I like cooking but I am not someone who goes an extra mile to make a fancy meal. My idea of cooking involves ingredients easily available at home, which do not require me to rush to the local vegetable vendor or grocer, and dishes that can be prepared within an hour at max.
Today I happened to find boiled kala chana i.e black gram in my refrigerator and I wanted to do something different with them rather than the usual salad I make with using those. To my luck, I also chanced upon sweet potatoes and et voila! The idea of making a chana and sweet potato (shakarkand) kebab struck me.
I had first tasted chana kebabs at Narendra Bhawan during my recent visit to the luxury property. They were delicious but a tad dry due to the chanas inherent nature of texture. I thought that mixing sweet potatoes with this ingredient would help the overall taste and texture of the dish, with the fibrous nature of the sweet potato. To this I added finely chopped onions, garlic and ginger and a few masalas and rested the patties for about thirty minutes in the refrigerator.
Here’s the detailed recipe:
| Ingredient | Quantity |
| Boiled chana | 1 cup |
| Boiled sweet potatoes | 2 |
| Finely chopped onion | 1 |
| Grated garlic | 3 pods |
| Granted ginger | 1 cube |
| Red chilli paste | 1 tsp |
| Garam masala | 1 tsp |
| Coriander powder | 1 tsp |
| Oil | 1 tsp |
| Isabgol | 1 tbsp |
Procedure:
- Put all of this together and make a fine but slightly coarse mixture.
- Then take scoops of the mixture and gently shape them into small patties.
- Refrigerate for 30 mins.
- Later, on low flame on tawa, smear oil and gently dab these patties and cook them till browned on each side.
- Remember that we haven’t already any binding agent except for the fibrous nature of sweet potato, so if you want you can use a little isabgol to bind it.
The great thing about these kebabs is that they are high on protein and veg low on carbs. I did not use any binding agent at all in the mixture, which made them free of any direct carbs. So they’re suggested to anyone following a high protein vegetarian diet.
I have been very inspired by my friend Nikhil Merchant of Nonchalant Gourmand, who’s sprucing up some delicious low carb dishes and it was while watching his Instagram stories that I felt inspired to make these and turn them as the stuffing of rolls/frankie.
This is a great dish for all those who wish to indulge in a delectable meal but do not want to eat out. So go ahead and try making these at home as appetisers it as mains, paired with parathas. Trust me, you won’t be able to stop at just one! Happy eating. 🙂
* In case of any queries, please leave a comment or write to me at delectable.reveries@gmail.com