GMT: Chicken Seekh Kebabs

Only a few more days till the Olympics Opening Ceremony on August 5th. Are any of you doing a watch party for the opening ceremony? If you are and are thinking what to make for an Olympic theme evening, Sprouts Farmers Market has you covered. Sprouts is collaborating with fellow bloggers and doing a round up of apps, sides and fun snacks from different countries for the perfect watch party and of course I had to share something Indian.

I love kebabs and tikkas and being grilling season I thought chicken seekh kebabs would be perfect as an Indian entry to your Olympic themed snacks table.

Seekh kebabs, if I may say so are an Indian’s answer to sausages or bratswurst, and are an integral part of Indian cuisine thanks to the rule of the Mughal empire. You can serve seekh kebabs as a snack along with some mint chutney, or make a meal out of it by serving the seekh kebabs with some naan, mint yogurt chutney and cucumber tomato onion salad.

While originally seekh kebabs were mostly made from lamb/mutton, now there are various version of seekh kebabs depending on dietary preferences.  Since minced lamb/mutton can be difficult to find, I thought of doing chicken seekh kebabs. Of course V’s preference for chicken was another factor.

I haven’t had much luck finding ground chicken in most grocery stores in Dallas besides Indian stores, but was happy to know Sprouts carries ground chicken. I have used ground whole chicken for this recipe, since a mix of both thigh and breast meat is preferable to make melt in your mouth kebabs. If you can’t find ground chicken, use a mixtue of thigh and breast meat and grind it along with the other spices in a food processor to make a smooth mixture.

My dad is famous for this recipe amongst his friends. This is my version of his recipe. He uses cashews in place of the cream, and you can too if you want to avoid dairy. I like the convenience of cream and thats why I have listed that.

Sprouts curry masala gives the distinct flavor to these seekh kebabs, along with a little roasted cumin powder, mint, cilantro and green chillies. Regularly basting with butter ensures soft melt in your mouth kebabs. In the recipe I have used bread crumbs to make sure these kebabs are easy to handle and shape, but for gluten free options either use gluten free bread to make the crumbs or you can also use gram flour (besan) to bind the kebabs together.

While the track record of Indians at Olympics is not the most impressive, given we are the second most populous country, we do have one of our largest contingent ever going to Olympics this year and I wish them all the best. You can view the whole list of Indians competing at the Olympics here.

Hope you get to try these chicken seekh kebabs and if you do, please feel to share your results with me on Facebook, tag me on instagram or leave a comment here.

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Chicken Seekh Kebabs and Masala Mojito

 

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Easy to make grilled chicken kebabs flavored with indian spices, roasted cumin powder, mint, cilantro and green chilies. You can serve seekh kebabs as a snack along with some mint chutney, or make a meal out of it by serving the seekh kebabs with some naan, mint-yogurt chutney and salad. A perfect recipe for summer grilling.

Author: Shumaila

Recipe type: Appetizer, side

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the Chicken Seekh Kebabs: (serves 4-5)

• 500 gms ( 1 lb) ground chicken (mix of thigh and breast meat)
• 1 tsp of cream or butter
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
• 1 tsp Sprouts curry powder
• 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 inch ginger
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
• 1-2 tbsp bread crumbs (might need more; can also use gram flour for a gluten free version or just make bread crumbs from gluten free bread)
• 2 tsp oil
• 4 tbsp fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp fresh mint
• 3-4 green chillies, or to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Instructions

1. Roast 3-4 tbsp fresh cumin on a heated skillet for a few seconds, till fragrant. Be careful not to burn them, else they will turn bitter. Remove from skillet and grind in a coffee/spice grinder. Keep aside.
2. In a food processor/blender, grind the onions for a few seconds. Remove and squeeze excess water out between your hands. Add the onion paste back to the food processor/blender.
3. Add in garlic, ginger, green chillies, roasted cumin powder, pepper, salt, sprouts curry powder, cilantro, mint, lemon juice. Process to a smooth paste. In case you can't find chicken mince, use boneless chicken pieces (both thigh and breast) and grind it with the other ingredients at this stage.
4. In a bowl add the minced chicken with the paste. Add the cream/butter, oil. Add the egg, little at first and if mixture is not too soft add more. Add breadcrumbs if required. to make a smooth mixture that is easy to handle.
5. Cover bowl with cling wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.
6. When ready to grill, using slightly wet hands form sausage shape and grill for about 10 minutes, turning them and basting with melted butter to get soft melt in your mouth kebabs. If shaping them around skewers dont make them too fat else they will break while turning over.
7. Serve with some mint chutney, naan and salad.

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This post is in collaboration with Sprouts Farmers Market  and while I was compensated for this post, all opinions above are my own.