Shami Kabab | Shami Kebab
By Swasthi on March 7, 2022, Comments, Jump to Recipe
Shami kabab recipe with video – Chicken shami kabab are a kind of meat kebabs that are popular in India and neighboring countries. These are made with ground meat or chunks of meat cooked with chana dal or bengal gram, spices, ginger, garlic and herbs. Shami kabab are slightly on the heavier side and calorie dense. These are great to serve as a snack with mint chutney or can also be served in a meal with steamed rice, paratha etc.
Shami kabab are usually made with mutton however they can also be made using chicken the way I have made here. These taste very very delicious and very flavorful due to the addition of chana dal and spices.
I have shallow fried these and they do not absorb oil if the mixture is made right. These turn out to be slightly glossy or shiny as these are dipped in egg mixture before frying.
If you are looking for kababs without lentils then you can check this mutton kabab recipe.
You may like to check these chicken recipes
For more kabab recipes, you can check
Chicken kebabs
Malai kabab
Hara bhara kabab
Dahi kabab
Soya seekh kabab
You may like to check these 70 Indian chicken recipes
How to Make Shami Kabab (Stepwise photos)
Preparation
1. Wash chana dal a few times and soak it for about 2 to 4 hours in ample amount of water. Kababs will have a good texture if soaked well. Later drain the water completely and add to a large pot.
2. Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, whole red chilies, garam masala, cinnamon stick, jeera, green cardamoms, salt and chicken. Pour water just enough to partially cover the chicken. Do not add lot of water.
3. Cook them covering the pot partially until chicken and dal are soft & tender.
4. Ensure you evaporate the water completely otherwise the kebab mixture will turn mushy. Mushy mixture will not hold shape to form kababs.
5. Cool this completely and remove the whole spices and any bones if you have used bone-in-chicken.
Blending meat
6. Transfer this to a processor or a blender and blend to a coarse mixture. The mixture has to be fairly dry and powdery. Next add green chilies, onions, mint & coriander leaves. Mix and check the salt and spice. If needed add more salt.
7. Break an egg to a small bowl and beat it lightly to get a uniform mixture.
8. Pour this little by little & mix to form a dough. Pour the egg in parts & use only as needed for binding. You can also first squeeze the shami kabab mixture a bit for the moisture to release. Then add the egg.
9. Divide the mixture to 8 to 10 equal parts and roll to balls. Flatten them as desired and make shami kebabs on your palm. Place all of them on a plate.
10. Heat oil for shallow frying in a deep pan. I fried all the shami kabab in 2 batches.
11. Break an egg to a wide bowl and beat it lightly to make a uniform mixture.
Fry shami kabab
12. When the oil turns hot enough, dip one shami kebab each time in the egg mixture and lift it with a fork.
13. Gently shake off the excess egg mixture to avoid the oil turning messy & frothy.
14. Gently slide these in the hot oil. Fry on a medium heat until golden, flipping to and fro as needed.
15. When they are golden fried, transfer the shami kababs to a colander.
Serve chicken shami kabab hot with mint chutney or kabab chutney.
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Shami Kabab | Shami Kebab
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 350 to 400 grams chicken boneless (if using chicken with bone, refer notes)
- ⅓ cup chana dal or 75 grams, 1 cup soaked
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 inch cinnamon stick / dalchini
- 2 to 3 cardamoms / elaichi
- 1 to 2 red chilies
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 3 garlic cloves large , chopped
- 1 tsp cumin / jeera
- 1 tsp garam masala
- Water as needed (I used about half cup)
- Salt as needed
- 1 onion small , finely chopped
- 2 eggs – 1 for the mixture – 1 for coating
- 1 Handful coriander leaves
- 1 Handful mint leaves / pudina leaves
- 1 green chili
- Oil as needed
Instructions
Preparation
- Wash and soak chana dal for about 2 to 4 hours. Well soaked dal provides a good texture to the kababs. Drain it and add to a large pot.
- Add ginger, garlic, salt, turmeric, red chili powder, whole red chilies, garam masala, cinnamon stick, jeera, green cardamoms and chicken. Add water to partially cover the chicken. Do not add too much water.
- Cook all these partially covering the pot until chicken and dal are soft cooked.
- Evaporate water completely. This step is very important otherwise the kebab mixture will turn mushy and will not hold shape.
- Cool this completely and remove the whole spices and any bones if used chicken on bone.
How to Make Shami Kabab
- Add this to a processor or a blender and make a coarse mixture.
- The mixture should turn fairly dry and powdery.
- Add green chilies, onions, pudina, coriander leaves. Mix and check the salt and spice. If needed add more.
- Break an egg to a bowl and beat it lightly to mix the yolk and the white uniformly.
- Add this little by little to the mixture and form a dough. Do not pour the egg at one time, do it in parts add use only as needed for binding. You can also squeeze this mixture a bit for the moisture to release. Then add the egg only as needed.
- Divide the dough to 8 to 10 equal parts and make balls. Flatten them and make kebabs on your palm. Place them on a plate.
Frying
- Heat oil for shallow frying in a wide pan. I fried all the kababs in 2 batches.
- Break an egg to a bowl and beat it lightly just to mix the yolk and white uniformly.
- When the oil turns hot enough, dip one kebab each time in the egg and lift it with a fork.
- Gently shake off the excess egg to avoid the oil turning messy.
- Drop these in the hot oil. Fry on a medium heat until golden, flipping to and fro.
- When they are golden fried, transfer them to a plate with kitchen tissues.
- Serve chicken shami kabab hot with mint chutney.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills.
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Swasthi, I have tried many of your recipes and I should have posted earlier. Your recipes are very good, everyone enjoys it and comments about how tasty the dish is when I try one of your recipes. I always give you the credit and recommend you to all my friends. Thank you for your simple and genuine cooking directions.
Mitch.
Thank you so much Mitch. So happy to read your comment.
This recipe rewarded me with more than. Y expectations. Followed the recipe exactly but air fried the egg washed kebabs.
Thanks for trying June
Hi. Can I make this recipe without the chicken? If yes, do i need do i need to change some ingredients?
Hi Hema,
I don’t know how to help you with that. Please check masala vada recipe. I guess without chicken these will be like vadas
Can I cook the dal with spices, grind it and later add raw minced chicken?
Hi,
Chicken won’t get cooked well in the kababs. So it has to be precooked. Precook the minced chicken well and then mix it with the ground dal
Hi Swasthi,
Can i use ground chicken instead? If yes shall I follow the same steps??
Hi,
Yes you can. You may need to reduce water while cooking as ground chicken lets out more moisture. Rest all same
Just made your recipe… Turned out to be absolutely delicious…
Superb ?… everyone loved it at home ?
Hi Swasthi,
I made this with ground lamb as I wanted to make a Kati roll with egg (unda shami roll) and it was absolutely delicious.
Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
Hi Reshma
You are welcome! Glad to know they turned out delicious!
Loved your idea of unda shami roll.
🙂
Hi Swasthi…would love to try this recipe, wanted to know if I can pressure cook the chicken and dal with minimum water
Hi Riya,
I don’t suggest pressure cooking. If the dal gets overcooked even slightly the texture of kababs will not be good. They get cooked easily even on the stove.
Nice
Hi Swasthi, what an incredible site full of aromatic dishes with such ease of making especially for someone like me with limited cooking skills but with a family that loves to eat. These kebabs look absolutely mouthwatering. Can I freeze these kebabs by making a bigger batch to use later during the month? It would be a life saver for me.
Thanks in advance
Sagarika
Hi Sagarika,
Thank you. Glad you liked the site. Yes they do freeze well. Bring them to room temperature and then dip them in egg before frying. Hope this helps.
About to try to make these. They sound very good
Hi awasthi,can i skip using egg before frying kababs.
Yes you can skip
Ok thanks
Hi swasthi, can I skip using egg before frying kababs
Yes you can skip
In ingredients there’s onions and jeera, but the recipe doesn’t say when to add them.
Thanks for the mention Shreya
I have updated the post.
Jeera to add along with garam masala to the dal.
Onion to add to the ground mixture along with mint, coriander leaves.
Hello ur recipes r easy to make because of detailed explanation. I need to know about some special recipes..wit zero carb, medium protein,high fat.im a non vegetarian from south india.andhra pradesh.kindly suggest me some recipes accordingly.with regards,jyothi
Hello Balajyothi
Thanks. I dont have any zero carb recipes on the blog. It is hard for me to make such recipes as we don’t eat them at home. Sorry that I could not help you.