Restaurant-style Beef Seekh Kebab

My mother makes the world’s best seekh kebab, and I have spent much of my life avoiding cooking it out of fear.

Yes, the bar was set too high!

She consoled me to at least give it a try. “But you cook so well now!”

What a way to leg up maa, so beautiful, so elegant.

So, I decided to give it a try. I have her complete recipe, and no one besides me has had her seekh kebabs.

If I don’t make like hers, no one has a reference for comparison – that’s reassuring.

I ordered fresh batches of ginger, garlic, coriander, and mint leaves from Save Co. Because mother would not approve of using the G’n’G paste.

I asked her why I couldn’t use ginger garlic paste when, ultimately, it was going to be blended. she was deeply offended, “how will it get the deep garlicky flavour?” 

I rest my case.  

What You Will Need for Seekh Kebab

• Beef boneless, half kg with fats
• Garlic cloves, approximately 12
• Ginger, 2 inches
• Onion, 1 medium
• Baking soda, ½ teaspoon
• Roasted gram flour, 2 teaspoons
• Yoghurt, 1 tablespoon  
• Handful of mint leaves and coriander
• Green chilli, 3
• Coriander seeds, 1 ½ tablespoons – roasted and crushed
• Cumin seeds, 1 ½ tablespoons – roasted and crushed
• Garam Masala powder, 1 teaspoon
• Red chilli powder, 1 tablespoon
• Red chilli crushed, 1 tablespoon
• Salt, to taste
• Ghee, 2 tablespoons
• Cooking oil, 3 tablespoons

How to Make Seekh Kebab

• In the chopper, toss all the spices with the beef. Chop until combined in a coarse mush.
• Pour the mixture into a big bowl, add ghee, and combine.
• Leave it in the refrigerator for an hour or more.
• To make kebabs, apply some oil on the palms of your hands to make smoothly formed kebabs.
• You can use a skewer to get the ideal seekh kebab shape.
• In a frying pan, add some oil, and fry the seekh kebab on medium flame. Flip the sides until it’s done from all sides.
• Set them on the cooling rack and then serve.

Tips and Tricks

You can freeze the seekh kebab for a month. The fried ones, not the marinated ones.   

If you plan to marinate for six hours, do not add the yoghurt. Add it sometime before you are about to cook.                                                                                                                          

In case, you don’t have skewers, you can use two chopsticks, twine them with thread, and cover with foil. It will make the perfect skewers to make seekh kebab. I use my steel straw, which is of no use to me now (blame lies on TikTok for confusing your needs and wants).

You can also use mutton and chicken instead of beef. I don’t guarantee the same flavour but I like the taste of chicken seekh kebabs a lot!

You can also air fry the seekh kebab instead of frying. 

Parting Thoughts    

I always double the qualities and make a batch to go in the freezer. Seekh Kebab is an amazing backup when you don’t feel like cooking or running low on time.

All you have to do is take them out of the freezer, let them sit for a while, and toss them in the frying pan. Add a dash of oil, and put the lid on the frying pan to make sure it’s reheated to perfection.

Eat them with naan, roll them in a paratha with some onions, and raita, Wallahi, I am feeling hungry now.

If you are in no mood to make parathas or naan from scratch, get the frozen Parathas from Save Co.