Seekh Kebab

[Grub]

Seekh Kebab demo

When I was in college, the student hall I stayed in had certain meals that were commonly known as "Abdul's Special." Not that anyone named Adbul had anything to do with the dishes in question -- it was just that some dishes served up by this hall were so disagreable, that enough students decided to forgo a free dinner, and instead rush off to Abdul's Takeaway, down the road.

Abdul's had fantastic Sish and Chicken Tikka Kebabs served in Naan breads, and Doner and Seekh Kebabs served in Naan (large) or in Pita breads (small). Their samosas and onion bajis were great too.

I've been trying to recreate their seekh kebabs, and this was my latest effort... Normally, you'd find seekh kebab as a starter in most restaurants, but I think this makes for a great main course.

Seekh Kebabs

Here's my meez, clockwise from top left: 1/2 cup of red onion, 5 cloves of garlic, 1/2 cup of almonds (these were sliced, but anything would do -- they are to be blanched and ground), meat (it really should be lamb, but most often I use a combination of lamb and beef -- in this case just beef -- I used 95% fat free in this case, because I didn't want too much shrinkage, nor fat drippings), couple of tablespoons of cilantro, and a teaspoon each of salt, cumin seeds, black peppercorns and green cardamom pods. At the bottom are eight bamboo skewers wrapped in paper and soaked in water.

First step, roast the cardamom, pepper and cumin:

Dump in a spice grinder or mortar, but let them cool a little first.

Next, boil some water and blanch the almonds. As far as I understand it, these will work as a binder in the mixture -- keeping things together.

Then, dump everything except the meat into a food processor (I sifted the ground spices -- the cardamom pods had a lot of extra fiber) ...

... and process it:

Mix everything with the meat, very thoroughly ...

... and shape onto flat bambo skewers:

Now, this can all be made well ahead, and stored in the fridge -- but as I was cooking it straight away, I left the kebabs in the freezer. This helps them keep their shape.

While that was going on, I lit the grill and got started on the raita. Abdul's had two sauces: yogurt and chili. I normally make a yogurt-mint-cucumber based raita, but in this case, I made an apple based one; Sav Raita. Here are the components -- apple, plain yogurt, cayenne pepper, cilantro and water:

Finely chop the apple and cilantro and mix everyting else together.

Next, grill the kebabs. This was over medium hot coals, but high heat would work fine also. The meat ends up being quite thinly layered on these skewers, so they tend to cook fast -- three or four minutes a side or so.

I've gotta remember to place things on a 45 degree angle, rather than a 90 degree one -- the grill marks just don't look as good this way. And although the skewers seem pretty charred, I assure you they are fine, and ready for their next assignment. Bamboo skewers are amazingly resilient.

The presentation is simple: finely chop a bunch of cabbage (lovely texture -- although I must admit I can no longer remember what Abdul's used -- and of course, some cucumber and tomatoes would make the presentation look a whole lot better) and just leave the kebab skewers on top of it.

Help yourself to some naan bread:

And that's it: Naan, seekh kebab, sav raita, cabbage and some hot sauce:

A few notes on this particular dish:

- The predominant flavor of the kebabs was the cardamom. This surprised me, as I expected the cumin to take center stage. Next time, I'll use a little less of it -- not because I dislike cardamom, but I'd like the spices to balance a little more.

- The kebabs themselves will end up being quite dry (the meat ends up being quite thinly "wrapped" around the skewers and cooks very quickly), so using a raita type sauce is a must. Also, the kebabs would be a bit more interesting, with some chilis. I'll definitely add that the next time around.

- And yeah, this is a really messy meal to eat... That last picture shows a single seekh kebab on half a (relatively small) naan. What Abdul's served up was a great big naan wrapped around a mess of three seekh kebabs and whatever else went into it, tied up in a paper wrapping like a big burrito (but infinitely better). After an evening of highly intellectual discourse in the local, this was the way to round things up, I tells ya.

A few more tries, and I'm sure I'll have it all perfected... Then, I'll just need to learn how to make those cricket ball-sized onion bajis...

[christine007]

That looks very good Grub!

How does this relate to say, shish kabob, which I like to make and serve on rice pilaf, but next time, I might try it on your bread.

we use cubes of steak, mushrooms, onion pieces and cherry tomatos, sometimes summer squash.

[Maison Rustique]

Yum! Thanks for posting that!!!

[TongoRad]

Great demo, thanks.

That is a hell of a lot of cardomom, though. Maybe you could cut way back on it next time and add in a little coriander in its place.

Do dish about that wonderful looking naan- did you make it? Gotta love the char- it really makes the sandwich come alive. That store-bought stuff just won't do.

Another alternative if you don't have access to naan or time to make it is to just roll your stuff in chapatis (Kati Rolls), which don't take as much time.

[rxrfrx]

That looks good. I like to make a similar sikh kebab, but I also add a lot of fresh green chile (really brightens up the flavor) and some mango chutney (British style).

[Abra]

That's an interesting recipe - I wouldn't have guessed that almonds were included. It's also interesting that you ground the whole cardamom pod. I always remove the seeds and only grind them. Am I wasting my time? If the kebabs were dry, I'm guessing it's the super-lean meat. With lamb I'll bet they'd have been a lot less dry. And I never heard of sav raita, although it sounds delicious. Lots to think about in this post!

[tejon]

I always remove the seeds from cardamom pods and grind them, mainly because the pods are very fibrous and don't have much in the way of flavor. Kind of a pain, but worth it in the end, to my mind.

I also agree on the super lean meat causing much of the dryness. You need some fat to moisten the meat as it cooks over such a high heat - hence the higher fat grinds usually used for hamburgers.

[Grub]

Thanks for all the comments!

christine007, seekh and sish kebabs were both served at Abdul's. Seekh used ground meat, while shish used cubed, marinated meat -- altough I can't remember if mushrooms, tomatoes etc. accompanied it. These were all rolled in naans.

TongoRad, yeah I actually read the recipe incorrectly the first time I scanned through it, and brought out the coriander instead of the cardamom -- coriander and cumin is just such a common combination of spices. I wouldn't mind trying that, actually. And yeah, the bread was not my own. It came from a local hole-in-the-wall restaurant. But I'll hopefully be deploying a pizza stone out on the bbq later this week, in an attempt at making some naan, and will report back.

Abra and tejon, yeah I think you're right about removing the seeds from the cardamom pods... I'm just a tad embarrassed to admit this (live and learn, I guess) but yeah, I should probably just have gotten seeds out instead.

[maher]

the difference between shish and seekh is only one of language Shish is in turkish, seekh is arabic, and they both mean skewer. so sheesh kebab is just kebab on a skewer.

in most of the arab world, kebab is the ground lamb that is flavored with spices and onion and grilled. Cubed lamb is normally referred to as mashawi (grill) or Lahmeh Mashwiyeh (grilled meat... it is practically redundant to say lamb)

i also have to agree with the posts suggesting you need a higher fat content. Shish Kebabs flavor comes from the basting action of the fat as you turn the skewer. (it is typically a good idea to turn the meat a quarter turn at a time to make it hold its shape as it cooks

[JustKay]

Thanks for sharing that!

[anzu]

Nit-picking pedant chiming in here.

I think you'll find it is 'sev raita' and not 'sav' (sev means apple, sav doesn't mean anything that I know of).

And if you're going to make onion bhajis (i.e. pakoras), please please don't make the tennis-ball sized abominations. That seems to be a particular UK specialty, and because they are too large they always end up with disgusting raw batter and/or raw onion on the inside. Make them smaller, so that you have delectable little crispy morsels...

And they don't have to be onion either. My favourite is to use a very thin batter, which only just adheres to your vegetable, then to draw individual spinach leaves through the batter, and then to fry. You have a crisp, thin sometimes lacy layer of batter enclosing the leaf. It's so good...

[Swisskaese]

I agree with adding more fat to the meat. If you are going to make kebab, then you should have them add a little fat. Here you can have the butcher add sheep fat to the meat that they grind fresh for you.

The cubed meat skewers, which we call shishlik, can be cooked with pieces of sheep fat in between the pieces of meat. It really depends on the cut of meat you use. If it is lean, then you would want to put a little fat in between. It also enhances the flavour.

If you are scared of cholesterol, then leave it out.

Some restaurants put cherry tomatoes and onion inbetween the meat, others cook them on a separate skewer.

Edited March 29, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Milagai]

Nit-picking pedant chiming in here. 

I think you'll find it is 'sev raita' and not 'sav' (sev means apple, sav doesn't mean anything that I know of).

And if you're going to make onion bhajis (i.e. pakoras), please please don't make the tennis-ball sized abominations. That seems to be a particular UK specialty, and because they are too large they always end up with disgusting raw batter and/or raw onion on the inside. Make them smaller, so that you have delectable little crispy morsels...

And they don't have to be onion either. My favourite is to use a very thin batter, which only just adheres to your vegetable, then to draw individual spinach leaves through the batter, and then to fry. You have a crisp, thin sometimes lacy layer of batter enclosing the leaf. It's so good...

←

Everything she said

more pakora ideas: thin potato, eggplant, cauliflower, zucchini etc slices...

Milagai

[Abra]

Last night I made

Adana Kebabs. Ok, I know this recipe isn't in the book, but I used all of our now-established sausage making techniques (including adding a bit of back fat, which I'm sure would horrify a Turk), freezing, binding, and all that. The result was a terrifically succulent lamb sausage that gave me a lot of skewer problems. If anyone knows the trick to keeping the formed meat on the skewers, maybe you could help me out, either here or where the rest of the dinner is, here.

[Rubashov]

Last night I made

Adana Kebabs.  Ok, I know this recipe isn't in the book, but I used all of our now-established sausage making techniques (including adding a bit of back fat, which I'm sure would horrify a Turk), freezing, binding, and all that.  The result was a terrifically succulent lamb sausage that gave me a lot of skewer problems.  If anyone knows the trick to keeping the formed meat on the skewers, maybe you could help me out, either here or where the rest of the dinner is, here.

←

Hi Abra,

In one of my grilling cookbooks they have a recipe for grilled lamb kebabs. They say that the best method is to use wide, flat skewers (like 1/4 to 1/2 an inch wide). Then you form the kebabs around the skewers (rather than inserting the skewer into the meat mixture), keeping the meat cold (which I'm sure you were doing!) and your hands wet with a little cold water. Then you're supposed to put them back in the fridge for a while to get them firmed up before going on the grill.

Sadly, I've been searching for said skewers for the last 3 years. I used to see them all over the place when I was living in Moscow, but they're had to find around here. All you can find are the annoying thin ones that cause the meat to just twirl around in circles!

Anyway, I hope this helps.

-Rob

[Abra]

Rob, as it happens, I did everything exactly as you suggest. The only thing different is that my skewers evidently aren't wide enough. Although I might should have added an egg or some little panade for helping it all stay together.

[legourmet]

Rob, as it happens, I did everything exactly as you suggest.  The only thing different is that my skewers evidently aren't wide enough.  Although I might should have added an egg or some little panade for helping it all stay together.

←

I've to offer two solutions.

1. Cool down the shredded unseasoned meat and whisk in an eggwhite using a wooden spoon until the mixture sticks together. Add all other ingredients.

2. wrap a pork fat mesh around each kebab before inserting the skewer. The fat melts and the mesh will tie the kebab. I don't know whether there is an english expression for that sort of mesh.

Edited July 3, 2006 by legourmet (log)

[lexy]

2. wrap a pork fat mesh around each kebab before inserting the skewer. The fat melts and the mesh will tie the kebab. I don't know whether there is an english expression for that sort of mesh.

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I think it's called caul fat

[maher]

the key to keeping the meat on the skewer during grilling is to turn the skewers four quarter turns as soon as they sear otherwise the cooked side will 'pull' at the uncooked side and cause it to burst off the skewer

[Abra]

Thanks, Heinz. I do have caul fat, and I did think of using it. What bugs me, though, is that in a Moslem country where no pork would be used, they have some way of doing it without caul fat. I think an egg white might do the trick, for next time.

[Chris Amirault]

Abra, I'd use well-soaked wooden or bamboo skewers, two per kabob. The meat binds to them quite a bit better, I find, than to metal.

[FoodMan]

Thanks, Heinz.  I do have caul fat, and I did think of using it.  What bugs me, though, is that in a Moslem country where no pork would be used, they have some way of doing it without caul fat.  I think an egg white might do the trick, for next time.

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I make kebabs all the time with ground beef or lamb and I never use a binder. I really am not sure how to help you without seeing your technique. I normally form it in to sausage shaped logs, and insert a wooden or bambo skewer from one end to the other then press it all around gently to make sure it adheres. I never had a problem with it falling off, since as soon as it cooks it contracts and firms up. Maybe u used too much fat?? what was your recipe?

In a muslim country one would use caul fat from a calf or lamb BTW, although I've never seen it used to wrap around a kebab.

[legourmet]

Thanks, Heinz.  I do have caul fat, and I did think of using it.  What bugs me, though, is that in a Moslem country where no pork would be used, they have some way of doing it without caul fat.  I think an egg white might do the trick, for next time.

←

Abra look at this recipe The technik there is practically the same as using the eggwhite. The fresh meat minced by hand, cooled down to approx 37 °F, mixed with salt and onions and pommeled about 15 minutes makes the meat sticky. It's the salt which extract the protein Globulin from the cold meat and that's why the mixture becomes sticky. But the meat should meet the following requirements.

Fresh, minced by hand, ice-cold. If you'll use a meat grinder to mince the meat, too much liquid is pressed out of the meat. But this liquid is essential for the emulsion.

[Abra]

I made the kebab just like we all make sausage, meat chilled way down, marinated in the spices, ground with onion, stirred in the roasted red pepper afterwards, paddled over ice for a minute or two to bind. There was no added liquid called for, but it seemed sticky enough to bind, probably because of the ground onion. I did add extra fat, though. When I ground the lamb I estimated that it was only about 15% fat, and I'd read that a true Turkish kebab would be up to 30% fat, so, lacking the proper lamb tail fat, I did grind in a few ounces of pork back fat.

I chilled the mix before shaping on the skewers, and chilled the skewers before grilling. I formed the small (cat-turd sized) sausages around the skewer, but Elie, you're saying to form them first, then skewer them?

I'd really hate to mince it by hand, and paddling for 15 minutes seems really extreme. But I guess I'd do it if that were the only way to get the texture right. Does everyone agree with Heinz that that's the way it has to be done? Elie?

[Rubashov]

Abra, just to clarify, at what point does your meat fall off the skewers?

I've had success with ground meat kebabs (I forget what kind of meat) doing everything you've done. The only thing I do differently is make one long kebab that runs the length of the skewer rather than the little turds. I don't have a cat, so I don't know how large their excrement is, but my kebabs come in at about 1 inch in diameter. I don't know if this is a critical difference, but as far as I can tell, everything else is the same.

As for paddling/binding, 15 minutes seems rather excessive. If we're treating this like a sausage, I would guess that paddling for that long would heat up the mixture and cause it to break. I've actually done kebabs without any additional binding and haven't had problems.

Just my two cents,

Rob