Galouti Kebab

Melt-in-the-mouth minced lamb kebabs, fragrant with cardamom, mace and kewra water.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 2h 30m
Cook: 25 min
Total: 2 hours 55 minutes
Vegetarian
❌
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Hard

Ingredients

  • 500g lamb mince, about 20% fat
  • 1 tbsp raw green papaya paste, from Asian grocers
  • 1 tbsp fresh root ginger, finely grated
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
  • 4 tbsp crispy fried onions
  • 1 tsp ground green cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp ground mace
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp kewra water
  • 4 tbsp ghee
  • Lemon wedges and sliced red onion, to serve

Method

  1. Dry-roast the gram flour in a small pan over a low heat for 2 to 3 minutes until it smells nutty and turns pale golden. Tip onto a plate to cool.

  2. Blitz the lamb in a food processor for 2 minutes until it is a very fine, sticky paste. Add the papaya paste, ginger and garlic paste and blitz again.

  3. Crush the crispy onions to a powder. Mix them into the lamb with the roasted gram flour, cardamom, mace, nutmeg, black pepper, cumin, chilli powder, salt and kewra water. Add 1 tbsp of melted ghee.

  4. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours so the papaya tenderises the meat and the flavours develop.

  5. With oiled hands, shape the mixture into 12 small discs about 5cm wide and 1.5cm thick. They will be very soft, so handle them gently.

  6. Heat a heavy flat pan or griddle over a medium-low heat with 1 tbsp ghee. Cook 4 kebabs at a time for 3 minutes on each side without pressing, until deep brown. Use the remaining ghee for the next batches.

  7. Serve straight away with lemon wedges and sliced onion.