Lucknawi - Mutton Shami Kabab

Lucknawi - Mutton Shami Kabab

Bored by the banal city life we left for Agra- almost on a whim. Packed duffel bags , booked a room and we were well on our way to explore the rather known richness of the Mughal empire.....beautifully reposed in the banks of river Yamuna, Agra is one of the oldest cities in the country. Although I have seen the TAJ MAHAL many times before, it always leaves me awestruck. Traipisng through the hot stone terrace and uncovered mausoleums, which leave my soles almost hot and parched, I could feel tribulations of the bygone era, life was after all hard. I think. However the Mughal kitchen is what brings my sensory nerves alive and ticking ...the vastness of the Mughal kitchen, the poetic verses on evocative aromas and intoxicating platters of fine food. This is all what I'm yearning to talk about today ...

Although I have to admit that I cut short on the slow cooking techniques many a times, this is not the royal rasoi(kitchen). And talking of the royal kitchen, if you start thinking that I work chef quality gas ranges with a shining chimney atop to hush the smells away.ha! in my dreams.For now my kitchen is full of love and belly full of desires.No-No-dont get me wrong. Unlike most -designer gear is not for me, I dream of a kitchen with shiny breakfast table, dainty pretty plates and sprightly red cabinets.

But for now , I make peace with the utilitarian.

So lets get working in my standard utilitarian kitchen - where the only thing which is in abundance is zeal to make good food and the undying spirit to eat...

Mutton Shami Kabab

Yields 10-12 kababs

Ingredients for kababs:

Lamb (finely minced) – 500 gms

Bengal gram (chana dal) – 200 cup

Onion – one, diced small

Ginger – 1 inch piece, chopped fine

Garlic –7-8, chopped fine

Fresh coriander leaves – a scant handful torn from a bunch, chopped fine

Lemon juice – of 1/2 a lemon

Egg, beaten – 1

Ghee (clarified butter) to shallow fry

Vegetable oil – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Spices for kababs:

Cumin powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Green cardamoms – 2

Cinnamon – 1/5 stick or 1/4 tsp powdered

Cloves – 2-3

Red chilli powder – to taste

Bengali Garam masala – 1 teaspoon

peppercorns black – powdered 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1/2 teaspoon

Steps : 

1) Wash the chana dal and soak it for a few hours 

2) In a pan ,  roast all dry spices and grind. 

3) Heat 1 tbsp of oil and add the Chana dal and minced meat with grind spices.Add about a cup of warm water, salt to taste. Cook  till all the water in no more.Add the rest of the spices.

4) Grind all to a fine paste . 

5) In a bowl, beat the egg with a pinch of salt.

6)To make the kababs, take a palm-sized portion of ground meat in your hand. Roll into a ball then slightly flatten it. Repeat the procedure

- Heat the oil in a pan. Press to flatten the  kababs, then dip each into the egg mixture and place into the ghee to shallow fry. 

For plating up you will need a few lemon slices and onion juliens. they work the best together:

 Once the kababs are done, you can easily turn them into a favorite Luchbox recipe by placing it inside a Roti and rolling it all in . Here's how :

Enjoy!!

Malai Lassi

Today is the first day of my cooking-blogging days ahead and I’m really excited, so much so that I really don’t know where to start, since I’ve ventured into sharing my experiences with food at large , I’ll begin the journey from home, where I grew up. Being from Lucknow – the city of Nawabs and, born to a mom who has treated her recipes as my siblings, I have a close connection with food…going back to my Lucknow days, I have to begin my culinary journey with Chowk(the epicenter of food@Lucknow).

The Chowk

Throughout northern India, the Chowk is the focal point of activity. The main markets are invariably sited around it, and every city has a little clock tower which marks its centre. Lucknow is no different; the Chowk is the birthplace of chaos, it is here that chaos originates, spirals, and proliferates through narrow arterial lanes and by-lanes till it reaches the newer quarters of the city, where its traditional character is diluted by the affluence of the city’s newer inhabitants.

Let me start my food voyage of discovery from the gate leading into its boisterous innards, “The Bada Darwaza” or big gate. The time should be almost four P.M—I blend into the chartreuse and ochre streets like a ghost, entirely ignored. Bumped into—sworn at for being an impediment to a rickshaw pullers progress—spat on accidentally, nevertheless completely invisible. Perplexed at the untruth of my existence, I stare into a barber’s mirror. My reflection lost amid the sea of faces. Reassured that I have my place reserved for me among the multitude I stand in line for a chilled glass of thick malai lassi, reassured that I am somewhere among them, I laugh and dance in front of the mirror and still wait patiently. To the others I still don’t exist. I enslave a few reflections in my camera; I shall post them here for you all to examine and interrogate them as to why our existences have ceased to matter in front of food.

Now my saying all this does not mean that chowk is a place for hungry scavangers and mild mannered like us will be spat upon, but this emphasizes the significance food holds for hungry growly stomachs at the end of a working day for labour class people. And IF food standard is anywhere to go by, Chowk food is lip smacking and simply delicious. For a vegetarian like me, the non-veg smell is a turnoff, and I wouldn’t be in Chowk if it weren’t for the pull off delicatessen sweets.

Malai Fruit Lassi

1 cup full fat curd/greek yogurt
1 cup medium ripe and sweet mango(preferably pureed) or any sweet tropical fruit
1/2 cup crushed ice
sugar to taste
rock salt 1 pinch
1/2 roasted and crushed cumin seeds



In a mixer put all the above ingredients and mix at medium speed for 3 mins or till sufficiently frothy .

Saffron Lassi(saffron yogurt shake)

Instead of fruit and cumin seeds,to the above list of ingredients add saffron to 1/4 cup warm water and soak for an hour, mix all the above. Pour in a tall broad rimmed glass, decorate glass with a mixture of salt and sugar (powdered ) and dip the glass rim, like the way you would for Margarita. Add a slice of lime and fresh garden mint.It will give a perfect nawabi aroma as well as a heady saffron twinge to flavour and taste.


Diet lassi(diet yogurt shake)

In the above list of ingredients replace full fat curd with skim milk curd/yogurt and take a low calorie fruit like peach or papaya.Mix it and flavour with pomegranate for a perfect burst of colour.


Chandni Chowk wali lassi(The ubiquitous Punjabi lassi served in Chandni
Chowk-Delhi)

Go to chandni chowk and you cant miss the lassi in the parathe wali gali, for the price and flavour its like ambrosia!!
All you need to do is take the following1 cup full fat curd/Greek yogurt
1 cup medium ripe and sweet mango(preferably pureed) or any sweet tropical fruit
1/2 cup crushed ice
sugar to taste
rock salt 1 pinch
1/2 roasted and crushed cumin seeds

And mix as for the malai wali lassi, as the topmost garnish add a huge spoonful of Cold Rabri(which is thick sweetened milk almost like a thick paper bundle) .yommm.