Topic: Pakistani Kebab House Seekh Kebab

[Kashmiri Bob]

I think back in 2015 someone said they were near to a recipe for a PSK.  Where does the time go?  Anyways,  I have been tinkering with a recipe recently.  Only made it three times so far.  The first two were chicken seekh and then lamb (mutton) seekh.  I took a couple of photos of the latter.



 




The first chicken seekh attempt surprised me.  Absolutely bang on.  Ticked every box, even though I over-cooked them a bit.  100 % Neelams Kebab House (Birmingham).  Unfortunately, my following efforts were disappointing by comparison.  Too much tinkering/shortcuts.  I have no idea why I just didn't do exactly the same thing.   So I will have to make them again and hope they come out as good.  Fingers crossed as planning a mixed kebab sizzler starter for my Christmas dinner.  Tandoori lamb chops, chicken tikka, lamb tikka and seekh kebab.  The main course will be Mick's amazing Balti chicken.

Will be going forward with just the chicken seekh.  The lamb version was actually pretty good.  I will be having a couple of them tonight. But the chicken kebab was so authentic.  Favoured by the majority of good kebab houses hereabouts, it seems.  Should add this DIY kebab was not as good as the TA kebabs I posted about recently from Shababs.  But not that far off.  So, a recipe (should) be coming soon.  I know what you may be thinking, but in my defence I have now retired from work, and have more time for cooking, and the forum.

Rob     
           

 

 

[Robbo141]

Those look excellent Rob.  I’d always take lamb over chicken but will try both once you get the recipe up. Get a move on, you’ve retired and I’m jealous!

Robbo

[mickdabass]

Ditto Robbo - they look absolutely delicious.

Looking forward to trying the recipe Bob. Seekhs are my goto starter

Regards

Mick

[Kashmiri Bob]

Shouldn't take too long.  All I am doing is tweaking/adapting a Youtube recipe.  This one:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbZTcADA3OU&t=96s&ab_channel=Aqsa%27sCuisine

When I started watching this for the first time, I thought, here we go again, another waste of time.  Bare with it. Wait to see the ingredients.  Bang on the money.  Simple and brilliant. Adjust to taste, salt and black pepper, number of fresh chillies.  I don't think there is chilli flake in Neelems SK, but no harm in adding some. 

On method a lot more water can (and should) be removed from the onion.  Blitz as shown, but not the mince.  Mix (lace) by hand in a large bowl.  Needs a bit of practice.  I am leaving the mix covered in the fridge for 24 hours.  Skewer a treat on 8 mm square profiles.  No chance of them falling off. A bowl of water for your hand.  You can use quite a bit.  Easy.

Cooking them.  For the first (wow) batch I grilled them using a combi oven.  Easy to overdo this way, for me anyway.

The second batch was charcoal bbq, so what went wrong?  Not sure, but for the first batch I used fresh g/g paste (6 good tsps).  Had to as I had no fresh ginger available.  For the second batch I followed the recipe.  Could be that I didn't blitz enough or/and failed to mix properly.  I will stick with the g/g paste.

The final batch (lamb) were sealed in the combi grill for a couple of minutes (each side) and then finished off on the hob, with skillet.  I will use this method until the bbq season returns. The only addition to the recipe ingredients here was 1/2 tsp of ground green cardamom/mace (50/50).

The amount of onion used may be important; e.g juiciness.  Sav (chef) at Neelams told me many years ago that their kebabs are 20 % onion.  I used less; will check my notes.  The cooking method with play a big part.  Neelams used a tandoor, finishing off on a flat griddle, with a squirt or two of commercial lemon dressing.

Batch one had everything.  That distinctive kebab house aroma.  Juicy, even though I over-cooked them. Not over-loaded with anything. A good chilli/black pepper kick (I may have upped these a bit).  Delicious. Springyfication too. Boing!

One other thing.  Sav also confirmed that their SK (they only did one) was course chicken thigh mince, which is what I used here.  Although I expect it's a mix of other cuts, with a high fat content.

Will be making another batch this weekend.

Rob 

 

[Kashmiri Bob]

More bad news, Neelam's is gone.  There, but in name only.  Gutted.  New ownership a couple of years back.  Guess around the time of the pandemic onset.  The reviews now are grim (really grim); not all.  Went there to check it out.  More or less unrecognisable inside. No Balti on the menu.  I was the only customer.  One member of staff.  One!  There was always 3-4 front and 1-2 in the back.  Wasn't convinced I could come out of there with a PSK. No chance.  So I  left.  Will miss this place.  Had some great food and banter with the lads there, especially when the cricket was on the telly.   Grafters, open all hours.  I wish them well.

Rob

[Kashmiri Bob]

Batch 4 of Aqsa's recipe (adapted).

Got 2 x 500 g bags of chicken mince from the local butcher again.  This time he had to make some as didn't have enough.  I watched. He used boneless/skinless chicken thigh.

Mix after 24 h in the fridge.  Looks identical to Neelam's mix as I remember, except for the chilli flake.




Sealed under the grill and finished off on the hob/griddle.



Quality PSK!  May try some fresh chopped coriander in the mix for the next batch.  Getting 9-10 kebabs per batch (500 g mince, £2.55).

Need to get the accompanying salad sorted.  Shredded white cabbage, onion and tomato, a little fresh chopped coriander.  Mint dip, garlic mayo, and chilli sauce.  Not forgetting the obligatory large pickled green chillies.  Aren't they great?  You bite into them and the vinegar etc., seems to squirt all over the place!

Rob

The pot in the second photo contains Beef Karahi.  Will post a photo when I get chance.  Interesting recipe.