Chicken kebab recipe – Make the best delicious, soft, succulent & flavorful chicken kababs at home. Kabab or kebab is a piece of food, mostly meat grilled over charcoal fire. There are so many kabab varieties out there which are very popular in the restaurants and takeaways. Shami kababs, seekh kababs, galouti kabab, reshmi kababs, doner kebab are some of the most popular ones.
This post will help you to make the easiest, delicious, juicy & soft yogurt marinated spicy kababs which make a great appetizer. These can also be served as a side with some biryani, pulao or in wraps, sandwiches and salads too.
These taste best when served with a good mint raita chutney or kebab chutney. You can also serve this with green chutney.
These chicken kebab can be grilled in a Oven, on charcoal fire or on a grill pan on the stove. You may also like veg hara bhara kabab and veg seekh kebab.
If you do not own a oven simply deep fry them and make fried chicken kababs.
Step-by-step photos
Preparation
1. First prepare marinade with hung curd or greek yogurt. Add it to a mixing bowl along with lemon juice, ginger garlic paste, turmeric, chilli powder, salt, oil and garam masala.
You can refer this post to make hung curd. I have used this garam masala and olive oil. You can use any oil including sesame oil.
My ginger garlic paste has turmeric in it, so I did not add any more. I prefer to use onion for most grilled foods as they lend a unique aroma when they are charred.
2. Add boneless chicken as well to a bowl. Make sure there is no water. Excess moisture either in the chicken or yogurt is going to drip off from the chicken. So this doesn’t make chicken kebab so good.
3. Marinate the chicken with the prepared marinade. Add the onions as well.
4. Next marinate and refrigerate over night or least for 4 hours. The longer they soak up in the marinade the more tender and delicious they taste.
How to make chicken kabab
5. When you are ready to grill them in the oven. Firstly heat the oven to 240 C for at least 15 to 20 mins. Next rinse the skewers and put them on alternately chicken and onion.
6. Next grill the chicken kebab for 15 to 20 mins and flip them. Grill for another 10 to 15 mins. The last 5 mins I prefer to move the tray to the top rack. At this stage you can also brush the kababs with little butter or oil. I have not done it.
The onions will char and impart a good flavor when moved to the top rack. The difference in the color is due to the lighting. They turn out red in color if you use a good chili powder.
Serve chicken kebab hot with mint chutney or mint yogurt raita or green chutney.
Tips to make chicken kabab
- Cut the chicken to equal sized pieces for even grilling and browning.
- Adjust the spice levels to suit your taste. The recipe is for moderately spicy chicken kebabs.
- Yogurt is the key ingredient that tenderizes the chicken.
- To skip yogurt, brine the chicken in buttermilk for at least 4 hours. Drain the chicken and then rub the spice powders well and rest for 30 mins before grilling.
- Feel free to use whatever spice powder you have in hand.
- Tandoori masala can also be used instead of garam masala. Adjust the quantity to suit your taste.
For more chicken recipes, you may like to check
Shami kabab
Reshmi kebab
Chicken Shawarma recipe
Tandoori chicken
Chicken tikka
Recipe
Chicken kebab recipe | Chicken kabab recipe
Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )
Ingredients for chicken kabab
- 250 grams chicken boneless cubes
- 2 to 3 tbsp thick curd or greek yogurt or hung curd
- 2 tbsp oil (olive oil or sesame oil)
- salt as needed
- 1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
- ¾ tsp garam masala or a mix of ground cumin, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, pepper, coriander
- 1 to 1½ tsp ginger garlic paste
- ¾ to 1 tsp red chilli powder or paprika
- 1 medium onion cubed and layers separated
How to make the recipe
Marination for chicken kabab
- Ensure chicken is free from excess moisture. Drain it completely.
- Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
- Taste the marinade and add more salt & spice if needed.
- Marinate the chicken well and rub each piece for few seconds.
- Cover completely. Refrigerate for over night or at least 4 hours. Resting tenderizes the chicken and it absorbs flavors well.
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for a while. Line the chicken and onions alternately on the skewers.
Making chicken kebab
- Preheat the oven to 240 C for minimum 15 to 20 mins.
- Place them in a tray and grill for 15 mins. After 15 mins,
- Flip them and grill for another 15 mins.
- The last 5 mins, move the tray to the top rack or broil.
- At this stage you can brush some butter or oil over the kababs if you prefer.
- Serve chicken kebab hot with mint raita or chutney.
NUTRITION (estimation only)
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
If you are new to cooking, follow my detailed step by step photo instructions for best results.
Avishek Dan says
The kebabs turned out great. I found the idea of marinating the onions with the chicken interesting and they turned out wonderful. I reduced the cooking time to 15 mins + 5 mins broil and the chicken was very succulent. Served with mint raita.
swasthi says
Hi Avishek Dan,
Glad the kebabs turned out good. Thanks for rating the recipe.