← Nouns Cooking · Indian

Ingredients

• 500 g lamb or beef mince
• 100 g Chana dal (split Bengal gram), soaked for 1 hour
• 1 Onion, roughly chopped
• 8 cloves Garlic
• 3 cm piece Ginger, sliced
• 4 Dried chillies
• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1½ tsp black peppercorns
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 1 black cardamom pod
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 6 Cloves
• 1 Bay leaves
• 1½ tsp Salt
• 600 ml Water
• 1 small red onion, very finely chopped
• 2 Green chilli, minced
• 3 tbsp Coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 2 tbsp Mint, chopped
• 1 egg, beaten (plus 1–2 more for dipping)
• 4 tbsp oil, for frying

Method

1. Put the mince, drained dal, onion, garlic, ginger, whole spices, salt and water in a heavy pot. Bring to the boil, then simmer, covered, for 30 min until the dal is soft.
2. Uncover and cook for 15–20 min more, stirring often, until every bit of liquid has evaporated and the mixture is dry. Fish out the cinnamon and bay leaf and let it cool.
3. Blend or pound the mixture into a smooth, fine paste. It should hold together when pressed.
4. Mix in the red onion, chillies, coriander, mint and one beaten egg, and shape into 16–20 flat patties.
5. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Dip each patty in beaten egg and fry for 2–3 min per side until golden brown.
6. Serve hot with mint chutney, onion rings and lemon.

Tips

• The mixture must be completely dry before grinding, or the kebabs will fall apart in the pan.
• Shaped patties freeze well: fry them straight from frozen over a slightly lower heat.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Tea for Turmeric BBC Good Food Archana's Kitchen