Shaami, Shikampur aur Kofte

I remember when I was kid, my mother used to get up early and prepare the whole days meal while we were all still sleeping, and also fix everybody’s lunch boxes, sometimes each one different from one another according to the likes of each person. By lunch time in the school, tired and bored, lunch was always what I looked forward to. Yummy and heartfully delicious simple home food to satisty the hungry stomach. Later, when I was in the junior college, I had to stay away from my parents. I then seriously missed food, especially filling lunch. That is when I began to develop a like for Shaami-sandwiches for lunch everyday. My mother would prepare Shaami in bulk, and send them to me. I used to store them in the freezer, content and happy. 

Shaami, Shikampur and Kofta are all prepared the same way from a dough like cooked meat+dal paste. Boneless/Minced meat is cooked dry along with lentils, onions and spices to perfection, along with a few fresh herbs, spices and chillies. This is then ground to a dough like paste which is then shaped into various kinds. If you shape it into a diamond like oblong kawabs, it is called as ‘Shaami‘, if you shape it into a small patty with a finely chopped onion, yogurt and herb relish, it is called as ‘Shikampur‘, and if you shape them into small golf balls, they are called as ‘Kofta‘.

Preparing the meat+dal mixture before hand, and storing it in sandwich bags, like I have explained below, saves a lot of time. Infact during my holidays, I buy the ingredients for this in bulk, and prepare and store them in the freezer for future use. Comes extremely handy to me.

You can serve Shaami and Shikampur as snacks along with chutney to your guests, or add them between your sandwich bread for lunch, between burger buns for a delightful meal, or you can add a few Shaami along with little chutney, salad and mayonnaise and roll them between a Paratha as a wrap. Kids will love it.

Shaami and Shikampur and Kofte – Fragrant and Spicy Meat Kababs

Ingredients:

• Boneless Lamb/Veal meat (or) Minced Lamb/Veal meat – 700 gms
• Yellow onions – 2 large, roughly chopped
• Chana Dal – 1 cup
• Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
• Lal mirch – 3 1/2 tsp
• Roasted Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Garam Masala – 1 tsp
• Cinnamon sticks/Dalchini – one 8 cm long stick
• Salt – 3 tsp
• Ginger garlic paste – 2 tbsp
• Green Serrano chillies – around 12, roughly chopped
• Small Thai Red chillies – 3, chopped (optional)
• Cilantro – 1 cup, roughly chopped

Method:

• In a pressure cooker at medium high heat, pour half cup water, and add lamb, dal, chopped onions, turmeric, red chilli powder, salt, cumin seeds, and ginger garlic paste. Close the lid and let it pressure cook until the meat is tender. Later, open the lid and let it cook until all the liquid has evaporated and it is mostly a dry mixture. There should be no water in the mixture left. This is important, else you will not be able to properly shape them later on and they will end up cracking while you shallow fry them later on.
• Let the mixture cool down. Once cool, remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Add the mixture to a food processor. Throw in the cilantro, garam masala, serrano chillies and process, without adding any water, until smooth and pasty. The mixture is ready. 

To prepare Shaami:

• Wash your hands clean. Take a small amount of cool water/oil into a cup. Take the above prepared meat mixture, the size of a golf ball into your hands. Dipping your right hand fingertips into the water, shape the mixture into a oblong diamond shaped Shaami on the palm of your left hand. Keep aside. Continue preparing Shaami until you get the number of Shaami you need.
• In a small frying pan at medium high heat, pour little oil and shallow fry the Shaami until crisp dark brown on each side. Shallow fry them in batches and serve warm.

To prepare Shikampur:

• Finely chop 1 medium onion, 1 tbsp cilantro, 1 tbsp mint, and 4 small green chillies. Add 2 tbsp hung thick yogurt and salt to taste. Mix well. This is the yogurt  relish. (Prepare more of this if you are planning to make many Shikampur for a large crowd)
• Wash your hands clean. Take a small amount of cool water/oil into a cup. Take the above prepared meat mixture, the size of a golf ball into your hands. Make a well in the centre and add about a tablespoon of the onion relish prepared in the above step. Working gently with your hands, bring the edges together and cover the filling properly to shape into a flattened patty.
• In a small frying pan at medium high heat, pour little oil and shallow fry the Shikampur until crisp dark brown on each side. Shallow fry them in batches and serve warm.

To prepare Kofta:

• Wash your hands clean. Take a small amount of cool water/oil into a cup. Take the above prepared meat mixture, the size of a golf ball into your hands. Wetting your palms with little the water, shape the mixture into a balls and keep aside. Continue preparing the koftas until you get the number you need.
• In a small frying pan at medium high heat, pour little oil and shallow fry the kofta’s, one at a time, until crisp dark brown on their sides.

(Note: Koftas prepared this way are used in Kofte Ka Salan, which I will write about later)

Meat mixture packed in Sandwich bags to be stored frozen for later use

Method of storing the extra meat mixture for future use:

I often prepare the meat mixture for Shaami/Shikampur and Kofta in bulk at a time. Once the mixture is cool enough to handle, store the extra amount in ziplock sandwich bags. Stack them up and freeze for future use. When you feel like having it, take a few sandwich bags out of the freezer and keep them on the countertop until they defrost to room temperature. Shape them into Shaami or Shikampur or Kofta and shallow fry them to serve. It saves a lot of my time this way.

Luv,
Mona

Tags: Hyderabadi special, Kofta, Shaami, Shikampur