Make Chicken Sheek Kebabs At Home

India is famous for its various kebab recipes. But no dish is as famous as the legendary sheek kebabs. In fact, this kebab is so popular that when we say 'chicken kebabs' in a generic way, we mean sheek kebabs. The specialty of this kebab recipe is that it is grilled on skewers or 'sheeks' as they are called in India.

Kebabs are basically street food in India. But nowadays, they are being served as gourmet food in five star restaurants. However, very few people attempt kebab recipes at home. This could be because it takes a lot of effort and skills to prepare these dishes. However, sheek kebab is one of the easiest recipes that you can try.

Here we have made chicken sheek kebabs but you can also prepare beef or mutton kebabs using the same procedure.

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 1 hour
Marination Time: 4 hours
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• Chicken- 500 grams (minced)
• Ghee- 2tbsp
• Onion- 1 (chopped)
• Garlic- 5 cloves
• Ginger- 1/2 inch
• Green chillies- 4
• Mint leaves- 1 spring (chopped finely)
• Coriander leaves- 1 spring (chopped finely)
• Red chilli powder- 1tsp
• Gram flour or besan- 2tbsp
• Cumin seeds- 1tsp
• Cloves- 4
• Green cardamom- 4
• Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch
• Mace or javitri- 1
• Salt- as per taste
• Oil- 1tbsp
• Coal pieces- 3-4

Procedure

1. Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions in it for 4-5 minutes on a medium flame. Put it off flame and let it cool.

2. Once the onions cool down, grind it along with garlic, ginger and green chillies.

3. Meanwhile roast the whole spices namely, cardamom, cinnamon, mace, cumin seeds and cloves in a flat pan for 2-3 minutes.

4. When the spices cool to room temperature, grind them and add them to the paste of spices you made earlier.

5. Add this mixture to the minced chicken. Add salt, 1tbsp ghee, red chilli powder along with chopped mint and coriander leaves too.

6. Now add 2tbsp of besan in the bowl of minced chicken. Knead the contents of the bowl like a thick dough.

7. Cover the meat and refrigerate it for 3-4 hours. It is best to keep it overnight so that the spices can bleed their flavours into the meat.

8. One hour before you make the kebabs, remove the marinated meat from the refrigerator.

9. Make a hollow in the center of the meat and place a few pieces of burning coal there. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil.

10. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. The coal will give the meat burnt-charcoal aroma that is characteristic of kebabs.

11. After 30-40 minutes, rip off the foil. Take chunks of the meat and needle it into skewers. Rub some ghee on them.

12. Place the skewers in the oven and cook for 30 minutes on 60 per cent power. Make sure the skewers are moving or turn them manually for even cooking.

You can serve sheek kebabs as a chicken appetizer with onion rings. You can also use it to make rolls and wraps.