Boti Kabab Recipe

Beef boti kababs are soft and velvety, and they will simply melt in your mouth. With a few choice spices, yogurt, fried onions and raw papaya, get set to make some foodie magic!

Serve these kababs with some naan or paratha for a complete meal.

About Boti Kabab

I have made and eaten all kinds of kebabs, but my favourite, by far, are these boti kebabs made on the stovetop.

Why, you may ask, do I favour this recipe over others?

Very simple. I always find myself gravitating towards dishes that are easily made and full of flavour (as you might have discovered by now if you've been elsewhere on the blog).

This recipe has fairly straightforward steps that even a novice cook can follow. It requires a little advance prep, but once you're through that, the kebabs literally just cook themselves.

They're big on taste though. Close your eyes and imagine popping a kebab or two in your mouth. You'll immediately experience an explosion of rich flavours and the kebabs will melt in your mouth before you know it. You don't have to chew and chew until your jaw muscles start to ache. I don't know about you but I positively hate chewy kebabs. If kebabs are not soft, they're not worth eating!

The key to this magic?

There are several,  in fact.

Top Tips

1. A long marination time:

The meat is marinated overnight to allow the spices to seep into it.

2. The unique combination of ingredients:

Ingredients like fried onions, yogurt, spices, ginger and garlic are always a winning combo for kebabs.

3. The use of raw papaya, a natural tenderizer:

Papaya is chockful of a poweful enzyme called papain which can break down even tough meats like beef. The result? Soft as velvet kebabs!

4. Slow cooking on a low, even heat:

The marinated beef is cooked on a slow fire until all the liquid evaporates and the kebabs have absorbed the rich masala fully.

5. Smoking the cooked kebabs (optional):

The kebabs taste great even without this step, but if you like a smoky flavour to your meats, this is something you can do. It takes mere moments.

So, there you have it. I have given you, not one but five keys to a million-dollar beef boti kebab recipe. Get ready to make the softest, bestest kebabs on the planet! (Okay, perhaps that's too much, but you get the idea:)

Note: If you enjoy eating kebabs, here's a recipe for lamb kebabs that you might like. They taste divine with green chutney, and they can be made ahead and frozen!

More meat recipes you will enjoy: Beef stew, aloo gosht (lamb and potato curry), and yakhni pulao.

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Meat: For these kebabs, boneless beef chunks or beef stew meat works best. If you don't like beef, you can go with boneless lamb as well.

Papaya: This is an essential ingredient if you want soft kababs. Fresh papaya is available in Indian and Pakistani groceries. Please note that you are using raw green papaya in this recipe and not ready-to-eat papaya that is yellowish-orange in colour. More on how to make the papaya paste in the instructions below.

The other ingredients like fried onions, ginger, garlic, yogurt, vinegar and spices lend a deep, rich flavour to the boti kebabs that make them so delicious!

Preparation

1. Prep the spices: Toast the coriander, cumin, and red chillies until fragrant and grind in a spice grinder to get a powder. Toasting the spices before grinding takes all of 2 minutes, and it is an important step to really bring out their full intensity.

2. Fry the onions in hot oil until caramelized and reddish-brown.

Tip: If you don't want the kebabs to be too dark, take the onions off the heat before they are fully red. They will continue to cook in the residual heat of the oil even after you remove them from the hob.

3. Make the papaya paste: Wash the papaya, slice off a portion, and remove the seeds. Now, all you have to do is put the papaya along with some water in a powerful blender and whiz away until you get a puree. I like using my Vitamix for such tasks as it makes short work of even tough ingredients that a regular blender cannot handle.

4. Marinate the beef: Put all the ingredients for marination (ginger-garlic paste, yogurt, green papaya paste, toasted and ground whole spices, garam masala powder, fried onions with the oil they were fried in, vinegar, and salt) in a Pyrex bowl and whisk together. Then add the beef chunks and coat with the marinade. Cover with some cling foil and keep in the refrigerator, preferably overnight.

If you don't have a lot of time, you can get away with 2 hours marination too. Enough for the papaya to do its work of tenderizing the meat.

Cooking

This is the easy part! Transfer the marinated meat to a dutch oven and cook on high heat for ten minutes at first. The meat will release its juices and it will be watery at first. Once the liquid starts bubbling, turn down the heat to low, cover the pot with a lid and cook on a low simmer for one and a half hours. In the end, when you open the pot, the meat will be tender and well-cooked.

Tip # 1: Do check a couple of times to make sure the meat is cooking well and not sticking to the bottom. You can add a quarter cup water to keep it going.

Tip # 2: The sign of doneness is when the meat breaks easily upon applying pressure. These kebabs taste best when they are well-done. Also, the meat should have absorbed most of the liquid and be relatively dry with the masala clinging to it.

OPTIONAL STEP: SMOKE THE KEBABS

Heat a piece of charcoal over an open flame until it is red-hot. Put the charcoal in a small steel bowl and nestle this bowl in the centre of the cooked kebabs. Drizzle a little ghee on the charcoal. It will immediately start sizzling. Cover the pot with a lid and allow the smoke to permeate the kebabs for at least 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and enjoy the kebabs.

Don't forget to garnish the kababs with some onions rings and mint leaves before serving.

Tried this recipe? Do consider giving it a star rating and comment below. If you’re on Instagram, feel free to tag me so I can see your creation! I’d love to hear from you! Thank you:)

📖 Recipe