Afghan kebab or kebab curry, by any name this is one delicious dish. I don’t know why is it called “Afghan kebab” because if you search the Afghan cuisine you will find numerous mouth-watering recipes of kebabs but you won’t find one with kebabs floating in a tangy sauce of tomatoes.
You may name these kebabs anything you want, you know, the rose by any name kinda thing, the reason why I call them afghan kebabs is, I served these at a dinner a while back and one of the guests was adamant that they were called Afghan kebabs, and the name got stuck in my head.
So here we are, try using meat with a little fat in it. You may also bake or broil instead of frying, having said that if you prefer you may fry the kebabs. Canned tomatoes may also be used instead of Fresh ones.
Afghan kebab
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or chicken
- 2 tablespoons ginger paste
- 2 tablespoons garlic paste
- 2 tablespoons gram flour
- 1 whipped, egg
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder, or more to taste.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 chopped, green chili chopped
- ¼ cup chopped, fresh green coriander
- 2 tablespoons oil + 1 tablespoon to brush on kebabs before baking.
- 4-6 – chopped, large fresh tomatoes
- ½ cup of water
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste.
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt.
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, omit if you want a mild flavor
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- salt to taste
For the kebabs:
For the tomato base:
Directions
- In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients, combine well. (leaving 1 tablespoon for brushing and baking)
- For the best results let the meat marinate for an hour or so.
- Preheat oven to 350°C.
- Prepare a half sheet baking pan or a glass dish by spraying with oil or laying a parchment paper.
- To form kebabs, take approximately 2 tablespoons of kebab mixture and try to form an oblong shape. Wide in the middle and tapered on the ends.
- Place each kebab on the prepared half sheet baking pan.
- Brush oil onto each kebab sparingly.
- Place on the middle rack for 35 to 40 minutes. kebabs will turn light brown to amber.
- Remove from the oven, put aside.
- Simmer water in a large pot.
- Add tomatoes, garlic, red chili powder, salt, pepper flakes, cover and let it simmer on low heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Until the sauce changes color, some liquid should remain.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan, when the oil is hot add the cumin and turn off the heat.
- Pour the oil with cumin on the tomato base in the pot and put the lid back immediately, it may splatter so be careful.
- Now you are ready to assemble the kebabs.
For the kebabs:
For the tomato base:
Arrange the kebabs in a shallow ovenproof dish, so you may heat the kebabs in the oven later if needed, pour the tomato sauce on top of the kebabs.
Garnish with fresh coriander, and see with warm nan or boiled rice with raita.