Hello everybody! Yeah I know that it has been way too long than my previous long break from blogging but this time also, trust me it wasn’t a planned break. I was kept busy by the many things going on at the same time specially attending guests, taking my cats for operations, following up with many personal things (the list doesn’t end here…) and then when I thought everything was finally on place and I can get back to you guys, my wifi router broke down all thanks to my feline babies.

So now that I have my internet connection back (feels like ages into stone age) I am back into my blogging routine although I still have guests to attend and give my cats a bath (I have 34 cats ahem), etc.

Now lets talk about this recipe! Kabab Karhai is a Pakistani new-take on the usual chicken karhai, mutton karhai, etc. which is a curry made in a type of thick, circular, and deep cooking-pot (similar in shape to a wok) that originated in the Indian subcontinent. So basically, Kabab Karhai is a Kabab based curry made in a deep cooking pot. Its absolutely delicious and ah! there is something fancy about this whole dish.

This dish is prepared by a type of kabab known as Seekh kabab or otherwise known as the ‘Kababs of Pakistan’ which are prepared with minced meat with spices and grilled on skewers. These are later added in a tomato and onion based curry (for my recipe).

Remember to add a little bit of water if the gravy is too thick. I like mine loose too! And keep the tomatoes and onions chunky as well. Its a really good combination with the kababs. Had a good idea about the recipe? Lets move to the ingredients and method now.

Ingredients:

For the Seekh Kabab:

Minced beef: 1 kilogram
Onion, chopped: 1 medium
Coriander, fresh, chopped: 1/2 cup
Ginger paste: 1 tablespoon
Garlic paste: 1 tablespoon
Green chillies, chopped: 2
Red chilly powder: 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala: 1 tablespoon
Gram flour: 2 tablespoons
Salt: to taste

Wooden skewers: greased well

For the curry:

Onions, chopped: 2, medium
Tomatoes, chopped: 2, large
Garlic paste: 1 tablespoon
Ginger paste: 1 tablespoon
Red chilly powder: 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder: 1 1/2 teaspoon
Turmeric powder: 1/4 teaspoon
Garam masala powder: 2 teaspoons
Salt: to taste
Cooking oil: 2 tablespoons
Ginger julienne: for garnishing

Method:

For the Seekh kabab:

Before starting off with the kabab mixture, let me remind you that these are going in a curry which would contain salt so please keep the salt low in the kabab mix so that you don’t end up with an extremely salty curry.

Mix together all the ingredients of the Seekh kababs in a large bowl except the gram flour. Combine everything together and set aside. Now heat a pan to medium high and roast the gram flour on the stove without any oil. When it turns slightly golden in color, add this to the meat mix and combine everything well together again.

Now start processing this meat mixture in a food processor taking little portions at a time. Don’t over-process the mix but just say about 3 to 4 pulses. You can see the mixture coming together without turning it into a complete paste but just a rough mixture. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. After refrigerating, take out this kabab mixture and start shaping them by grabbing a small handful of the mince mixture and shaping it over the wooden sticks/ skewers.

After you are done shaping the kababs on skewers, you can either grill them in the oven/ cook them in a pan over stove on medium low heat/ barbecue them on coal until well done.

Although my favorite part is to barbecue them on coals but if you don’t have the time and you want to cook them on stove but still want the barbecue fragrance in it, just heat a coal and drop few cooking oil drops on top of the coal. Place this coal (carefully) in the pan for around 5 to 6 minutes when the kababs are cooked.

For the curry:

Heat oil in a sauce pan and add the chopped onions to it. Saute the onions until light golden and then add the tomatoes, ginger paste, garlic paste and cook until everything is fragrant. To this add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, salt and cook for around 10 minutes. Do a taste-check at this stage!!

When this curry is fully cooked, add the kababs to it and give it a mix for about a minute only and remove from heat. Garnish with the julienne ginger. Serve hot with preferably Naan bread.