top Chefs.

1. Malai Santra Kebab

(Recipe by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa.)

Ingredients

Hung Curd – 300g

Paneer (Grated) – 100g

Roasted chana powder – 50g

Garam Masala – 10g

Green Cardamom Powder – 5g

Salt to taste

White pepper powder – 2g

Orange reduction – 20g

Orange marmalade – 10g

Desi Ghee for cooking – 30g

Method:

• Take hung yogurt in a bowl, add all the above ingredients and mix well.
• Divide into equal portions. Now, stuff with orange marmalade. Dampen your hands, take a portion of the mixture, and roll lightly in shape of kebab (one centimetre thick round). Prepare the other kebabs in the same way.
• Heat sufficient oil in a pan and fry the kebabs till golden in colour.
• Remove from heat, garnish and serve hot with mint chutney or sauce

2. Makai Ke Kebab

(Recipe by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa.)

Ingredients

Baby corn – 300 gm

Potato pahari – 95 gm

Ginger chopped – 15 gm

Chilli green – 10 gm

Olive oil – 5 ml

Salt to taste

Coriander leaves – 20 gm

Yellow chili powder – 5 gm

Black cumin – 5 gm

Method

• Mix finely chopped blanched baby corn with boiled potato.
• Add all ingredients, salt to taste and make medium soft dough.
• Divide the prepared dough into eight to ten equal portions. Wet your hand with a little water and flatten each portion into a disc of two to three inches diameter.
• Heat sufficient oil in a pan, shallow fry till both sides light golden brown.
• Serve hot with mint chutney and slice of lemon and onions

3. Soya Kuttu Kebab

(Recipe by Swapnadeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef, The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa.)

Ingredients

Soya chunks (dried) – 100 gm

Kuttu Atta – 100 gm

Onion chopped – 50 gm

Mint chopped – 10 gm

Green chilly chopped – 10 gm

Coriander seeds crushed – 05 gm

Potato (boiled & mashed) – 100 gm

Coriander chopped – 10 gm

Cumin – 5 gm

Chili powder – 3 gm

Garam masala – 3 gm

Ginger chopped – 5 gm

Chaat masala – 5 gm

Salt to taste

Desi ghee – 50 gm

Method

• Soak soya chunks in hot water for half-n-hour. Now, squeeze the water out and place it in a blender.
• Take out the soya mixture in a large bowl; add kuttu atta, chopped onion, mashed potato, mint, coriander, green chili, cumin powder and all spices. Mix it well and divide into small balls and make patty.
• Heat a pan, add some desi ghee and shallow fry the kebabs till it is brown both sides and serve hot with mint chutney

4. Galauti Kebab

(Recipe by Chef Haseen Qureshi, Taftoon BKC & Powai)

Ingredients:

For mincing

1 Kg minced mutton

200 gm kidney fat

For kebabs

1 tsp brown onion paste

1½ tbsp brown cashew paste

2 tbsp ghee

Salt to taste

1 tbsp ginger garlic juice

2 tbsp raw papaya (with skin), paste

1 tbsp prepared galawat ka masala

1 tsp kewra water

1 tsp rose water

A pinch of red chilli

Sprinkles of ghee

Sprinkles of milk

For Galawat ka masala

1 betel leaf root

20 gms vetiver root kush ke root

¼ tsp long pepper

¼ tsp all spice

1 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp black cumin seeds

4-5 cloves

5-6 green cardamoms

1 star anise

2 bay leaf

1 tbsp dry rose petals

1 tbsp stone flower/mountain moss

¼ tsp small nutmeg

1 mace

½ tsp black cardamoms

A pinch of saffron

1 inch cinnamon

½ inch seafoam

1-2 wild berries

For smoking

2-3 coal

3-4 cloves

1 tsp ghee

For Serving

4-5 mini parathas

1 large onion, cut into roundels

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Few fresh mint leaves

Method:

For mincing

• Combine minced mutton and kidney fat, and mix. Mince the mutton in a mixer grinder. Set aside.

For Galawat ka Masala

• In a bowl, add in betel leaf root, vetiver root khus root, long pepper, all spice, black peppercorns, black cumin seeds, cloves, green cardamoms, star anise, 2 bay leaf, dry rose petals, stone flower/mountain moss, nutmeg, mace, black cardamoms, a pinch of saffron, cinnamon, seafoam, wild berries.
• Transfer it into a grinder jar and grind the spices to a fine powder.

For Kebabs

• In a mixing bowl combine minced meat, prepared spice mix, ginger garlic paste, raw papaya, kewra water, rose water, and salt and mix well.
• Let the meat marinade for a minimum of 2 hours or preferably overnight in the refrigerator.
• Take the meat out of the refrigerator.
• Now take a flat pan. Heat ghee on medium heat for shallow frying.
• Wet your hands with water and take a portion of the meat mixture and directly place it on the pan while shaping them into patties.
• Fry till golden crust is formed on both sides and evenly cooked.
• Remove the kebabs on absorbent paper to remove the excess fat.

For Serving

• Arrange kebabs on plate and serve

5. Kebab Joojeh

(Recipe by Chef Ajay Thakur, Bayroute)

An Iranian specialty of charcoal grilled chicken marinated in saffron, onion juice, griddled and served with Harissa Labneh

Ingredients

Olive oil – 20 gm

Chicken breast (Cut into pieces) – 200 gm

Hung curd – 40 gm

Garlic paste – 10 gm

Ginger paste – 5 gm

Onion paste – 1 no

Turmeric powder – 1 gm

Chilli powder – 1 gm

Lemon juice – 2 No

Salt as per taste

Black pepper as per taste

Saffron – 1 gm

Marination method

• In a large bowl mix hang curd, sliced onion, oil, garlic, chili powder, turmeric powder, lemon juice, saffron and salt.
• Place the chicken in the marinade and stir well so all pieces are covered with marinade.
• Cover the bowl and refrigerate and let the chicken marinate for at least three hours up to twelve four hours.
• Once ready to cook, place the bowl in room temperature for 15 minutes.

Grill instructions

• Thread the chicken pieces into skewers and grill on both sides until they are golden brown on the outside and white and juicy on the inside. Brush with butter before removing from grill. Serve hot with any dip of your choice. Best suitable dip would be Labneh & Harissa

6. Pudina Dahi Kebab

Ingredients:

Paneer – 200 gms

Mint leaves – 3 gms

Salt to taste

White pepper powder

Hung curd- 3 gms

30 – gm

Flour – 30 gm

Stuffing

Sultanas – 2 gms

Cashew nuts – 3 gm

Oil for frying

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
• Divide the mixture into equal portions and stuff each portion with cashew nuts and sultanas.
• Shape by making firm balls and then lightly flatten between both palms into kebab shape.
• Heat oil on a griddle and shallow fry the kababs on medium heat to a crisp golden brown color on both the sides.
• Remove and drain off excess oil.
• Arrange on the service platter and serve hot with mint chutney.