Fish Shammi Kebab

[aroy]

We have been making Mutton Shammi Kebabs for ages. A few years ago, my wife decided to substitute fish for mutton when making them for gatherings - less RED MEAT? The fish used was Rahu. This time I thought of substituting the river fish; which is full of bones and takes a long time to debone; with sea fish which will have mush less bones. A new Home Delivery site has started in Bangalore which supplied fish within a day of catch coming to shore. You can read up more on them at https://www.freshtohome.com/.

What I got for the party is 3kg Indian Tuna. The recipe is quite simple
. Boil Chana Dal (soaked for at least 8 hours, overnight is better).
. Boil the fish with spices.
. Debone the fish.
. Mix the fish and dal thoroughly.
. In case the mix is soft, heat the mix in a Kadahi stirring till the water has evaporated.
. Mix herbs.
. Form patties and shallow fry over hot gas.

Recipe Part 1

3kg Tuna along (with 1/4kg Mackerel to be used separately)

Chana Dal

Soak 1kg

The dal has bloated up after an overnight soak

Boiled till it is almost a paste - about an hour at low heat

Ginger and garlic

Chop fine

Spices - Salt, Cloves, Dalchini and small cardamon

First dry grind the spices and then add chopped ginger and garlic along with water/curd or liquid from the boiled fish to make a paste

 

[aroy]

Recipe Part 2

Chunks of raw Tuna

After a good boil

For those interested
LHS = all the rejects
RHS = Fish
From 3kg of whole Tuna fish, there was around 2kg of useful deboned fish. Unlike mutton where a lot of water is there in the mince, with fish there is practically no water, hence in fish kebabs the ratio of meat to dal is 2:1. (With mutton it is 4:1)

Coriander and chilies. To reduce the heat I used a mix of small and large chilies

Onion

Mint

Chop the herbs fine so that there is a taste and a crunch but pieces do not stick out of the patty

Onions chopped fine

 

[aroy]

Recipe Part 3 - Bringing it all together

Ingredients

Add the eggs to the mix, Mix well,

Next add the chopped onion. Mix well.

Add the chopped herbs and mix thoroughly - about a couple of minutes. All the ingredients should be uniformly distributed.

Heat about 1/2 cm of oil in a large frying pan. This one is 12 inches diameter.

Fry one patty to check both the temperature and the consistency of the mix. In case the patty spreads all over, there is too much water, so either dry it or mix fresh bread crumbs.

Full production. Between 14 and 15 at a time. Fry one side till it is brown (check the bottom side after a couple of minute). Flip if the colour is fine.

Flip and fry the other side. Please note the colour. It can be a bit darker but not lighter.
Each batch will consume at least half the oil, so if frying multiple batches, top up each time and wait for the oil to heat up.

Done. About 140 kebabs in 10 batches.

NOTE

1. The quantities are for 2kg fish meat. That is 3kg raw sea fish. River fish has more wastage so will require about 4kg to get the same quantity of deboned meat.

2. Usually we prepare the kebabs at least two days ahead (if not more) of the party. After the kebabs have cooled to room temperature, we stack them in rectangular containers - around 30 to a box, and seal tightly with two layers of cling film. They will stay at least two months in deep freezer. So you can prepare a large batch and freeze it for future use.

3. Before serving, just arrange the frozen kebabs in one layer on a microwave safe plate and microwave. They will come out sizzling hot, indistinguishable from freshly fried ones. You can also heat them on a Tawa, but that takes some time, though the surface also fries up some what, so if you plan to use tawa, fry them a bit less initially.

 

[KJa]

Looks delicious!!!!

Were you satisfied with the freshness of the Indian Tuna delivered @aroy ?

 

[adsatinder]

@sanuroxz
where are you ?
Fissssss finished !

 

[aroy]

Looks delicious!!!!

Were you satisfied with the freshness of the Indian Tuna delivered @aroy ?

Yes. It was much better than the fish sold at INA market

 

[aroy]

@sanuroxz
where are you ?
Fissssss finished !

I am in Delhi. The online store delivers to a few Metros
https://www.freshtohome.com/
so check if there is delivery to your city

 

[sanuroxz]

Excellent

 

[aroy]

Latest effort. This time with Rohu (from a large - 5 kg fish)

Part 1

Dry masala

Ground - dry masal

Chana Dal

Salt

Boil the chana dal in a pressure cooker

Fish

Garlic

Ginger

Chop fine

Grind in a mixer

Resultant paste - wet masala

Boil the fish with the wet masala. Use as little water as possible.

After boiling. Boil till the fish has cooked through that is colour changes from pink to white.

Debone the fish. This is where big fish scores over a small fish. The bones are large and easier to find.

Bones

Reduce the liquid. It contains a lot of spices.

 

[aroy]

Part 2

Greens

Reduced liquid

Add mashed fish and mix

Chop fine

Add dal and eggs. Start with 4 eggs and add one more if the paste does not bind well. Mix well

Now add the chopped spices

Add the dry spice

Mix thoroughly. The mixture should be firm and not stick to hands.

I use two cast iron pans for frying. Use sufficient oil so that it is at least 5mm in each pan.

Start frying. After two minutes start checking the bottom. Flip when brown.

Desired colour

Both pans going full blast. Around 25 pieces per batch. 4 batches to a hundred.

Store them once cool. Seal tightly and freeze for future use. The Kebabs keep at least a month in deep freezer.