Kachrey Ke Kabab

Kachrey Ke Kabab (Repurposed vegetable cutlets or patties)

When you have managed to bring your eyebrows down, let me tell you this is indeed apropos perfectly edible kabab, and no, I haven’t gone the Bill Gates way -consuming things purified from waste.

 “Kachra” in this case refers to leftovers that almost made it to the bin, but were brought forward in a new avatar.

That still hasn’t cleared the polemic around my dish, for a vegetarian kabab is a contradiction in terms.

Aren’t kababs supposed to be these corpulent, hedonistic parcels of pure indulgence? 

The food of the rich and the royal, young and old… legend even has it that the ageing and toothless foodie Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Lucknow had instigated the creation of the Galauti Kabab to pander his passion for meat.

I am not qualified at all to talk about these meaty matters, nor do I intend or dare to, but am wrong to imagine that a lot of the epicurean charm of kababs comes from their exotic names?

Tunde ke kabab, chapli kabab, reshmi kabab – names like these only pique one’s interest.

So why not call this kachrey ke kabab? 

Or better and more exotic still, “Galti ke kabab”, where galti is a testimony to the grand mistake or apology of a kabab!

After all, it’s only ghaas-phoos eating vegetarians like us who not only dare to think of a vegetarian kabab, but even have the audacity to think of making one out of left over roast vegetables and give the dish a fancy name and fancier presentation!

I am just saying…

Kachrey Ke Kabab 

Ingredients

2 cups roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, beetroot, mushroom, onions, carrots, capsicum, etc. (I used leftovers, but you can use freshly sautéed vegetables and add some herbs like oregano or rosemary)

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1-2 green chillies, finely chopped

2 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp ginger and garlic, grated

¾ tsp Kashmiri chilly powder

½ tsp garam masala powder

½ tsp chaat masala

½ tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

2 slices day-old bread (I used multi-grain)

2 tbsp roasted chana dal, powdered

Oil for shallow frying

Method

Place all ingredients except the oil and chana daal powder, into a food processor and blitz it. Check and adjust all the tastes and flavours and then add the roasted chana daal powder to make the mixture firm.

Divide the mixture into uniform sized balls and flatten them. Heat oil in a pan and shallow fry the kebabs until golden brown on both sides.

Serve hot with chutney, tomato ketchup and a salad.

 P.S

This post was written nearly three and a half years ago - but never made it to the blog - So this makes it a leftover post brought forward! 

At the time, my very talented friend and fellow blogger Suranga Daté, who often bursts into poetry at the slightest impetus, be it a photo, a dish or a post one has written, wrote this in response to the Kachrey ke Kabaab....

Do read her post on her blog Strewn Ashes!