Category Archives: Kabab / Kabob

“Galwati” means ” as soft as melting in mouth” . Galawti kabab is one of the gems of Awadhi cuisine , invented for the againg, toothless kabab lover Nawab of Awadh – Wazed Ali Shah !!! Losing of tooth can never decrease the “royal craving” for kababs !! Like other Luknowi/ Awadhi cuisine the original recipe of Galawti is still a secret !! Many says , in the original recipe there had been 100 different spices that made the kabab truly flavorful !! :O

I have seen many galwti kabab recipes where egg is used for binding !! A big “No way ” !! Original recipe never had any egg in it . Roasted chickpea powder ( not flour) is used , in a very small amount to act as the binding agent . For that dry roast the chickpeas first . Then grind it into a powder . If you don’t want to do much hassle , use the besan ( gram flour ) , but try to dry roast a bit until fragrant . Careful , don’t burn the besan as that would taste bitter .

Don’t skip the papaya paste . That’s the one of two ingredients that make the kabab so melt in mouth . The other ingredient is mutton or beef fat . In authentic recipe mutton is used for this kabab , but beef would do too . If you can’t find the mutton or beef fat , don’t worry substitute it with ghee .

Ingredients :

1 lb beef or mutton keema/ mince ( double minced ) * ( see the note)
2 tbl spoon finely grated or paste raw papaya with skin
1 and half tea spoon ginger paste
1 tea spoon garlic paste
3 tbl spoon fried onion or bereshta
2 tbl spoon finely chopped onion
1 tea spoon red chili powder
1 tea spoon paprika
2 tea spoon finely chopped green chili
1-2 tbl spoon chopped mint
1/2 tea sppon jaifol-javetri ( mace and nutmeg)
1/2 tea spoon cinnamon ( darchini) powder
1/4 th tea spoon green cardamom powder
1 tea spoon garam masala / kabab masala powder * ( see the note)
2 tea spoon poppy seed and almond powder ( try to grind them with the besan or chickpea powder so that the poppy seed is grinded properly )
Salt to taste ( around 1 tea spoon)
1 tbl spoon hung curd ( don’t take the water )
3 tbl spoon ghee
3 tbl spoon dry roasted chick pea powder or besan

Kabab Masala :

2 Dry red chilies
Cumin seed 1 tbl spoon
Coriander seed 1 tbl spoon
Green cardamon 5 or 6
Black pepper 1 tea spoon
Cloves 1 teasppon
2 long pepper
Allspice 1 teaspoon
Kababchini 1 teaspoon
Fennel 1 teaspoon
Mace 1 teaspoon
Nutmeg half a teaspoon
1 star anise
2 black cardamoms
1 small cinnamon stick ( 1″)
1 star anise

Lightly dry roast the ingredients and crush into a powder .

Procedure :

1. blend/ chop the keema again in a food processor or chopper . While blending it again add the 3 tbl spoon of ghee as mentioned in the ingredients list . Now add all the ingredients with the keema . If you wish you can give charcoal smoke in it . For giving charcoal smoke , lit a charcoal , then place it in a small aluminium or metal bowl . Place it on the keema and add some ghee over the charcoal . As soon as you add ghee on charcoal , there will be huge smoke . Cover the bowl of the keema with a lid . Keep it like this 5 minutes or until the smoke extinguishes .

2. Marinate the keema for at least 12 hours . The more , the better . Now shape the kababs and grill on charcoal or shallow fry in a grill or frying pan on the stove .
I did bake the kababs at oven . For that grease a baking pan and line with parchment paper . Now bake the kababs in a preheated oven for 20 minutes @ 400 Fh . Now Broil another 5 minutes at the same temperature .

Here you go !!!

Notes :

1. Double minced means , after making the keema , mince it again. You can do it in a food processor , blender , chopper . That’s the reason of being the kababs so tender .
But remeber , kababs like galwti , tunda, kakori where twice or thrice minced keema is required , don’t wash the keema after getting them minced . If you wash the keema , let alone the flavor , the kabab will come apart as soon as you try to fry or grill them .
So for that or any keema , please tell the butcher to wash the meat first , then dry out the water with a ktchen tissue or towel , then mince it . I always tell my butcher to do so . It doesn’t take too long.

2. Don’t skip the raw papaya and ghee in the marination . These two things do the real wonder of making the kabab melt in mouth . 🙂

3. if you use besan , instead of dry roasted chickpea powder . please dry roast the besan first . But don’t over fry . It would taste bitter if over fried .