What is a Kebab?

The Kebab Cult – By Chef Kunal Kapur

Born in a country obsessed with Tandoori chicken, Seekh kebab and Paneer Tikka; where kilos of laccha pyaz and the teekhi chutney decides the fate of the kebabiya; a gastronome experience that leaves the chefs sweating; the guest binging tirelessly; and the cash register ringing; this is no short to be called a cult in its own pride; I simply term this as “The kebab Cult”.

Interesting it is that we have a long culture of eating and cooking and every time the family dines out the kebabs cannot be missed. The love for the kebabs as an Indian is in our DNA structure and does not matter at all if you are a vegetarian or a non vegetarian. If I had to look up at the components of a kebab and its accompaniments then in variably one would find the Kebab (of course), laccha pyaz, mint chutney, chaat masala and roti. But for a kebab restaurant to be successful it has to get the sequence right, which is no short of a joke. It’s the Mint Chutney that has to be an absolute winner more than the kebab. Funny isn’t it…

The reason why it is mightier than the kebab is actually quite simple. In any kebab restaurant what comes first on the table….well much before the water. It’s the mint chutney and the sliced onions. So the first kick that comes from the chutney goes a long way for the customer to decide what is in coming next. In fact, in order to be called a “winner kebab” the chutney has to be an absolute winner, if the kebab is not the best, a good mint chutney covers it up beautifully and places the meal experience into the “Exceeds Expectation “bracket. The mint chutney should have the correct balance of the tartness and the freshness of mint along with its spicy character. A good coating mint chutney rather a thin runny is preferred.

They say what’s in the body without the soul, same goes pretty much with the Kebab and Onions. Onions offer the soul to the kebab. With the onions it is not about how you serve it but it is about how much you serve it and how frequently you can do it. If the server can match up the speed of service of the onions to the speed at which they are wiped clean, chances are the customer will be back for more. And remember a nice lemon wedge is a must every time with the onions.

Onions add a crunch to the soft kebabs. A sharp bitter taste helps in cleansing the palate making it ready for another morsel of the kebab. For the same reason radish (mooli) is also substituted in winters. Sweet carrots, cucumbers or beetroot never works.

Chaat masala plays an integral part of the kebab experience. Though the chef can exercise the option of sprinkling it on the pyaz or the kebab or both. Over doing the chaat masala kills the flavor of the kebab and makes it salty. Also few of the restaurants like mine prepare the chaat masala ourselves. It is a recipe that I don’t share. Once sprinkled over the onions I have always had a demand of the extra chaat masala on the side from the customers.

The kebab in my list comes next. Care should be taken that is served hot and on to warm plates. It should have sufficient moisture to make it juicy and succulent. Colors should be avoided and it should be marinated for a sufficient time.

A nice bread such as a roomali helps in mopping up every bit of juice that trickles down from the meat to the plate. Also nice fresh bread gives a feeling of satiety and satisfaction of fullness. Overdone or burnt bread is a complete turn off.

This was a little insight on to how hard wired the service of a kebab is in our DNA. But again it is important to know in the first place that what is a Kebab?

A kebab is probably the oldest and foremost form of food that man had cooked after the discovery of fire. Throughout the world roasting of meats is an important and most savored part of any cuisine. It is the ease of preparation and nutrition that comes from the kebab that has lead to a huge evolution that we now call “our civilization”.

The Kebab is said to be originated in the Middle East, “Persia” to be little more precise. And from there it had spread to the rest of the world. Right from turkey, to Africa, morocco, entire middle east, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, south America, north America and a lot of countries are part of this “Kebab Cult”.

The word kebab is made of two words “Ke” and “Aab”, which translates into “Without” “Water”.  It means that a kebab is cooked with dry heat application. In old times the Kebab meant a morsel of meat or mince cooked over open fire. However as the cuisines have evolved hence has the use of the term. The kebab now signifies a morsel (or mince or whole) of meat (or vegetable or lentil or dairy product) marinated and cooked on open fire, a grill, griddle, oven, kadai or lagan.

It is appropriate to roast, grill, shallow fry, deep fry, stew, braise or bake a kebab. Kebabs are a part of the world cuisine and have over the years have transformed and adapted to the local style of the country they are prepared in. Here in India we have unofficially classified Kebabs by the equipment that we cook them in. the equipments provide a distinctive character and taste to the kebab.

Tawa/ Mahi tawa – the tawa is an iron (or steel or copper) plate which is heated from below. On this hot surface kebabs are shallow fried. The tawa helps in cooking the kebab slowly giving it a crisp outside texture. A mahi tawa is a similar with just the difference being that it has higher sides resembling a “paraat”. This enables the chef or kebabiya to hold and rotate the tawa as for an even cooking and an even distribution of the heat to the kebab. Examples are shammi kebab, navrattan kebab.

Tandoor – Tandoor is the most cherished and highly famous equipment to be used to cook kebabs. It is the most basic form of an over and its use for cooking dates back as far as the Indus Valley Civilization. This ancient equipment has not changed much since then. It is a clay oven fired by wood or charcoal. Kebabs are marinated, skewered and lowered in a hot tandoor, which cooks it from all sides. Popular kebabs are the Tandoori chicken and Tandoori Gobhi.

Sigri – It a bar-be-que grill in which smaller cuts of meats and vegetables are marinated and cooked. Meats or vegetables are marinated and skewered and placed on the open grill and the kebabiya keeps rotating the skewers for even cooking. Popular kebabs are the kakori kebab and Kadi Pasanda.

Lagan – It is usually a brass or a copper vessel that has a broad mouth and very shallow in height. The base is a concave round with high sides. It helps in preparing meats that take longer time to cook especially big joints. Also useful for cuts of meats that have less of fat and require some moisture for cooking. Raan and Murgh Musallam are classical examples of kebabs from the lagan.

Kadai – A kadai is a concave round of metal that has 2 handles on sides. It is a desi avatar of a Chinese wok. Only difference is that it is very heavy and had a thick metal. Tossing or deep frying the kebabs in a kadai is a common thing in India. Deep fried chicken wings and bhutte diyan tikkiyan are best examples.

Shikanja – A shikanja is a mesh of flat metal stripes in which marinated kebabs are sandwiched in between and grilled over a sigri. It is very prevalent in Hyderabad and famous kebab is the Murg Shikanja.