Almost all restaurants serving hyderabadi cuisine in India boast of the ‘shikampuri kebab’. It is made with tender cooked, finely ground lamb and split chickpeas (chana daal) and stuffed with hung curd or chopped boiled eggs in the center. It is favorite of a lot of people as it is quite wholesome and delicious with a melt in mouth texture. Today I have for you a vegetarian version of shikampuri kebab that I learnt from our orderly years ago. This is made from soya protein- nutrela as I know it from my childhood days. It was never my favorite but Sher Singh ‘bhaiya’ taught me some nice recipes out of nutrela which were impossible not to like.
Nutrela is a textured vegetable protein made from soybeans. It is sold in Indian stores and Canadian supermarkets in prepackaged boxes in grain and nugget size. You just have to soak them in hot water for about 10-15 minutes and then it can be substituted for meat in any of the recipes.
I made these kebabs after a long time, they didn’t turn out very well as they should be. That was largely because the cooked mixture had moisture and grinding made the dough very thin. It was supposed to be of the same consistency as the regular chapatti dough but I had to add breadcrumbs to make it firm. It seems a normal thing to add bread crumbs in patties, burgers and kebabs but traditionally this recipe was meant to be made without it (for original recipe check out here). Once you have the dough ready you can dip the round patty in egg wash and bread crumbs for a crispy coating but since I made these for my pure vegetarian guests I simply dusted with bread crumbs before cooking. One word of caution here if you love frying, these kebabs tend to soak up a lot of oil, I cooked them like aloo tikkis on low heat by simply brushing the bottom of pan with oil for every batch.
Even though the kebabs that I made were not perfect as I wanted, they were delicious and intensely flavorful. I served as appetizer with salad and mint chutney.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 100 g soya nuggets
- 95g (1/2 cup) split chickpeas (bengal gram daal)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 8 black peppercorn
- 2 cloves
- 1/2" piece cinnamon
- 3 dry red chilies
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3/4" piece ginger, chopped
- 1 green chili
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs extra for dusting
- oil
- 1/2 cup hung yogurt
- 1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder (optional)
Instructions
- Soak soya nuggets and split chickpeas separately in warm water.
- Roast the chilies, cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves, cumin and coriander seeds and grind to a fine powder.
- Squeeze out all water from soya nuggets. Drain water from daal. Combine rehydrated nuggets, daal, green chili and salt to taste in a saucepan.
- Add 2.5 cups water and bring the contents to a boil. Then reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for 35 minutes or until the daal is cooked and water is dried.
- If there is still water use a sieve, drain the liquid and place the contents on a clean towel to absorb any excess liquid.
- Grind the cooled mixture to a smooth paste. Transfer to a bowl, add bread crumbs (if required) and ground masala. Mix.
- For stuffing, mix the hung yogurt with roasted cumin powder (if using).
- Take one small portion of lentil and nugget mixture, flatten in the palm of your hand and place a little yogurt (about 3/4-1 tsp) in the center.
- Gather the edges, shape into roundel and flatten slightly.
- Heat a non stick pan or electric grill on medium low. Brush it with oil.
- Roll each kebab in bread crumbs, shake off the extra crumbs and cook kebabs till golden brown on both sides.
- Remove cooked kebab in a plate and serve hot with salad and mint chutney.
Notes
The kebabs take a little while to come together as you have to stuff them with yogurt, but they are worth all the effort to try.
Vicki Bensinger
So many healthy and flavorful ingredients. These look easy to make and I’m sure loved by everyone that tries them.
Nimrat
Hi Masi,
This is irresistible. I will try this weekend. Also, do u think just the soya granules will work. I mean what if I don’t get nuggets?
I have not seen nuggets in saskatoon 🙁
Love
Shalu.
Balvinder
Of course, you can use soya granules, then you don’t need to boil it with daal. Grind just after soaking in hot water.
yummychunklet
These kebabs look healthy and delicious!
Angie@Angie's Recipes
We love protein rich foods and these soya kebab look perfect!
Medha
First time on your blog and I am loving it! Your kabob pictures are very tempting- and love the healthy and gluten free approch to cooking.. I am hooked here, going to try some of your recipes:)
Balvinder
Thank you Medha, I too loved your blog, checked few of your recipes and got to make your handvo style savory cake.
Nava Krishnan
We have the soya nuggets over here too. I have made cutlets with it and the taste was good. Now comes the moment to try your kebab. I adore them especially for the cumin stuffing.
Balvinder
Its nice to know you have made cutlets with it and like it.
Nami | Just One Cookbook
I have never tried this dish before but it looks healthy and delicious. Yogurt stuffing, now that sounds wonderful, and with mint chutney I can imagine it must be very flavorful.
Balvinder
Yes yogurt stuffing makes it all the more flavorful, My family and friends enjoy this vegetarian version very much.
Lillian @ Sugar and Cinnamon
These look delicious! And I love that it’s vegetarian, they look like the perfect party starter.
Lauren@Coffeemuffins
Wow these look amazing, and I love the spices you are using there. Always good to have more vegetarian appetiser recipes, thanks!
Bam's Kitchen
I should make this for my boys for an after school snack. They sound wonderful and lots of flavourful spices.
Juliana
These patties sure look great, exploding in flavor…like the idea of using soya protein.
Have a great week Balvinder and yes, I am back 😀
Balvinder
Glad to see you back!
Katerina
These patties look delicious and since I don’t eat lamb I prefer your veg alternative better!
Kitchen Belleicious
fun fun fun to use soy nuggets. have never seen them before but maybe I wasn’t looking in the right place. I will start searching again bc I know my kids would like this and its good for them
Filipino Christmas Recipes by trina
Wow! This kebab is absolutely excellent and very healthy! Might have to try this on weekend. 🙂
gluten free menu
This kebab looks so delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe.
Ambreen (Simply Sweet n Savory)
Wonderful vegetarian version, these kababs look yummy.