Galouti Kebab

Legend has it that the ruler of Lucknow, Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, had lost all his teeth. And yet, the toothless Nawab was so big there was no horse that could carry him. What was his secret? He apparently commissioned the creation of a version of his beloved kebabs that could be eaten without teeth. His court chef designed a new kebab that would use the finest lamb cuts, mince them twice very finely, add a tenderizer and flavor the whole with a heavenly spice mix. 

Though they say that the best kebabs are from Benaras or Lucknow I for sure can vouch for kebabs from the place I was brought up, that is Jabalpur in MP. My brother would often parcel these melt-in-the-mouth kebabs from some bylanes of Sadar Bazar. I have till date not seen the place but have heard how Iranians and Indians would both flock this place in the evening to grab the sizzling kebabs. They used to be out of the world!! 

The Galouti Kebab usually has tenderizing agent like papaya but mine doesn't because I'm not using red meat this time around as I had chicken mince handy. You can use the same method for other meat as well but just ensure that you use papaya paste as addition.

Ingredients

To pressure cook

1/4 kg chicken mince
20 g chana dal (gram dal - yellow split lentils)
4 small potato
5 cloves
2 inch cinnamon stick
2 black cardamom
4 green cardamom
4- 5 black pepper seeds

Garnish

2 tbsp paste go ginger, garlic, mint, coriander and green chilies ( the amount of each ingredient can vary to your taste)
1 small onion chopped finely

Method

1. In a pressure cooker add all ingredients except the Garnish with 1/2 cup water and pressure cook till chicken is tender. This should not take more than 15 mins.
2. Cool the cooked meat and grind it into a finely paste.
3. Mix the ingredients under garnish and make it into flat round shapes as in the picture.
4. Shallow fry on both the sides till golden brown. This kebab requires very little oil or ghee.

Serve with sauce or chutney of your choice and loads of cut onions and lemon.