Hara bhara kabab are a popular healthy and delicious appetizer cum snack made with spinach, potatoes, peas, spices and herbs. These vegan and gluten-free spinach potato patties are filled with a burst of Indian flavors and are super addictive! These easy vegetarian hara bhara kabab are hearty, healthy and are sure to satisfy the palate. Serve them with a cup of Indian chai, green chutney, mint chutney or with your favorite dip. In this post I share with you 3 easy methods to cook these hara bhara kabab – pan fried, baked and air fried.
About Hara Bhara Kabab
Hara bhara kabab are popular North Indian snack patties made with plenty of leafy greens and vegetables like spinach, coriander leaves, green peas, potatoes and spices. The name hara bhara kabab means kababs filled with greens. True to its name, these veg kababs are filled with a good dose of healthy and nutritious greens.
Like many other appetizers, Hara bhara kabab are popular in the restaurants serving North Indian food. These are super-duper delicious with a damn good smoky flavor since they are grilled in tandoor, a clay oven.
But not all restaurant serve the best hara bhara kabab. A lot of times you will also find them super soggy, greasy, bland and just pan fried.
My recipe
My easy recipe will help you make the best hara bhaara kababs at home, better than what you may get in a lot of restaurants. The only thing you will miss is the smoky flavor as we are not making this on fire or smoking them.
These are a good and quick energy boosting snack that even the fussiest kid is going to enjoy them. I make these quite often for my kids as an after school snack. Sometimes we also put these spinach patties in burgers and my boys absolutely love them. You may check this link for more kids’ friendly healthy snacks recipes.
More Spinach recipes
Spinach curry
Palak rice
Dal palak
Chana saag
How To Make Hara Bhara Kabab (Stepwise Photos)
Preparation
1. Clean and pluck 120 grams of palak (about 3½ to 4 cups). Add them to a large pot of water. I usually sprinkle some vinegar & salt over the leaves. Rest for a while and then rinse them in ample amount of water. Repeat rinsing thrice and drain them to a colander until the excess water drains up completely.
2. Boil 300 grams potatoes until fork tender, meaning they should be just cooked and not mushy. If using a pressure cooker, cook them for 3 to 4 whistles. To cook in Instant pot, cut each large potato to 2 pieces & place them on the trivet. Pressure cook them for 6 mins. Cool them and peel.
3. Pour 1 teaspoon oil to a pan. Fry ¾ inch ginger (chopped) and 1 to 3 green chilies for 30 seconds. I used only 1 as my kids’ can’t eat hot foods.
4. Add 1 cup green peas. Saute on a medium high flame for 4 to 5 minutes until soft & tender. If the peas are not tender, you will have to cover and cook for a little longer. Since we are not going to deep fry the patties, peas will not be cooked much further.
5. Add spinach and saute on a medium high flame until the leaves wilt completely. Ensure there is no water when you add the spinach to the pan otherwise it will let out too much moisture.
6. Cool these completely.
7. Transfer all the sauteed ingredients along with the half cup coriander leaves to a grinder jar. Ensure there is no water in the coriander leaves otherwise the puree will be too moist.
8. Blend all of them to a smooth paste.
Making dough
9. Crumble the potatoes in the mixing bowl. Transfer the spinach peas puree. Ensure potatoes are completely cool. Then add the following
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala or 1 tablespoon lemon juice
10. Add 2 tablespoons roasted gram flour (sattu or roasted besan). [Tip: To make sattu, add 2 tablespoons roasted gram to a grinder jar and powder.]
Also add ¼ cup bread crumbs or poha powder. [Tip: To make poha powder, add half cup poha to a grinder and powder it.] Check recipe notes for more substitutes & tips.
11. Mix all the ingredients to make a non-sticky & fairly stiff dough. Otherwise the kababs will turn soft and soggy from inside. If the mixture is not stiff enough or you want the patties to be very crispy, then add more bread crumbs or poha powder. [Tip: If it turns sticky, then add more flour or poha or bread crumbs. But I do not add any more].
12. Divide the dough to 10 equal portions. Roll them to balls. If your dough turns sticky, grease your fingers. I did not do it. Place the dough ball on your palm and flatten them to 2½ to 3 inch kabab. If you see the edges crack, join them. Keep them on a plate. You can even coat the patties in dry bread crumbs. Press them well and set aside for 5 to 7 minutes for the crumbs to stick well.
Make Hara Bhara Kabab
13. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a fry pan. Spread it well. When the pan is hot, place the kababs. If the pan is not hot enough, the kababs will stick to the pan.
For baking in oven and air frying, check instructions in the recipe card below.
14. When they are roasted to golden and crisp on the bottom, flip them gently and fry on the other side as well. I had to add another half tablespoon oil after flipping. A high flame yields fairly browned but crispy patties in little time.
Serve hara bhara kabab with a sauce or yogurt coriander chutney. We served with mint chutney and homemade tomato ketchup. These can also be served as patties to make a burger.
Serving suggestion
Hara bhara kabab are best when served just out of the pan since they are crispy. They tend to loss the crispness when cooled down because they are not deep fried.
They can be served any time of the day with a Green chutney or a Pudina chutney.
If you have kids who love burgers, then they may like these hara bhara kabab as patties in veg burger. I spread some hung curd inside the burger. But you can also use some tomato ketchup or eggless mayo.
Hara bhara kabab are my kids’ favorite and they love these in their burgers.
You can also make a yummy chaat by adding dates tamarind chutney, sev, onions, tomatoes topped over it.
For more kabab recipes, you can check
Veg seekh kabab
Dahi kabab
Chicken kebab
Reshmi kabab
Variations
Hara bhara kabab translates to kababs that are loaded with greens. So these are made with lots of spinach, green peas, coriander leaves and potatoes. Here are some variations I often make to the recipe
1. I am a health nut and prefer to reduce the consumption of potatoes even for my kids, so sometimes I make these with sweet potatoes.
2. Usually hara bhara kababs are made with roasted gram flour or besan. I feel it is a bit of work to do it on a low flame. So I replace it with powdered poha. You can also use fiber rich red poha.
3. If the peas are not young, then I steam them along with potatoes.
4. If you are on a low oxalate diet then blanch the spinach in 3 cups of boiling water. Drain completely and blend them with peas.
Related Recipes
Recipe card
Hara Bhara Kabab | Spinach Potato Patties
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 300 grams potatoes (2 large or 3 medium)
- ½ cup coriander leaves (with tender stalks, cilantro)
- 1 cup green peas (frozen or fresh)
- 1 to 3 green chilies (less spicy kind)
- 120 grams spinach (palak – 3½ cups)
- ¾ inch ginger (substitute with ½ tsp ginger powder)
- 1 teaspoon oil (to saute)
- 2 tablespoon roasted gram flour (sattu or powdered poha or bread crumbs) (refer notes)
- ¼ cup bread crumbs (or powdered poha) (refer notes)
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ¾ teaspoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon chaat masala (or 1 tablespoon lemon juice)
- 1½ tablespoons oil (for pan frying kababs)
Instructions
Preparation
- Pluck and rinse the spinach well in lots of water thrice. Transfer them to a colander to ensure all the water has drained. Keep these aside.
- Rinse and boil potatoes in a pot or cooker until fork tender (just cooked without turning mushy). To boil in pressure cooker, cook for 3 to 4 whistles. To cook in Instant pot, I cut each potato to 2 pieces and pressure cooked them 6 minutes.
- Cool them completely and peel the potatoes.
- Pour 1 teaspoon oil to a pan and heat it. Saute ginger & green chilies for 30 seconds.
- Then add green peas and saute them for 4 to 5 mins, until the raw smell goes away.
- Add palak & saute on a medium high flame until it wilts off completely. (Or If you are on a low oxalate diet, then you can also blanch the palak in 3 cups hot water, drain completely and use it to blend with green peas.) But the sauteing method tastes best.
- Turn off the stove and cool all of these. Add them to a small grinder/ blender along with coriander leaves.
- Blend all of them to a smooth paste without adding water.
How To Make Hara Bhara Kabab
- Crumble the potatoes in a mixing bowl & add the ground green peas and spinach paste.
- Add salt, garam masala, chaat masala, roasted gram flour and bread crumbs.
- Mix all of them to a non-sticky dough. If the dough turns sticky, then add more bread crumbs to absorb excess moisture. This is optional.
- Divide the dough to 10 portions. Roll them to balls. Flatten them to shape like patties or kababs. Keep them aside.
- To pan fry: Heat a griddle with 1 tablespoon oil. When the pan turns hot, place the hara bhara kababs on the pan and pan fry them until golden & crisp.
- To grill them in oven: Preheat the oven to 200 C for 15 minutes and place the patties on a greased tray. Brush the kababs with oil and grill them for 10 mins on each side. Adjust the timings as needed.
- To air fry: Brush them with oil and place them in the basket. Air fry at 180 C for 10 mins on each side. After 10 mins check and flip them to the other side and air fry for another 10 mins. Adjust the timings as needed. If your air fryer needs preheating, preheat it before air frying them.
- Serve hara bhara kabab with yogurt cilantro chutney, ketchup or green chutney.
Notes
- You can avoid bread crumbs and roasted gram flour completely and use only powdered poha.
- Roasted gram flour is powdered fried gram also known as sattu. To make this add fried gram to grinder jar and powder it. Alternately you can also use roasted besan.
- If you don’t want to use roasted gram flour and poha, use only bread crumbs.
- Potato can be replaced with sweet potatoes or raw banana in the recipe.
- You can also fry them in ghee if serving to kids.
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
Hara bhara kabab recipe first published in June 2015. Updated and republished in October 2021.
I tried this recipe and it turned out to be wonderful. Thank you so much. You are doing a great job.The measurements are very precise and the procedure very detailed.!!!
Glad you like them Soumya
Thank you!
I love your recipe. it turned out so good.
Thank you so much! Glad to know Rimpy
This sounds delicious. How long can the patties be frozen. What is the best way to freeze
Amudha
yes you can freeze them on a tray first until firm. Then transfer to a container or freezer safe bag. You can freeze them for a month.
Thank you for your wonderful recipes. May I know which grinder you’re using? Thank you
Hi Isha
It’s a Panasonic mixer grinder, not so good for idli/ dosa batter but for other tasks its fine
Prefect recipe, came out yummy , in fact I can say the best one I have ever tasted Can share the pic if you share your email Id
Glad to know Manasa
Yes you can send me the pictures to contact(at)indianhealthyrecipes(dot)com
Thank you so much!
Do you think I can use frozen spinach? If yes how much
Joe, yes you can use.
Hi Swasthi can u plz tell me how to make with rajma..I tried taste is good but very soft it’s not like vada
Hi Lakshmi,
Kababs are soft inside and they won’t be like vada. If you want to make crispy rajma vada you have to soak, grind to make a batter and then deep fry them like masala vada. But rajma kababs are made with soaked and cooked rajma so they won’t be crispy. If you want them only crispy on the outside, then bread them like I made this veg cutlet. Hope this helps.
Crispy ga ani kaadu Swasthi gaaru, pattukuntunte virigipothunnaay podum ayipothunnaay unable to hold n eat… Hope u understand…if u don’t mind okasari recepi chepthaara
Lakshmi, Yes I understood. Since it is not posted on the blog yet, I will mail you the recipe soon.
Thanq Swasthi gaaru.. hubby n kid not eating rajma curry dats y want to try different. I forgot where I commented today suddenly remembered 😃
🙂
Hi swasthi
Your receipes are simple and easy. Can u suggest me whether in place of potatoes can we use raw banana or any other vegetable
Hi Radhika
Thank you. Yes you can use raw banana, sweet potato & carrots
Can we use dry peas for making hara bhara kababs?
I don’t think they will taste good. Instead skip them.
Nice your very very clear …..nd also I liked the way you being a health nut nd same here nd excellent recipes…..thnq you will start with your hara bharat kababs
Welcome Hansa
Thank you
I will try your recipes .
I found very interesting. I never cooked food but after reading your articles I have found love for cooking.
I am a senior citizen.
Thank you
Chandivali
Mumbai
Hello Sir,
Glad to know! Hope you enjoy the recipes
thank you
Amazing tips, seems like good recipe, however I suggest to use roasted chana sattu for binding, it is hassle free n tastes good as well’ Thanks for posting these recipes
Hello Neelam
Thank you for sharing your tip on roasted chana sattu. Sounds good.
:smile
Made these kebabs for dinner and they were delicious. Thanks for the recipe.
Welcome Seema
Glad they came out good. Thank you
Hi Swasthi,
How to make poha powder & bread crumbs
Hi Flavia,
For most recipes you can use poha instead of bread crumbs, except for breaded snacks. To make poha powder, add some poha to a blender jar and make a fine powder. Store this in a container and use whenever needed. To make bread crumbs, toast a few slices of bread on a tawa until slightly crisp. They cut them and add to blender. Pulse them. Bread crumbs are easily available in the stores too. Hope this helps
Thank you so much Swasthi?
Hi Swathi , Thanks for sharing a delicious recipe . I tried preparing it and everyone appreciated the taste. However the kababs were more like tikki . What must have gone wrong. Please suggest.
Hi Anjali,
You are welcome! Hara bhara kababs actually get their unique flavor and taste when made in a tandoori oven. In most restaurants they char grill them or grill them in tandoori ovens.Some premium restaurants even smoke them towards the end. They also smear a generous amount of butter over the hot kababs. That’s the reason these homemade kababs taste different. You may try to smoke them once done for that aroma. Hope this helps.
Hi Swathi
All your recipes look good as well taste good. I tried vegetable cutlet recipe and it turned out really tasty.
Keep the good work!
Hi Farah,
Thank you! Glad they turned out well.
Spinach Kanab superb, nice Nutritious Receipe. Thx
You are welcome Dr. Kanchan Gupta
Glad you like them!
Hi Swasthi
I want to make these kebabs for a party on Sunday. To save time, can I make them in advance and freeze them without cooking or would this not work? If not, can you think of a better way for me to prepare these in advance to save me time later.
These and all of your recipes look amazing – I am making 4 of your recipes for my party on Sunday 🙂
Thank you
Jigna
Hi Jigna,
You are welcome. Yes they do freeze well. Place the patties on a tray and freeze them for 2 to 3 hours. Then remove and keep them in a ziplock bag. Thaw them in the fridge overnight before frying. Thank you so much! Hope you all enjoy the food!
🙂
Hi Swasthi, This is superb recipe. I tried and it came out very well. I checked your other tikki n cutlet recipe also but u hav used different binding for each how do we know whether to use besan or rice flour or corn flour or poha. Also what can i substitute maida with. please answer my doubts
Hi Meena,
Thanks for trying the recipe. I would say just go with the healthier ingredient and use poha for all of these – tikkis, cutlets & kababs. Poha works in all of these recipes. If the recipe calls for maida for coating then simply use rice flour or besan. This is a difficult question -“how do we know whether to use besan or rice flour or corn flour or poha.” I usually start trying a recipe with the healthier ingredients, then based on my kids feedback I keep changing until they say yes this is the one. Then that comes to the blog. So it depends on the recipe. You can leave a comment here if you are skeptical about any ingredient. I can suggest you. Thanks again Meena!
I make two recipes of urs today,Harabhara kabab and tawa pulao ,both came out delicious. Yes it both takes hard work but result is tasteful. So I m very very satisfied and thank u so much to share these recipes. Love u
Hi Shreya
You are welcome. Thank you so much for rating the recipe. Glad to know your kababs and pulao came out well.
🙂
I have tried your recipe and very happy with the result. Can you please guide me on how can I refrigerate the kababs for a longer period so that they can be used in kids lunch box as and when needed?
Hi Hasina
Thanks for trying the recipe. You can just freeze or refrigerate the patties in separate containers. Keep the patties out of the fridge for about an hour. Then fry or grill them in the oven. If you freeze then defrost them in the fridge overnight. If they do not turn out crisp then just dip them in dry flour and dust off the excess before frying. Hope this helps.
🙂