lamb kebabs with green chutney (shami kabab)

Shallow fried lamb mince cutlets with flaky brown crusts and soft insides. This lamb kebabs recipe is perfect with Indian flatbread and cilantro-mint chutney!

Course Appetizer/Dinner

Cuisine Indian

Keyword ground lamb kebabs, Indian lamb kebabs, shami kabab

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 50

Servings -20 kebabs

Calories 185.7kcal

Author Saima Zaidi

Ingredients

Kebab ingredients:

2 lbs lean ground lamb or mutton
1 small-medium onion quartered
4-5 cloves garlic peeled
1 ” piece ginger peeled and chopped coarsely
⅓ cup split chickpea lentils
4 cloves
8-10 peppercorns
2 black cardamom
4 small green cardamom
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
2 whole dry red chillies or 2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
Salt to taste
1 small onion cut omelette-style (diced into quarter inch pieces)
2 tablespoon coriander leaves
2 Thai chillies chopped finely (optional)
¼ cup cooking oil for shallow frying

Green chutney ingredients:

2 bunches fresh coriander leaves
2 tablespoon yogurt
½ medium-sized tomato
2 cloves garlic
3 Thai chillies
3-5 tablespoon water
¼ teaspoon black pepper
sea salt to taste

Instructions

Shami Kebabs

Add the following ingredients in the steel insert of your instant pot – lamb mince, split chickpeas, onion, ginger, garlic, whole spices and salt.
Secure the lid and make sure the steam release handle is sealed. Press the pressure-cooking button, set it to high and set the timer to 20 minutes.
After the timer beeps, wait for 10 minutes before releasing the pressure. Open the pot and check to see if there is any liquid. If there is, press the saute button and dry the liquid. Keep stirring to prevent the mince from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Once all the liquid has dried, transfer the mince to a food processor. Grind to a thick, dough-like consistency.
Take the mince out in a shallow bowl and mix in diced onions, chopped cilantro and chopped green chillies. Mix well.
Shape into kebabs. Spread a few drops of cooking oil on your palm and take a tennis ball sized portion of the mince. Roll it into a ball, them flatten it with the palms of your hand to get a flat but round disc. Repeat until you’ve used up all the mince.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and slide in the kebabs, a few at a time. Once they are browned on one side, flip them with the help of a flat spatula and let the other side turn brown too. Take them out in a platter and serve hot with the cilantro-mint chutney.

Green Chutney

Put all the ingredients along with a few tablespoons water in a blender and blend till done. Serve in a small bowl with the kebabs.

Notes

Stovetop method - Put the mince in a stovetop pressure cooker along with all the ingredients except the oil, omelette style onion, coriander leaves and green chilli. Do not add any water. Mix with a large spoon. After one whistle, turn down the heat to minimum and cook for 15 mins. Let the steam release escape naturally, then open the cooker.
If there is water in the mince when you open the pressure cooker (instant pot or stovetop), don’t fret. Just cook the mince for some time until all the water dries off. Keep an eye on the mince though, don’t let it burn! If the mince has excess water, you won’t be able to shape it into kebabs.
Split chickpea lentils (chana dal) are easily available in Indian grocery stores or in the international aisles of supermarkets like Walmart. If you can't find them, add some cornflour to the ground mince and shape into kebabs. Some people also add lightly whipped eggs (2) to the mince before pressure cooking it. Whatever it is, be sure to add some kind of binding agent, or the kebabs will not hold together when you fry them.

Nutrition