Meat Kebabs….wait!!!! these are “vegetarian kebabs”!!

Me : (Taking the platter to him) Happy birthday D!!

DH:  what are these?? You made Shammi kebabs!!!(couldn’t believe his eyes because red meat is completely off his diet!)

with a satisfied smile ( the one that appears on your face when you receive the exact expected reaction while trying to surprise your loved one!!)

Me: much healthier….why don’t you try?

After tasting and making the typical D expressions, (the ones reserved only for delicious food) and many guesses, he said  ” ingredients please!”

( The recipe here is inspired by the mutton shammi kebab made from mutton mince and chana dal/ split Bengal gram)

Ingredients

• 2 cups soya granules
• 3 1/2 tablespoon of besan ( chickpea flour)
• 1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
• 2 green chillies, finely chopped
• Few springs of cilantro, finely chopped.
• 1 inch piece ginger root, finely chopped.
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dhania ( coriander) powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon Red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon jeera ( cumin ) powder
• 1 tablespoon plain yoghurt
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Everest Meat masala powder*
• Salt to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoon oil

* Everest is a famous indian company, selling packaged spices for various Indian dishes. For meat masala ingredients  here is the link for everest meat masala. One can also make this masala at home but then sometimes I love to take the best shortcut!

http://www.everestspices.com/masalas/meat-masala

Procedure

1. Soak the soya granules in 2 cups of warm water for about half an hour. If you have soya chunks you may soak them in warm water for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and then grind them in a food processor to make these soya granules.
2. Check the soya granules. They should be soft and mince like in texture with all the soaked up water. Throw away the excess water ( if any).
3. In a large bowl, without squeezing out the water from the granules, mix the soya granules with all the above ingredients i.e. onions, green chillies, cilantro and all the spices. The water from the granules would be sufficient to knead the mixture. This is a good step to check the salt.

 

4. Divide the soya mixture into lemon-sized balls, flatten each ball in the palm of your hand and shape into kebabs.

5. Heat a tawa or flat skillet and shallow fry the kebabs on both sides  with oil till golden. 1 1/2 tablespoon of oil fries 3 kebabs!

6. Serve with green chutney.

Green chutney/ dip

(Adapted from Sanjeev kapoor’s recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh coriander leaves,roughly chopped.
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves,roughly chopped
• 2 – 3 Green chillies,chopped
• Chaat masala for the sour taste due to its ingredient of  black salt and dried mango powder.
• 1 tablespoon of plain yoghurt.
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Lemon juice

Procedure

Grind together coriander leaves, mint leaves and green chillies to a smooth paste using a little water if required. Add chaat masala and sugar and blend once again. Transfer the chutney into a bowl and mix in the lemon juice.

Breakdown

Daily Values (230.9g)

Legend:

Fat

Protein

Carbs

Alcohol

Other

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• Very low in cholesterol
• High in dietary fiber
• Very high in vitamin B6