We Parsis like to make Kebab and Cutlets out of just about anything – from kheema kebabs to chicken cutlets and from bheja cutlets and to Kolmi Kebab. While the kheema kebab is my favourite out of all these because of the memories associated with them, Kolmi na Kebab come a close second.
After my first pop-up stall in Jan this year, I got a lot of requests for Kolmi na Kebab and I’ve been trying to make them since the start of the this year and unsuccessfully tried 3 different recipes. Some recipes asked for potato while other asked for cornflour – while I still managed to eat the results of all these recipes, I wasn’t satisfied with them and hence decided to mash up three different recipes and come up with my own version of the kebabs.
I wish I had done that sooner as they came out fabulous – crispy yet moist from the inside – and went perfectly with the Dhansak I had for Sunday lunch today. The best part about the Kolmi Kebabs is that you can use the really small shrimp to make them rather than buying the bigger prawns – in fact they taste better with the shrimp and this means they are easy on the pocket too. Here’s how you can make them at your home – ingredient’s at the bottom as always.
To start, clean the prawns and chop them very finely. I prefer to give them a quick blend in the mixer. If you do the latter, be careful to not overmix as the prawns will release water and your mixture will get too moist. The prawns should be coarsely ground.
Empty out the prawns in a bowl, finely chop the onion, coriander and chilli and add it to the prawn mixture. Next, add in all the spices including the green chilli garlic paste and the salt.
Add in the breadcrumbs and mix everything well.
Start forming small balls of the mixture, coating each one with coarse semolina (the fine semolina will do too but I find they make the kebabs less crispier). The mixture should be moist at this point but you should still be able to form the kebab balls. If its too liquidy, stabilise the mixture by adding more breadcrumbs first.
Heat up the oil and evenly fry the kebabs on both sides
Enjoy them while they are still hot with some roti on the side or with a plateful of Dhansak
To make about 20 you will need:
500 gm shrimp/prawns shelled and deveined
1 small onion chopped
Big handful of coriander
2 small chillies chopped finely
1.5 tsp each of turmeric, red chilli, and cumin powder
0.5 tsp of garam masala
1 tbsp green chilli, jeera and garlic paste (you can use ginger-garlic paste if you don’t have this one)
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
Salt to taste
Semolina to coat kebabs
Oil for deep frying