Shami kabab are a popular street food appetizer from the Indian Sub-continent. These are made with mutton/chicken, bengal gram, spices and herbs. Serve them with mint chutney or roll them in naan/tandoori roti or serve them as patties in burgers.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 40 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 8 · 8 to 10 kebabs
  • Category: Appetizer
  • Cuisine: Mughlai

Ingredients

  • 450 grams (1 lb.) chicken (or mutton (boneless, or use more bone-in))
  • ⅓ cup (75 grams) chana dal ((Bengal gram lentils))
  • 1 teaspoon red chili powder (or chili flakes)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric
  • 1½ inch cinnamon stick (/ dalchini)
  • 2 to 3 green cardamoms (/ elaichi)
  • 2 dried red chilies ((use more if you want))
  • 1 inch ginger (peeled and sliced)
  • 3 large garlic cloves (sliced)
  • 1 teaspoon roasted cumin (or roasted ground cumin)
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala (or biryani masala (more if you want))
  • Water (as needed (½ cup if using chicken, 2½ cups for mutton))
  • Salt (as needed)
  • 1 small onion (finely chopped)
  • 2 eggs ((divided))
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons coriander leaves (fine chopped)
  • 2 tablespoons mint leaves (/ pudina fine chopped - optional)
  • 1 green chili (chopped - optional)
  • Oil (as needed to fry)

Method

Preparation

  1. Wash and soak chana dal for about 2 to 3 hours. Drain the water and add them to a large pot/ Dutch oven along water.
  2. Add ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, red chili powder, whole red chilies, garam masala, cumin, cinnamon stick, green cardamoms and meat.
  3. Bring this to a gentle boil, Cover the pot partially and cook until lentils and the meat is completely tender. Add more hot water, only as required as you cook.
  4. Once the meat and lentils are tender, evaporate the excess water completely.
  5. Cool this completely and discard the whole spices and bones (if any).

How to Make Shami Kabab

  1. Add this to a food processor or an onion chopper and grind to a slightly coarse mixture.
  2. Add green chilies, onions, mint and coriander leaves. Taste this and adjust salt and heat levels to your preference.
  3. Break an egg to a bowl and whisk with a fork to a uniform mixture. Add it to the mixture in batches and mix well to form a non-sticky dough.
  4. Divide to 10 equal parts and shape them to balls. Flatten them on your palm, to shape like kebab/patty. Transfer to a tray. You can also freeze these at this stage.

Fry Shami Kebab

  1. Stovetop: Heat oil for shallow frying or pan frying in a wide skillet. Dip one kebab each time in the egg and lift it with a fork.
  2. Gently shake off the excess egg and gently place these in the hot oil. Fry on a medium heat until golden, turn them to the other side & fry until crisp. Transfer to a wired rack or to absorbent tissues.
  3. Air Fryer: Grease your air fryer basket and preheat it. Air fry the kebabs for 8 to 10 mins at 370 F/ 185 C, until crisp.
  4. Bake in Oven: Place the egg washed shami kabab on a prepared tray (with parchment) and bake at 400 F - 200 C for 14 to 16 mins, turning them halfway.
  5. Serve chicken shami kabab hot with 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.