How To Make Juicy Grilled Kebabs?

Friday, February 3, 2012, 16:19

To make kebabs you need more than just ingredients and an instruction manual. You need skills like a Moghul cook. Even to know how to make the marinade for kebabs is almost half the job done. Kebabs are basically meat appetizers that are grilled in the oven. When there were no ovens, the kebabs were grilled over open fire and that gave it the characteristic smell of burnt wood and charcoal.

To make kebabs that are juicy and authentic some basic skill sets are required. If you want to make Indian food at home then you will find these tips handy.

Tips To Make Authentic Kebabs:

1. How to make the marinade is the first important step in the process of cooking kebabs. There are various types of marinades and how to make them is a question that does not have a set answer. However there are certain standard parameters.

2. Kebabs must never contain whole spices. For example, if you are making Kalimiri Kebab (Pepper Kebab) then it should not contain pepper corns. It should not even contain pieces of green chillies.

3. So how will you make the marinade without spices? The kebabs have to be flavoured using different means. You can use powdered spices in the mix but that is not always possible. The usual way is to heat the spices and let the meat get steamed by its fumes in a covered container.

4. There are basically 2 types of kebabs; one that contains minced meat and another that is solid chunks of meat.

5. If you want to make kebabs of the first type then you have to make sure that the meat is really finely ground. The mincing or kheema as it is called should be so fine that not a single shred of meat stands out in a lump.

6. For the second type of kebabs you have to choose appropriate portions of the meat. Every kebab has it preferred portion to be made from. Like 'Tangri Kebab' cannot be made without chicken leg pieces.

7. Now a days kebabs are grilled in ovens instead of over the fire. So how will you get the characteristic smell of burnt wood or coal we are so used to? There are actually two ways of doing this.

8. Firstly you can take a few pieces of charcoal and burn it over the flame on the gas. Make a hollow in the marinated meat for the kebab and put the pieces there. Cover the container with foil.

9. You can also put the cooked kebabs on a grill that has burning charcoal under it. You can simple have a metal wired net over the coal burning on the gas and toast the kebab over it.

10. Another finishing touch can make the difference between your kebabs and an amateurs. Pour some cooking sherry (or any alcohol) on the kebabs and set it on fire. That momentary burn will leave the flavour.

Use these cooking tips to make kebabs