Vegetable Shikampuri Kebab

I recently bought a couple of cook books by Nita Mehta. The pictures in the book captivated my heart and mind. I tried out a few recipes from it; one of them is the Bhindi Do Pyaaza. For this month, we the Gourmet Seven decided to prepare some Gourmet Kebabs. The source was not limited to anything in particular. So I chose to prepare these delicious kebabs, which had caught my attention the moment I had purchased the Nita Mehta Book – 101 Vegetarian Recipes.

I made very few minor changes to the recipe to suit what was available in my pantry. The result was some really delicious kebabs. The mint leaves, fennel and the flavouring powder made these kebabs very flavourful. We had it with tomato ketchup. My daughter who came back from school and got to taste these hot kebabs was all gaga over it. My pictures don’t do any justice to the way they tasted. I was in a hurry to finish clicking since both my daughters were ready to pounce on the kebabs :)

Makes about 12 Kebabs

What you’ll need

1. Carrots – 1 cup, finely chopped, boiled
2. Beans – ½ cup, finely chopped, boiled
3. Potatoes – 4 Medium, boiled and mashed very well
4. Green Chillies – 1, finely chopped
5. Ginger – 1 tsp, grated
6. Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
7. Chilli Powder – 1 tsp
8. Fresh Coriander – 1 tbsp, chopped
9. Mint – 1 tbsp, chopped
10. Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp
11. Fresh Bread Slices – 4, grind in a mixer to get fresh bread crumbs
12. Salt to taste
13. Oil – 4 tsp

Flavoring Powder (Crush together)

1. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
2. Green Cardamom – 2 to 3
3. Pepper Corns – 2 – 3

Filling

1. Paneer – ¼ cup, grated
2. Yougurt – ¼ cup, hang in a muslin cloth for 20 mins
3. Onion – 1 chopped
4. Khoya – ¼ cup, mashed
5. Salt to taste
6. Oil for frying the Kebabs – 2 to 3 tbsp
7. Chaat masala – little to sprinkle on top (optional)

Method

1. Heat oil in a Kadai, add fennel seeds fry for a minute then add ginger and green chillies. Fry for a minute.
2. Add the boiled carrots, and beans. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add turmeric powder and chilli powder. Fry for another minute.
4. Now add the mashed potatoes and mix well.
5. Add salt to taste, chopped coriander and mint leaves. Add the flavouring powder. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes or till the mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and cool.
6. Add enough bread crumbs to make firm round balls. Check for seasoning.
7. For the filling, brown the chopped onions in about 2 tsp of oil on low heat. Le
8. Flatten the potato and veggie mixture, place some paneer khoya mixture and shape into kebabs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Shallow fry in 2 to 3 tbsp of oil till crisp and brown .
9. Sprinkle some Chaat masala and serve hot.

Check out what the other gourmets are upto: Anamika, Anusha, Radhika, Sangeetha, Vardhini, Veena