Murg Ke Shami

Total Time: 4 hrs 35 mins Preparation Time: 4 hrs Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 600 g ground chicken (kheema)
• 1/2 cup bengal gram dal, split (chana dal)
• 2 inches ginger
• 10 cloves garlic
• 2 medium onions
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh coriander leaves, washed and chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, washed and chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• oil, to fry
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 5 -6 peppercorns
• 3 -4 black cardamom pods
• 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 1/2 teaspoon mace
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder
• salt
• green peas, if desired

Recipe

• 1 soak the chana dal for a minium of 3 hours.
• 2 keep aside.
• 3 wash the kheema nicely.
• 4 drain out excess moisture.
• 5 peel, wash and chop the ginger, garlic and onions finely.
• 6 wash and chop the corriander and mint leaves.
• 7 in a bowl, mix together the onions, corriander leaves, mint leaves and lemon juice to make a stuffing.
• 8 divide this stuffing into 16 equal parts.
• 9 keep aside.
• 10 heat 2 tbsps.
• 11 of oil in a pan.
• 12 add cumin seeds, corriander seeds, peppercorns and black cardamoms.
• 13 stir-fry for 30 seconds on medium flame.
• 14 add the chopped ginger and garlic.
• 15 stir fry for a few seconds until the raw smell of these is gone.
• 16 mix in red chilli powder.
• 17 add the kheema and chana dal.
• 18 if you like, you can also add in some greenpeas (my mom's idea) add 2 cups of water.
• 19 bring to a boil.
• 20 reduce heat and cook, covered, till the chana dal is fully cooked.
• 21 cook on high flame to dry out the mixture completely, stirring continuously.
• 22 remove from flame.
• 23 cool.
• 24 grind chicken and chana dal mixture to a smooth consistency.
• 25 add garam masala powder, mace and green cardamom powder and salt.
• 26 mix well.
• 27 check the seasoning.
• 28 divide into 16 equal parts.
• 29 flatten one in the palm of your hand.
• 30 place a portion of onion stuffing in the centre.
• 31 shape into roundels and flatten slightly.
• 32 likewise, shape the rest of the chicken mixture and stuffing.
• 33 shallow fry till golden brown.
• 34 serve hot with onion lachcha and pudina (mint) chutney.
• 35 cooking tip: after cooking the chicken mixture (kheema) if it is too moist, one must add roasted gramflour (besan) or powdered roasted chana dal as per ones requirement.