Shami Kebab
Ingredients
- 1 lb boneless beef chuck trimmed and roughly diced
- ⅓ cup yellow split peas soaked overnight
- 4 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 inch ginger knob peeled and finely diced
- 1 red onion roughly chopped, plus ½ red onion, finely diced
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 5 dried round whole red peppers available at Indian/Pakistani specialty stores
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 slice white bread wet lightly under a splash of water
- 1 egg beaten
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 1 tablespoon cilantro finely diced
- 1 green chili finely diced
Instructions
- In a large stock pot, add all ingredients up until the white bread (with the exception of ½ finely diced red onion) and 4 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Drop heat to a simmer and cook until the water disappears and the lentils are fall-apart soft, about 45 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, fold the bread into the beaten egg. Add garam masala powder, diced cilantro, chili, and red onion. Set aside.
- Once the meat and lentils are ready, remove the cardamom and cinnamon with a slotted spoon. Place the mixture in a food processor and mince till it has an even consistency and you cannot tell the lentils and meat apart.
- Add minced meat to the bread-egg mixture. Mix well until an even consistency is achieved.
- Take small fistfuls of the mixture and flatten them into slim patties.
- Heat oil in a shallow nonstick frying pan. Place patties in pan and fry each side till it's a deep brown. Transfer to a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Notes
To freeze: Carefully place the raw patties inside Tupperware, and store in the freezer for up to one month. My mother recommends placing them on a tray and freezing them first, and then transferring them to Tupperware or a Ziploc bag.