Protein Punch Kabab-Yes! Necessity is the mother of all invention

This recipe is the result of leftover ingredients in my fridge. I wanted to make some "kababs" but didn't actually comprehend the availability of the requisite stock in my kitchen.

My determination was driven by the amazing cool breeze accompanied by rains. It acted as a strong motivation to cook something delicious without stepping out of the house. I peeked out from my kitchen window and the evening dusky weather pushed me to experiment a new variety of vegetarian kabab as opposed to the traditional one. The challenge was to retain the tender meaty texture without using any non-vegetarian ingredients. I replaced minced meat with a mix of soy granules and the traditional chana daal with grounded paste of green sprouts. Finally I used hung curd to hold the melting moment. I am calling it as “Protein Punch kabab” because most of the ingredients used are rich in protein.

Ingredients:

Mixture of green gram sprouts (moong daal) blended in a mixer with one stem of green garlic: I have used one big cup of sprouts.

Alternatively you can use Dabur Homemade Ginger Garlic paste as well if you can’t find green garlic. 

Green Garlic

Green chillies: 2-3

Whole Cumin:1 tsp

Dabur Homemade Ginger Paste:1Tsp

Stems of green coriander leaves:6-7

Garam Masala: 1 Tsp

Salt: As per taste

Soya Granules:  1 cup

Onion: One big onion finely chopped

Coriander Leaves: few sprigs

Hung Yoghurt: ½ Cup

Coriander Powder: 1 tsp

Turmeric: 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder: 1 tsp

Nutmeg Powder: ½ tsp

Oil: 1 table Spoon

Method:

1.    Grind the soaked green gram sprouts with one green garlic stem and few whole cumin seeds. Don’t use too much of water while making the paste. Retain a little coarser texture for a better aroma (If you want to make it from fresh sprouts then soak the green grams for 6-7 hours). Avoid making a runny paste.

2.    Heat some water and pour it over the soya granules to soften it. Immediately strain the granules or else it will turn soggy.  

3.    Heat 1 tsp of refined oil in a frying pan and add whole cumin seeds and let it crack. Add finely chopped onion, one green chilli and 1 tsp Dabur Homemade Ginger paste to it and fry till it turns golden. Now add a pinch of turmeric, ½ tsp red chilli powder and coriander powder to the mixture. Sauté it on high flame by continuously stirring it to avoid burning. Add ½ a pinch of garam masala powder and ½ tsp of nutmeg powder. Now it is time to add salt as per taste. Finish it with generous hand of chopped coriander leaves. Set aside the mixture to cool it down.

4.    Once the soya mixture cools down, add the green gram paste to it and mix it well. Add some salt to adjust the taste. If required taste it before adding. Finally it’s the turn for adding the hung yogurt to the mixture to give it a good consistency.

5.    Make kabab shape roundels using your wet palms and shallow fry them on pan over medium flame and frying it well both the sides.

6.    It is important to sprinkle chaat masala to the kababs, immediately after taking them out from the pan. This allows the masala to stick and soak inside the kababs.

7.    Garnish it with coriander leaves and serve it with your choice of dip. My choice was to serve it with tomato, garlic and coriander chutney.

Earlier in the name of vegetarian kebab, it was usually aloo tikki {with some veggies thrown in and usually dry to taste}. But I am quite happy with this version of vegetarian soft succulent and melt in mouth kabab which not only tastes delicious but looks great too……………..
 

Happy tasting and savor the food for life!