Grandpa’s Kheema Kebabs

I was brought up in a family of strict food traditions. One of these traditions was that Grandpa made Sunday breakfast every weekend. And, the other tradition was that the breakfast was the same – Kheema Kebabs. I therefore grew up on a sunday diet of Kebabs for breakfast, Dhansak for Lunch with some Kachubar and Cutlets for dinner. And, I will be honest – I loved every second of it.

If you are a connoiseur of bawa cuisine and a fan of RTI or Pervez Hall or the numerous other parsi outlets, you will know that kheema cutlets often have an egg frill. I want to point out that my Grandpa’s Kebabs is a completely different recipe to those you will find in the ready shops. The difference? These include potato as well and the egg is actually inside the kebab rather than a layer outside.

Now, let me put in a disclaimer here. Like Dhansak, every parsi family has their own unique recipe for kebabs and cutlets. So, this is by no means the only way to make kebabs – it is just my Grandpa’s recipe. Even today, when I fry these on a Sunday morning I think of him sneakily popping a kebab into my mouth before mum could catch us – ingredients below the post as always.

Kebabs is all about prep so before you start, soak the bread in water while you mash the boiled potatoes. Once the potatoes are mashed remove the bread from the water and squeeze dry. Take a big plate and add all the ingredients in except for the rawa and oil. With your fingers mix well and let the mixture marinate for 15 minutes.

Now, taking a little mixture at a time, roll into small kebabs.

Once rolled, you will need to coat all of them with the semolina before deep frying. Before you start coating, heat the oil – to test if the oil is hot enough sprinkle some rawa into the oil. If the rawa sizzles, the oil is ready for your kebabs. Depending on the size of your pan, fry about 7-8 kebabs at a time.

Once in the pan let them get brown and crispy before turning over to fry the other side. After both sides are crispy, remove them by draining the oil and set aside

If you are having these for a Sunday breakfast like Grandpa and me, eat hot as they come out of the kadhai garnished with lemon juice and wrapped in a warm rotli. Remember to keep about 6 kebabs aside so that you can have them again at lunch with your Dhansak. Once you are done with lunch, go have a Sunday snooze – what other better way is there to spend a Sunday afternoon?

To make about 20 kebabs you will need:

Half kg goat/lamb mince
4 slices of bread
4 medium boiled potatoes
2 eggs
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp red chilli powder
2 small green chillies
a handful of chopped coriander
1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala and dhana-jeera powder
salt to taste
2 cups of fine rawa (semolina)
Oil for deep frying