Chicken shami kebabs
The goal with these amazing chicken shami kebabs is to get the exterior a crispy, deep golden brown with a soft, somewhat stringy texture in the centre. Just follow this recipe and you will be in shami kebab heaven. You could just serve them with quartered limes, which you squeeze over the kebabs at the table, but I like to serve them with the sliced onions and the green chilli and coriander chutney on page 169, which I had them with on several occasions in Delhi.
This recipe is an extract from Curry Guy Chicken: Deliciously Spiced Recipes From South And Southeast Asia by Dan Toombs (Quadrille).
Next, why not try one of our tempting chicken curry recipes from the House & Garden archive?
Total Time
75 minutes
Yield
Serves 2, or 4 as a starter or side dish
Ingredients
To serve
Step 1
Get your split chana lentils on to soak while you prepare the rest of the dish. You could soak them for a couple of hours if convenient, as this will speed up the cooking process. Place the chicken, garlic, salt, cumin and coriander seeds and the dried Kashmiri chillies in a saucepan and pour 250ml (1 cup) of the water over it all. Bring to a simmer over a medium–high heat, cover the pan and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and becoming tender.
Step 2
Strain the soaked chana lentils and add them to the pan. Add another 500ml (2 cups) of the water. Bring back to a simmer, cover and continue simmering for 30 minutes or until all the water has evaporated and the lentils are so soft you can smash them between two fingers. You may need to add more water to cook the lentils so keep an eye on them. By this time, you should easily be able to break up the chicken pieces with a wooden spatula. Take off the heat.
Step 3
Begin smashing the ingredients in the pan with a wooden spatula or potato masher. You want to spend some time doing this as you need to ensure all the lentils are 90 per cent smashed and the ingredients are well combined. Add the eggs, the grated, squeezed onion, coriander (cilantro), chilli powder and garam masala and continue mashing it all together until the mixture looks like clay when squeezed into a ball but the chicken still looks quite stringy.
Step 4
Divide the mashed chicken mixture into four equal-sized balls. Then form the balls into neat, flattened patties. If you want to get really posh with this, use a metal ring mould to ensure they all look the same.
Step 5
Now heat about 5cm (2in) of oil in a frying pan (skillet). When visibly hot, carefully add the shami kebabs and fry on one side until crispy, brown and lightly caramelized and then flip them over to do the same to the other side. Transfer the cooked shami kebabs to a wire rack to drip any excess oil. Serve hot with lime wedges or the green chilli and coriander chutney and sliced onions.
