THERE are many legends that surround recipes, but some just stick in your head. Growing up in a family where meat was eaten a lot, I never really got into dishes that contained large chunks of meat. Instead I loved things like these steak shami kebabs. There was something about these smooth patties of ground mutton, cooked with split pea lentil and spices, then blended with fresh herbs and lightly fried, that I just adored. I’d have them in my sandwiches with coriander chutney or tomato ketchup, or I'd roll them up into a chappati with some salad. However, they were just as delicious with rice and daal. I had never thought about their history or how they came about. Shami kebabs were always a treat in the freezer, as my mother would make dozens and keep them for weeks, though in all honesty, they wouldn’t survive more than a few days.
My father’s family migrated from the Uttar Pradesh to Pakistan in 1947, and my grandmother’s cooking was reminiscent of the Mughal empire. The city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh was once the heart of the Mughal command in India, hence the food of the region is rich in regal recipes. Many of the recipes were meat based and this style of Nawabi cooking was all about layers of infused spice, slow cooking and meat on the bone. Shami kebabs are a firm favourite there, but the fact that they are made with blended meat and spices is a little incongruous to the meat-on-the-bone diet. The story goes that these were invented by a chef to a Nawab (nobleman) who had lost all his teeth due to his general overindulgence. In order to keep enjoying his chef’s food, the Nawab asked the chef to create something that meant he could eat meat without having to chew. This gave rise to the shami kebab. That is the myth, but making them is an exercise of patience.
Often a laborious task, I have adapted a traditional recipe and used bavette steak, which is cheap. Instead of puréed minced beef, as is traditional, I have left the meat to cook slowly until it pulls apart. I have mixed it together with spices and split pea lentil (chana lentil). When bone-dry and cool, add fresh herbs and ginger and mould into patty shapes, dip lightly in egg and shallow fry. This is always a favourite for Eid and served with spiced tamarind chutney. I think these are also perfect for a mid-morning snack.
SUMAYYA’S BAVETTE STEAK SHAMI KEBABS
Ingredients
400g of bavette steak
50g of channa daal, soaked for about 30 minutes-overnight before cooking
1 cinnamon stick
2 black cardamom pods
1 tsp black cumin, or regular cumin if not available
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 star anise
dried red chillies, 2-3
1 tsp black peppercorns
cloves, 8-10
1 knob of ginger, 1/2 inch in length, very finely chopped
1/2 bunch of coriander, finely chopped
20 mint leaves, finely chopped
2 green chillies, finely chopped
1 egg, beaten?vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Method
To begin, add the first 10 ingredients to a heavy-based saucepan and add 1 ½ pint of water. Bring to a boil then return to a simmer, cover with a lid and leave to cook for about three hours on a low heat. Keep checking to make sure the meat doesn’t stick at the bottom and ensure that you stir it occasionally. Do not add any more water.
After about two hours or so, check to see that all of the moisture has gone, the meat is tender and falling apart and the lentils are mushy.
Break and pull apart the meat and add the finely chopped ginger, chopped mint, coriander and green chillies. Mix until combined with the meat.
Measure out approximately two tbsp of the meat mixture and using your hands, form flat burger patty shapes to make the shami kebabs. Repeat until all of the mix has been used, then dip each kebab into the egg and set aside on a plate.
Heat some vegetable oil in a shallow frying pan and once hot, add 3-4 shami kebabs into the pan. Fry for approximately one minute on each side, until medium brown all over. Serve hot with any a hot sauce or ketchup.
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