Dahi kabab are shallow fried kababs made Indian curd, gram flour, paneer, spices and herbs. This restaurant style crispy dahi kabab are eaten with green chutney.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 20 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 8 · 8 kababs
  • Category: Snack
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 2 cups curd ((plain yogurt or ¾ cup Greek yogurt or hung curd))
  • 1¼ cup paneer (crumbled (or ¾ cup bread crumbs))
  • 10 cashewnuts (chopped finely)
  • ¼ cup onions ((optional) very finely chopped)
  • 1½ teaspoons ginger paste
  • 2 green chilies (chopped or paste (use as needed))
  • 1 to 1 ¼ teaspoons garam masala
  • 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (– finely chopped)
  • Salt as needed
  • ½ cup bread crumbs ((or substitute with powdered poha))
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons besan ((gram flour) (or substitute with sattu, roasted chana dal flour))
  • Oil as needed for shallow frying

Method

Make Greek yogurt or hung curd (skip if you have it)

  1. Place a strainer over a large deep bowl. Spread a thin muslin cloth or cheese cloth over the strainer. Pour the curd and bring together the edges of the cloth. Then wring the cloth to drain up excess whey from curd. (check pics in the post)
  2. Place 2 to 3 heavy ceramic bowl or a heavy object over the pack of yogurt. Refrigerate the whole thing for 12 to 14 hours. The whey drips and gets collected to the bowl. Later hung curd is ready.

How to Make Dahi Kabab

  1. Crumble paneer and add it to a mixing bowl along with hung curd.
  2. Add all the other ingredients - ginger, garlic, chilli, garam masala, onions, cashews and coriander leaves.
  3. Mix well just to make a non sticky dough. If the dough is still sticky add more bread crumbs.
  4. Divide the dough to equal sized balls. Flatten them.
  5. Then roll them in besan or any flour you prefer. Shake them off gently to remove excess flour. Set aside for 5 to 7 mins.
  6. Heat up oil for shallow frying. Test if the oil is hot enough by dropping a small portion of the mixture. It should sizzle, rise up and not turn brown.
  7. Gently drop the dahi kabab one after the other. Regulate the flame to medium.
  8. Do not disturb them for a few minutes. When one side turns golden, flip them and fry on the other side as well.
  9. Fry all the dahi kababs in batches until golden and crisp.
  10. Serve dahi kabab hot with coriander chutney, green chutney or mint chutney.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.