Chicken Seekh Kabab

This Chicken Seekh Kebab recipe is a crowd pleaser and is inspired by my uncle who marinated and barbecued these delicious kabab Eid after Eid and cherished the festival. This will be the best seekh kabab recipe from scratch you ever came across.

Seekh is a metal skewer. Seekh Kabab or seekh kebab is a South Asian entree in which marinated beef mince is covered on the seekh to make a long cylindrical hollow kabab and the kababs are then barbecued on coal. Seekh kabab found its way to Pakistani cuisine through the influence of Mughlai Cuisine.

If you love kebab check my other kebab recipe like chapli kebab, beef seekh kebab, shami kebab, chicken malai tikka and chicken tikka.

Ingredient

• Ground chicken with fat: Chicken grounded with white chicken fat is essential for making juicy seekh kababs. I used boneless chicken and grounded it with white fat around the chicken in a food processor.
• Onions: We need finely chopped onions for this recipe. I did my chopping in the food processor and squeezed the chopped onion lightly between my palms to remove excess water.
• Ginger and Garlic: I chopped ginger and garlic too in the food processor separately. If chopped ginger is watery, squeeze it lightly too and discard the water.
• Herbs: I used fresh cilantro/coriander only. You can use mint and parsley too.
• Green chilies: Use medium-sized moderately spicy chilies for extra. You may skip it for less spicy kabab.
• Seekh kabab spice mix: I have shared the recipe for the Spice mix in the recipe card, which I like best. You can also use ready-made spice mix.
• Fat: To ensure seekh kabab are soft and juicy, I used butter and cream too in this recipe. Chicken mince is low-fat so adding fat makes soft kababs.

How to make it?

I'm a die-hard lover of juicy succulent seekh kabab. Follow this recipe step by step ditto and you'll get simply scrumptious food hitting your palate. This recipe has detailed marination chicken seekh kabab and also instructions for cooking in a frying pan on the stove or in the oven or grilling.

Roast the whole spices for 1 minute, then add powder spices and roast for a few more seconds. Let the masala cool and then grind into a fine powder. Also, add salt.

1. Marinate: Chop onion in a chopper, and squeeze all water. Similarly, chop ginger in a chopper and squeeze the water. We need only solid onions and ginger. (Onion and ginger water can be used in gravies.) Now, take your ground chicken in a bowl. Add ginger, onion, butter, cream, seekh kabab masala, garlic, green chilies, and coriander.
2. Do a taste test: Mix well. Cook a small lump in a frying pan to do a taste test. Adjust salt and seekh kabab masala to your taste. Marinate chicken for 20-30 minutes in the fridge.
3. The marinated chicken mixture will be sticky. (Sticky is soft and moist when cooked.) Grease hands with oil before rolling kabab. Grease again as needed between rolling.
4. Pencil or chopstick rolling technique: Pencil or chopsticks are easily available in homes and has a smooth surface. Roll a ball of kabab and shape it on a pencil.
5. Make long cylindrical kabab.
6. Slide the kabab off the pencil to the frying pan. Fry kabab with little oil on high flame until golden and cooked. Flip all around for even cooking.
7. Similarly, you can roll a kabab on the wooden skewers too.
8. Smoking Seekh kabab: Heat a piece of charcoal until red hot. (Do this step, when marinating kabab.) Gather cooked kabab in a pot or pan and place red hot charcoal in the center on a metal bowl or a piece of foil. Drizzle a few drops of oil and cover the pan immediately with a tight lid to trap the smoke. You may put a heavy object on the lid for extra pressure. Smoke for 5 minutes and serve immediately.
9. If you have metal skewers, take full advantage of it and roll kabab over them. Cook seekh kabab on an open flame on the stove, the flame should touch the kabab and give a few black spots. Then shallow fry kabab by placing metal skewers over tawa or griddle until cooked thoroughly. Then smoke kabab as described above. Smoking is optional.

Expert Tips

In this homemade seekh kebab version, I share the pan-fried and baked method. The recipe can be used for grilled seekh kabab too.

• Your chicken mince must have fat in it for juicy kabab.
• Follow the recipe as shown and do not get tempted to put all ingredients in the food processor and mix them together. The extra water in onion and ginger can make the kabab too moist to roll. The herbs can make the kabab look green. So grinding separately and mixing later works best.
• If kabab mixture is too moist: Add 1 tablespoon of gram flour to absorb the moisture. If you do not have gram flour, use bread crumbs.

Below Pic: The kabab rolled-on metal skewers look perfect and great for a potluck. But for home cooking, it is a lot of hassle.

Hungry for more kabab? Check these?

If you try this chicken seekh kebab recipe, I'd LOVE to hear your feedback in the comments. Your 5-ratings motivate me to do my best. Stay connected for more recipes and videos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube.

📖 Recipe

Chicken Seekh Kabab

 Follow this recipe chicken seekh recipe ditto and you’ll get simply scrumptious food hitting your palate.

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep: 30 minutes minutes

Cook: 30 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings : 15 wooden skewer kabab

Calories: 76kcal

Equipment

• chop stick or pencil or wooden skewers or metal skewers

Ingredients

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Ingredients for marination

• ▢ 500 grams ground chicken , ground with white chicken fat. see notes
• ▢ 1 medium onion, finely chopped, squeeze and discard excess water. See notes
• ▢ 3 tablespoon  fresh coriander, finely chopped
• ▢ 2 tablespoon minced ginger,
• ▢ 2 tablespoon  garlic, ,chopped (lahsun)
• ▢ 1-2 green chillies, finely chopped
• ▢ 3 tablespoon butter
• ▢ 2 tablespoon cream
• ▢ 3 tablespoon seekh kabab masala, (Recipe given below.) You can use ready-made too.
• ▢ ghee or oil , , for frying
• ▢ 2 inch piece of charcoal, to smoke

Ingredients for Seekh Kabab Masala recipe

• ▢ 3 tablespoon gram flour or chickpea flour , (besan)
• ▢ 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Kashmiri red chilli powder, or paprika for color
• ▢ ¾ tablespoon red chilli powder, more to taste
• ▢ ½  tablespoon  cumin seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon oregano seed, (ajma)
• ▢ 4 cloves laung
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt , or to taste

Instructions

For Masala:

• Roast all ingredients of seekh kabab masala in a pan for 1 minute on medium heat with constant stirring. (Gram flour can burn quickly so be alert.) Remove into the plate, cool it, and grind it into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Seekh kabab spice mix is ready.

Marination

• Take your ground chicken in a bowl. Add ginger, onion, butter, cream, seekh kabab masala, garlic, green chilies and coriander.
• Mix well. Cook a small lump of the mixture in a frying pan to do a taste test. Adjust salt and seekh kabab masala to your taste. Then marinate chicken mixture for 20-30 minutes in the fridge.

Method 1: Seekh kabab Recipe (Stovetop or Pan-fried)

• Heat charcoal on flame for smoking. (If smoking)
• Grease your hand with oil. Roll a ball of kabab out of the marinated mixture and shape it on a pencil, chopstick, or skewer and make a long cylindrical kabab.
• Heat 1-2 tbs oil in a pan on medium heat. Fry seekh kabab on medium-high heat until golden from all sides.
• Fry all kabab in batches and store in aluminum foil and smoke with charcoal.

Method 2: In an Oven

• Pre-heat oven at 300 F. Place roll kabab on a baking tray and cook for 10 minutes until firm and golden. Flip the kabab halfway for even cooking. Smoke and serve hot.

To Smoke Seekh kabab (Optional Step)

• Gather all kabab in a pan or pot. Place the red hot charcoal on a foil in between the kabab. Now drizzle a few drops of oil on coal and quickly cover the pot with a tight lid. The smoke must not escape the pot.
• Smoke for 5 minutes, then lift the lid and serve with raita or chutney.

Notes

1. Ground chicken with fat: Chicken grounded with white chicken fat is essentials for making juicy seekh kababs. I used boneless chicken and grounded it with white fat around the chicken in a food processor.
2. Onions: We need finely chopped onions for this recipe. I did my chopping in the food processor and squeezed the chopped onion lightly between palm to remove excess water.
3. Ginger and Garlic: I chopped ginger and garlic too in the food processor separately. If chopped ginger is watery, squeeze it lightly too and discard the water.

Instructions for kabab casserole

You can cook these kababs a day ahead. Transfer the cooked kabab to a casserole dish and garnish with onion rings. Drizzle a few tablespoons of tamarind chutney, garlic raita, green chutney over the kabab. Cover the casserole with a foil and store it in the fridge for 12-18 hours. Just before serving preheat the oven to 250 F.  Place kabab in fol in oven and heat for 15 -20 minutes until hot. Serve with raita and salads.

Freezing instructions

These kababs are freezer friendly. Just cook the kabab and the line it apart in a tray and freeze. Once the kababs are solid gather in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. You can eat defrost and reheat kabab in a pan.

 

Nutrition Information

Calories: 76kcal ,Carbohydrates: 4g ,Protein: 7g ,Fat: 4g ,Saturated Fat: 1g ,Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g ,Monounsaturated Fat: 2g ,Trans Fat: 1g ,Cholesterol: 32mg ,Sodium: 200mg ,Potassium: 257mg ,Fiber: 1g ,Sugar: 1g ,Vitamin A: 361IU ,Vitamin C: 3mg ,Calcium: 26mg ,Iron: 1mg

Author : Mariam Sodawater