Cabbage and Carrot Kebabs
Vegetable Sheek Kebab
Vinod Chauhan And Gyan Chauhan
Note from Mamta: This recipe comes from a young man in Roorkee, India. He sells snacks from a mobile cart, which are prepared at home by him and his young wife Gyan. He adds Ajinomoto-monosodium glutamate (MSG) to enhance the flavour and red food colour to make it look like a meat kebab. However, I am not in favour of using any artificial substances in food, I have omitted them out, but you can add if you wish.
Vinod has worked for my brothers family, along with his other siblings, from a young age. All of them arrived from their village when still very young. They were taken under her wings by my SIL Geeta, who has taught them all many skills over the years, including cooking. She has nurtured them for many, many years and they are all doing pretty well now. I wish him and his wife every success in this new venture, so that they can make a good life for themselves and educate their only son well. Unlike the main photo, I have made my kebabs approximately half the size made by Vinod and Gyan, simply for ease of serving. You can decide to make any size/shape you like.
This lovely young man unfortunately died in a car accident not long after this recipe was written, while selling his kebabs on the high street. His widow now works for my brother and his wife and lives with them.
Makes 12, 2 per person as a starter.
Ingredients
250 gm cabbage
2 carrots, approximately 100 gm
1 red/yellow pepper
1 small beetroot for colour
A few green beans, optional
1 medium onion, approximately 150 gm.
2 green chillies, adjust to taste
2-3 cloves garlic, adjust to taste
1/2 inch piece of ginger, approximately 2 tsp. grated
1 tsp. salt, adjust to taste to taste
Juice of 1/2 a lemon or 1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tsp. sweet paprika powder, for colour
1 tbsp. plain flour (maida), you may need a little more
1 tbsp. Bengal gram flour (besan), you may need a little more
Oil to deep fry
Instructions
Grate all vegetables finely. I chopped them in my food processor to a fine, rough texture, like a crumble.
Add salt, mix and leave aside in a bowl for an hour or two. This will help release water from the vegetables.
Squeeze and discard water/juice.
Now add both the flours, lemon juice, paprika powder, and mix. They should be of a binding consistency. If they are not, add a little more of each flour. Mix well and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. This helps the flavours to mingle.
Shape into sheek-kebab or small burger shapes.
Deep fry on medium heat, until crisp, turning gently from time to time.
Serve immediately with Green Mango Chutney
