A treat for the vegetarians. I had eaten these kebabs growing up in India but after coming to the USA, couldn’t find Bhea/Lotus stems as we live in a small town where we didn’t even have an Indian store till a few years back. Discovered Bhea/Lotus stem out of all places in an Asian Store and brought it home. Hubby is not a big fan of Bhea and my daughter had never tried it.
Since I was having some vegetarian friends over, decided to make kebabs out of it. I looked at recipes online, The one that came closest to what I remember eating as a child was by Ruchi Airen. I remember mom making it with Kale chane and that’s what I tried. It was a super hit with my friends. The color, texture, look and smell all resemble the real Shami kebabs made out of meat. Make it and wow your vegetarian friends.Enjoy with Habanero Pepper Chatni.
If you read my post “How to Plan/Organise the best stressfree dinner party” then you know that this was one of the appetizers that I made. The best part is you can make the dough in advance and make it fresh on the tawa/pan when you want to serve.
Moving on to the recipe,here is the written recipe,followed by the step by step pictorial one-
Vegetable Shami Kebabs, Bhea ke Kebab,Kale Chane ke Kebab, Kamal kakri ke kebab/Kebab with Lotus Stems
Ingredients
- 400 gms Bhea/Kamal Kakri/Lotus Stems
- 1 cup Kala Chana/Black or Dark Chickpeas
- 2 inch piece fresh Ginger
- 5-6 cloves Garlic
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick Dalchini/Cinnamon
- 5-6 small green Elaichi/Cardamoms
- 3 Tej Patta/Bay Leaves
- 4-6 Laung/Cloves
- 2 Moti Elaichi/Large Brown Cardamoms
- 15-20 Kali Mirchi/ Black Peppercorns
- 5-6 Whole Red Chilies
- 11/2 cups water
- 1 tsp Kala Namak/Black Salt you can use regular salt, if you want
- 1/2 tsp Dhania powder/Coriander Powder
- 1/2 tsp Lal Mirch Powder/ Red Chili Powder
- 1/2 tsp Paprika Kashmiri lal Mirch is the closest thing to Paprika in India
- Juice of 1/2 Lime/Lemon
- 1 large Onion chopped fine
- 1/4 cup Cilantro/Coriander/Fresh Dhania chopped fine
- 15-20 Mint Leaves/Pudina chopped fine
- Ghee/Oil for shallow frying
Instructions
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Soak Kala Chana overnight.
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Wash,clean and cut Bhea/Lotus stem. If using the frozen kind, then thaw overnight in fridge.
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Add the first 13 ingredients upto, 11/2 cups water, in a pressure cooker.
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Give 1 whistle on High and reduce stovetop setting to Medium Low and cook for 30 minutes. Let pressure release naturally.
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Let it cool. Throw away all whole spices like Cinnamon,Cardamoms, Bayleaves, cloves etc.
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If there is any extra water, strain it. Grind in a food processor. Dont make it too smooth, we want some texture.
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Add the remaining ingredients from Kala Namak to Mint Leaves. Mix well.
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Using wet hands, shape dough into circular discs/Kebabs.
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Warm a pan on Medium-High, Add Ghee/Oil and shallow fry till brown on both sides.
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Enjoy
Here is the step by step pictorial recipe
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Disclaimer: The nutritional information shared here is approximate. Variations may exist due to ingredients and brands used. Please refer to a Registered Dietitian
or Nutritionist if you have any health issues or questions.
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