Hara Bhara Kebab

Who doesn’t like a platter of crispy on the exterior and moist and soft in the interior kind of kebabs? I am sure we all love these with a spicy and tangy dip or sauce. On many occasions we simply prefer a platter of such grills or kebabs over an entire main course. I love making such cutlets or kebabs as you might like to call and always prefer to shallow fry them instead of deep frying. I am always a bit hesitant in deep frying such stuffs as I do not like to use the left over oil later in my cooking. So my most preferred method iseither shallow frying or baking.

As I was thinking of making some restaurant style hara hara kebab, I happened to go through many recipes. Most of the them used spinach leaves along with boiled green peas. This being not the season of green peas (and I always believe in using seasonal fruits and vegetables) and I am not a big fan of frozen peas either, so it was decided to simply skip the boiled peas in the recipe. The bite of coarsely ground Bengal gram offers a better texture than chickpea flour. You are free to use spices of your choice and add or subtract ingredients as per your choice, convenience and availability of resources.

These taste delicious when served with cold and spicy mint curd dip or a simple coriander mint chutney or tomato sauce. Pair it up with a bowl of fresh salad.

Ingredients:

• Spinach leaves 1 small bunch
• Chana dal 1/4 cup
• Salt to taste
• Green chilies 3-4
• Garlic cloves 3-4
• Coriander leaves a small bunch
• Onion 2 small
• Refined oil 2 tbsp
• Cumin seeds 1/2 tsp
• Bread crumbs as required
• Chat masala 1 tsp

Method:

• Wash and soak the chana dal or Bengal gram for atleast two hours.
• Now boil it in water with some added salt. Remove the white foam which accumulates on the top.
• Cook till the dal is soft to touch. It should not be overcooked.
• Drain from the water and cool it.
• Grind them coarsely in a dry mixer jar.

• Clean and wash the spinach leaves.
• Blanch it in hot boiling water for 3-4 minutes and immediately soak them in ice cold water. This will help to retain the green colour of spinach.
• Let the leaves remain in water till you arrange the remaining stuffs.
• Chop the onion, green chilies, garlic and coriander leaves finely.
• Heat a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add cumin seeds. Now drain the blanched spinach leaves and add it into the pan.
• Stir for 2-3 minutes till it becomes dry.
• Remove it from fire and blend it coarsely.
• Heat again a teaspoon of oil and add the chopped onion, green chilies and garlic.
• Saute them for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the ground chana dal in a big mixing bowl.
• Now add the sauteed onions mixture and the blended spinach leaves. Add chopped coriander leaves.
• Add salt and chat masala to the mixture.
• If the mixture appears too moist, add some fresh/dry bread crumbs to it.

• Shape these into kebabs or rolls or cutlets.
• Coat then with dry bread crumbs and refrigerate for 10-15 minutes. If you are in a hurry, you might as well skip this step. But it is advisable to refrigerate for few minutes.

• Now either deep fry these in hot oil or shallow fry them in a grill pan or any heavy bottom pan. Drizzle oil in both sides and cook till they are golden in colour.

• Serve it hot with green coriander chutney or mint-curd dip.

Notes:

• You can add around 1/4 cup of boiled and mashed green peas to the above mixture.
• Boiled and mashed/grated potato can also be added for more binding.
• If the dough appears too wet you can add some fresh bread crumbs too.
• These kebabs can be deep fried too for a more crispier texture.
• Try baking these kebabs at around 180-200 degree Celsius for 20-25 minutes or till it looks golden. Smear both sides with little oil and flip the sides halfway through.
• For a slight different texture add some grated paneer flavoured with herbs as a stuffing inside these kebabs.

[mpprecipe-recipe:1]