Time is running fast and Memorial Day is upon us. I can’t believe how fast we are nearing the middle of 2013. For those in the US, memorial day is going to mark the unofficial start of summer and the grilling season. Many cookouts, picnics, get together to grill and barbeque. Well, for us in Texas, the barometer will hit one hundred degrees Fahrenheit pretty soon and dinnertime will be over before we can step outside for longer period of time, without becoming a sweat machine. Therefore, we cleaned up the grill few weeks earlier.
Usually, Ali takes care of the marinade and grilling for steak, chicken, seafood but when it comes to sheekh kabab he always turns to me. Many friends have asked for the recipe over the years, so I thought I would also share on the blog.
Meat chunks grilled in skewers is popular throughout the world and off course have many names. In Bangladesh, we call beef skewers shikh or Sheekh kabab. Shikh/sheekh simply means skewers and because these kababs(or is it kebap, kebob, kabob, kibob, kebhav, or kephav?) are grilled on metal or bamboo skewers, hence the name. Similar grilled meat is also known as boti kabab, souvlaki, bihari kabab, juleh kabab, tikka, and so on, depending on which part of world you are ordering them. Off course, there are variation in the marination process as well.
A little bit of papaya paste is what I use to tenderize the meat. Just cut the pieces, marinade and grill. No need to use the metal tenderizer, hit the meat pieces a thousand times to find bits of meat pieces all over you and the kitchen. I am not even going to the kitchen clean up issue. The other secret ingredient I use is “besan” or split pea flour, which is also known as gram flour. I often marinade everything in a ziplock bag to reduce cleaning one extra dish.
The same marinade can be used to prepare lamb and chicken skewers. Add few chunks of your favorite veggies, perhaps some onion on the skewer and you, my friend, have a out of the world grilled kabab to enjoy this memorial day or any other day.
What’s your summer grilling plans?
- 2 lbs boneless beef, cubed
- 2 teaspoon garlic paste
- 2 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- 1 teaspoon crushed red chili
- 1 tablespoon papaya paste
- ¼ cup gram flour
- 2 tablespoon plain yogurt
- Salt, according to taste
- ½ cup oil, for grilling
- Metal of bamboo skewers
- Whisk all ingredients together and add beef pieces.
- Marinate 2-6 hours.
- If using wooden skewers, soak in water for about 15 minutes.
- Heat the grill to medium high. Brush some oil on the grill.
- Thread the meat on to the skewers (about 6-7 pieces per skewer).
- Save the marinade and add rest of the oil that’s remaining after brushing the grill.
- Grill over medium high heat for about 15-20 minutes, turning frequently, or until meat is cooked through. Brush the oil-marinade mixture on the meat every few minutes while grilling.
উপকরণ:
২ পাউন্ড হাড়ছাড়া গরুর মাংস, ছোট করে কাটা
২ চা চামচ রসুন বাটা
২ চা চামচ আদা বাটা
১ চা চামচ গরম মসলা
১ চা চামচ শুকনা মরিচ গুড়া
১ টেবিল চামচ পেঁপে বাটা
১/৪ কাপ বেসন
১ টেবিল চামচ টক দই
লবণ, স্বাদ অনুযায়ী
১/২ কাপ তেল,
বাঁশ বা লোহার শিক
প্রণালী:
১. সব উপাদানগুলো একসঙ্গে মিশিয়ে গরুর মাংসের টুকরা যোগ করুন.
২. ২-৬ ঘন্টা মেরিনেট করুন।
৩. বাঁশের শিক ব্যবহার করলে, প্রায় ১৫মিনিটের জন্য পানিতে ভিজিয়ে রাখুন।
৪. গ্রীল প্রীহিট করে গ্রীলে তেল ব্রাশ করুন।
৫. শিকে মাংস ঢুকান।
৬. মেরিনেড সংরক্ষণ করুন। অবশিষ্ট তেল মেরিনেডে যোগ করুন.
৭. ১৫-২০ মিনিট বা মাংস রান্না না হওয়া পর্যন্ত মাঝারি উচ্চ তােপ গ্রীল করুন। শিেক ঘন ঘন তেলের মিশ্রণ ব্রাশ করুন এবং উল্টে দিন।
প্রয়োজনিও কিছু টিপস্ এর জনে্য দয়াকরে আটির্কেল অথবা ইংরেজি রেসিপির নোট সেকশনটা একটু দেখে নেবেন।[/print_this]
This might be the Indian seekh kabob marinade I’ve been looking for all these years!
Very similar, Colette. This was passed down to my family from our next door neighbor, in Bangladesh, who owned a kabab house. I think the Indian or the Pakistani version does not use the gram flour. I find the gram flour adding magic to the kabab
Aren’t you glad to finally find it? Thanks a lot, Colette.
These kabab look fingerlicking!
Thanks, Angie. Indeed they are
The food looks awesome. This is now on my must try recipe list
Thanks. Let me know how it turns out for you when you try it.
will definitely let you know
All those spices make these kababs so heavenly and the papaya paste really tenderize the meat. What a great recipe and dish for the weekend!!! Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, Lail!
Thank you, Denise. Hope you had a great weekend.
Very nice.
Glad you like it.
Great marinade! Have a super weekend. BAM
Thanks a lot Bam. Hope you had a wonderful weekend.
Summer is incomplete without these!
Indeed, Debjani. Thank you for stopping by.
here its summer all year long, so I must try out your gorgeous sheekh at home! We have BBQ pit that was only used once in a year, can u believe it? Thanks for sharing those little tips, Lail!
I know how busy it can get to use the outdoor grill. Hope you get some time to try the sheekh kababs.
Your secret ingredients are the same as my secret ingredients
I guess we’ve been duped! I love how papaya tenderises meat and its been used for so long back home. I learnt of the besan trick recently as well and have started adding to all my kebabs. I always used it in my koftas but not in anything else. It’s amazing how tender the meat is using these two ingredients. Looks like you guys had a great BBQ! Everything looks wonderful. Wish I was in Texas 
could use some of this good food as I move!
Nazneen
Being duped is not so bad. I never knew about the besan trick until few years ago. Never used it on any other kababs or koftas.
Hope your move went smooth.
Oh, now those sheekh-kababs look mouth-watering!
Thank you, dear.
I love sheekh kabab! Great recipe. And I know about papaya paste, but I need to start using it – it’s a great idea. Super post – thanks.
Thank you John. I only came to know about the besan about two years ago and it also does wonder to the texture of the kababs.
Who can ever resist a melt-in-your-mouth sheekh kababs!! yum
These look fantastic, I would love to try papaya paste will need to hunt some down here in Australia. Thanks for a great recipe.
Lail, this looks fantastic! I can only imagine how delicious this would be. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Lisa for sharing the recipe. Can’t wait to try it!!!!
The pictures are beautiful and this looks incredible! Also on my to make list!
Meat and veggies, perfect combo, with all those amazing spices. This is a winner dish! Happy to have found it!
Glad you love them. Thank you! Hope to see you around soon again.
You can roasted chickpea flour make a a paste add it to the kebabs before grilling .
Hi Nazir..thank you for stopping by and the tip. I usually don’t roast the chickpea flour when adding to the marinade. Will have to try your tip sometimes. Thank you.
I am going to try this next week–the chickpea flour is already ordered and I hope to find green papayas to make papaya paste! Question: what cut of beef do you recommend? I was thinking of sirloin, but is a more tender cut preferable?
Sirloin is perfect. Let me know how this turns out for you. Feel free to share with hashtag #livingWithASpin
Made this for family and a friend from Bangladesh–enjoyed by everyone! I cut the cr red pepper in half for my family and added Thai green chiles for our friend (good heat!) I wish I would have kept the original amount of cayenne–it was not spicy enough the way I made it. I layered the beef with red onion, yellow zucchini, and red pepper as in the photo. Served with rice + peas and melon. Will make again. Thank you!
Thank you for trying and sharing the detail Mary. Love to hear when others are trying the recipes and enjoying with family and friends.