History of kebab

“Kebab” or “Kabab” is originally a variety of Irani meat (Mainly Lamb) dishes. As time passed Kebab got a dignified space in the cuisinesof Middle East, Turkey, South Asia and presently Worldwide. In English Kebab generally refers to the “Shish Kebab” served on the skewer. In the Middle East, however, Kebab refers to meat that is cooked over or next to flames; large or small cuts of meat, or even ground meat; it may be served on plates, in sandwiches, or in bowls. The traditional meat for Kebab is lamb, but depending on local tastes and taboos, it may now be beef, goat, chicken, pork; fish and seafood; or even vegetarian foods like falafel or tofu. Like other ethnic foods brought by travelers, the Kebab has become part of everyday cuisine in many countries around the globe.

The origin of Kebab may lie in the short supply of cooking fuel in the Near East, which made the cooking of large foods difficult while urban economies made it easy to obtain small cuts of meat at a butcher's shop.According to Ibn Battuta, a Moroccan traveler, in India, Kebab was served in the royal houses during the Delhi Sultanate period(1206-1526 AD), and even commoners would enjoy it for breakfast with naan. The dish has been native to the Near East and ancient Greece since antiquity. Even it is heard that when Alexander met King Porus, he offered him some Indian delicacies similar to Kebab. But officially Kebabs came to India in Mughal era and then slowly the same was Indianized.

Did you know?

The phrase “Kebab” is Persian in origin and Arabic tradition has it that the dish was invented by medieval Persian soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open-field fires. Later on Swords were replaced by skewers.

Below are brief details about some popular Kebabs:

Chelow Kebab

Chelow Kebab is the national dish of Iran. It is a sort of combo meal consisting saffron basmati, grilled tomatoes, poached eggs, Shish Kebab, Reshmi Kebab etc. Chelow Kebab is best accompanied by sour yogurt (Chaas).

Kakori Kebab

The name Kakori is originated from the name of the small town in Uttar Pradesh, India. Some says that Kakori Kebab was created by Nawab of Kakori; Syed Mohammad Haider Kazm who, after receiving complaints from a British officer about the hardness of the Kebabs, ordered his cooks to prepare a tender Kebab .They finally came out with this Kakori Kebab. Raan ki maachli is used to make this Kebab. Softness of Kakori Kebab helped to gain its popularity amongst toothless Nawabs.

Tunde ke Kebab

Tunde ke Kebab is made of minced meat which is popular in Lucknow. It is said that there was once a Nawab (royal family member) who loved Kebabs. In his old days without tooth it was difficult to eat Kebabs. He announced that the person who makes the softest Kebab would henceforth enjoy royal patronage. The secret recipe was created by Haji Murad Ali, who had only one hand (Tunda in Hindi). It is believed that this is the origin of the name, Tunde ke Kebab. The secret recipe apparently has 160 spices, including sandalwood. The recipe is a family secret and is passed down to the generations by the ladies of the house. His Family still runs a very famous Kebab Shop in Lucknow with multiple outlets.

Shish Kebab

In English the word “Kebab” generally refers to Shish Kebab. The dish consists of Meat threaded in Skewer and grilled along with some vegetables like Onion, Tomatoes, mushrooms etc. The same is available and popular everywhere in the World. It is considered as the oldest form of Kebabs.

Boti Kebab

Boti Kebab hails from Hyderabad. It was a very significant dish during the Nizam’s era. Tender pieces of boneless mutton dipped in spice egg wash, rolled in crumbs and deep fried.

Hara Bhara Kebab

Specially designed for veggie food lovers. It gets the green colour from the Spinach in it.

Fish Tikka Kebab

Fisheterians will love to have this. Generally Bekti is used to make this delicacy. Best served with French fries.

Shammi Kebab

Shammi Kebab means Syrian Kebab in Arabic. These Kebabs were introduced to South Asia during the Mughal era. Some of the cooks at Mughal durbar were from Syria as well. The Sham refers to either Syria specifically or the Levant in general, and these Kebabs literally means Syrian Kebabs or Levantine Kebabs in Arabic. The Shammi Kebab are also popular in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan.

Galouti Kebab

Galouti Kebab was created for an aging Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow who lost his teeth, but not his passion for meat dishes. ‘Galouti’ or ‘Galawati’ means “melt in your mouth”. Traditionally, green papaya is used to make it tender. After being mixed with a few select herbs and spices the very finely ground meat is shaped into patties and fried in pure ghee until they are browned. The original recipe is supposed to have more than 100 aromatic spices.

Did you know?

Alexander Dumas is best known for writing such novels as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, but he also traveled and wrote about food. His famous recipe of Lamb Kebab was adapted by Famous cook Steven Raichlen to add a traditional Georgian spice mix.

What complements Kebab best?

Kebab can be considered a self sufficient dish. But Parathas with pickles, Buttered rice, Bread rolls and French fries goes well with Kebab.

 

Kakori Kebab

                     KAKORI KEBAB

                           Story Behind This Kebab Ingredients: 
Mince meat (from leg without any white ligaments) 1kg
Raw papaya (paste) 1oogms
Salt to taste
Kidney fat 100gms

Kakori masala (A) (Roast and make powder)
Green cardamom 10 pcs
Black cardamom seeds ½ teaspoon
Clove 5 nos.
Nutmeg 1 pinch
Mace 1 small blade
Shahi jeera ½ teaspoon
Rose petal 1 teaspoon
Kebab chini 10pcs
White pepper ½ teaspoon
Kashmiri mirch 1tablespoon
Yellow chilli ½ teaspoon
Roasted gram powder 100gms

Kakori masala (B) (Make paste)
Desiccated coconut 50gms
Khuskhus 10gms
Khoya 50gms
Onion (to be sliced and fried) 100gms
Cashew nut 25gms
Fresh cream 100gms
Saffron 1 gm
Rose water 2 tablespoon
Kewda water 2 tablespoon

Method:
- Mince meat and fat thrice to very fine consistency
- Add papaya paste, salt, and powder masala (A). Mix well with both hands.
- Add masala paste (B) along with rose water, Kewda water and saffron
- Mix thoroughly and keep for half an hour
- Clean and wipe skewers. Take a portion of mince mixture and stick it to the skewers evenly in round shape like a Seekh Kebab
- Roast on charcoal grill. Remove carefully from the skewers.
- Serve with green chutney

Galouti kebab

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Melt-in-your-mouth galwati kebabs

We love stories, especially when they are wrapped in wonder and laced with a bit of history. Galouti Kebabs, as the story goes, were invented for the Nawabs of Awadh when they were too old to chew meat, yet could not fathom the idea of giving up their favourite dish - kebabs.

Well, as far as the story goes, Tunde Miyan was a royal chef to a Nawab of Awadh who became too old to keep all his teeth, but still craved for kebabs. Galawat ke kebabs were invented for the Nawab to keep coming back to the dastarkhan, or the royal dining area.  And do you know how the Nawab rewarded his chef?

He got his hands cut-off so he could never make those kebabs again for another nawab. Yes, it a little dramatic.  Since I am skeptical about the truth of this story, I will not drag it further and share the recipe instead...

Ingredients:

400 gms boneless lamb shoulder meat
50 gms lamb kidney fat
150 gms ghee
80 gms onions (sliced)
10 gms garlic
3 gms ginger                                  
2 gms pipli (Long pepper)                
1 gm dry rose petals                      
1 gm green cardamom                   
1 gm cinnamon stick                     
40 gms cashew nut                            
5 gms raw papaya (thick skin only)
6 gms cooking salt                           
5 ml rose water                              
3 gms red chilly powder                   

Method:

1. Ground together the ginger, garlic, raw papaya skin, cinnamon stick, dry rose petals, and green cardamom.

2. Heat the ghee and fry onion slices till they turn golden in color and keep aside. In the vessel, fry cashew nuts and pipli.

3. Grind all the ingredients, except the ghee, till it turns into a smooth paste.

4. Clean the meat so there is no sinew and fat left on it.

5. Mix both the pastes with the meat along with salt and chili powder, and allow to rest in the refrigerator for six to eight hours.

6. Add the lamb fat and pass it through the meat mincer twice.

7. Now add the left over ghee and rose water to the mix and allow it to rest for 30 minutes.

8. Mince the mix again another six times. (This will ensure the mechanical tenderising of the meat with enzymes from the papaya skin that will make your kebabs supersmooth).

9. Refrigerate the mixture till use.  Heat ghee in a shallow but thick bottom frying pan and drop the meat mince on it in little quantities. Press lightly with a spatula to form a round shape. Allow the kebabs to cook for three to four minutes and gently flip them to cook the other side for two more minutes.

10. Carefully remove and serve hot with your choice of chutney. Use a spoon, since it’s impossible to pick this kebab with a fork.

step by step cooking of kadai mushroom recipe, how to make kadai mushroom recipe

kadai mushroom recipe, how to make kadai mushroom recipe

By Asif 

kadai mushroom is an easy and quick dish and yet delicious. cooked button mushrooms in a semi dry gravy of spiced and tangy tomato sauce along with juliennes of green bell pepper.

mushrooms, spices, onions, tomatoes and green bell pepper… their combination never goes wrong 

kadai mushroom goes excellent with some rotis or naan and accompanied by a salad or dip, you have an awesome meal.

the indian kadai is like the chinese wok but much deeper than the wok. the whole dish is cooked in the kadai and hence the name kadai mushroom.

in india the kadai or kadhai is used for cooking semi dry or dry veggie dishes, making sweets and also for deep frying. it is one multi purpose pan which is found in every indian kitchen.

whenever you make any kadai recipe from any veggie or paneer or tofu, then always always freshly pound or powder the spices. they add such an aroma and flavor to the food that is not possible when you use ready made or store brought spice powders.

in this kadai mushroom recipe, we have ground roasted dry red chilies and coriander seeds to a semi-fine powder. the tomato puree is also freshly made.

i recently purchased online a skyline magic bullet and my work is so easy as far as blending and dry grinding is concerned. excellent for making small quantities of purees, blends, smoothies.

by the way i purchased the chinese version of the magic bullet through an error, but i am not complaining 

The kadai mushroom has been adapted from my popular restaurant style kadai paneer recipe. to make this dish onion-garlic free,  you can easily skip onion and garlic. it will still taste delicious.