Hara Bhara Kabab

Hara Bhara Kabab is a healthy and delicious Indian vegetarian snack. Made with spinach, green peas, and potatoes, these spiced cutlets make up for a flavorful tea time treat or a party starter. This hara bhara kabab is pan-fried, onion-garlic free, gluten-free and can be easily made at home. Served with green chutney, dates tamarind chutney or ketchup this hara bhara kabab is a delight to the taste-buds and a crowd-pleaser for sure. Best part about this dish is that you can make the patties ahead of time and just pan fry before serving. I have added little paneer also in this kabab, but you can skip it to make a vegan version.

What is  Kabab?

Kababs or Kebabs are the various cooked meat dishes with their origin in Middle Eastern Cuisine. Kebab dishes make up for a delightful starter dish during parties and get-together. Kebab dishes can consist of cut or ground meat , or sea-food , sometimes with fruits and vegetables that are often skewered and cooked over fire. Vegetarian kebabs are also popular and can be shaped like cutlets and either, grilled , baked, deep fried or shallow fried as per preferences. The traditional meat for Kebab is often mutton or lamb but regional recipes may include goat, chicken , beef or fish. Vegetarian kebabs can be made with mixed vegetables, lentils, paneer etc along with flavorful spices.

What is Hara Bhara Kabab?

Hara Bhara Kabab is named so owing to the vibrant green colour it gets from its two main ingredients, spinach and green peas. Apart from these two, boiled potatoes are used along with spices to make this flavorful kabab.  I have not used bread crumbs in this recipe. Gluten-free chickpea flour is the sole binding agent here. Chickpea flour is dry roasted until the raw smell is gone. It adds a lovely nutty flavor to the kabab. Spinach leaves are blanched in boiling water for 2-3 minutes and then immediately transferred to ice cold water to retain the lush green colour. Green chilies and ginger are ground along with boiled green peas and blanched spinach without adding any water. This green paste is added to boiled and mashed potatoes along with little crumbled paneer, roasted chickpea flour, garam masala and amchur powder and rolled to a patties. For a vegan version simply skip the paneer. These patties can be made ahead of time and refrigerated in zip lock bags for 1-2 days and just pan-fried before serving. These kababs can be deep fried or even grilled. You may keep the kabab plain or press a halved cashew nut in the center of each patties just the way it is served in restaurants.

Serving Suggestions:

Hara bhara kabab is usually served with green chutney, lemon wedge and some salad but you may serve it with any dip of your choice or even with ketchup.  I have served it with coriander chutney and khajur Imli Chtney / Dates tamarind chutney Hara bhara kabab can be served as a tea time snack or as a party appetizer.

                           

Party Starters at Foodie Monday Blog Hop

Holiday Season is going on and we are just a day ahead of the New Year Eve. It is the time for dinner parties and get-together with friends and extended family. So when it was my turn to suggest a theme for our gourmet Facebook group, Foodie Monday Bloghop this week,  I knew Party starters would get maximum votes from co-food bloggers of the group. I am looking for some savory snack that could be served as party starter this holiday season. My contribution towards this theme is this healthy and delicious hara bhara kabab. I am excited to see the creations of my co-bloggers on this theme.

                                                                 
                                   

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 15-17 kababs

Ingredients: 1 cup = 250 ml

• 3 medium size potatoes 
• 1 cup green peas fresh or frozen
• 2 cups spinach leaves 
• 1/4 cup crumbled paneer around 50 grams (optional)
• 3 tablespoon chickpea flour / Besan
• 3 green chilies
• 1 inch ginger piece
• 1/2 teaspoon amchur powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• Salt to taste
• Handful of halved cashew nuts
• 2 -3 tablespoon oil for shallow frying the kabab

Method:

1. Boil the green peas and potatoes in a pressure cooker for 2-3 whistles and then simmer for 5 minutes. I have used a 3 liter pressure cooker and placed green peas and potatoes in separate containers inside the cooker without any water. Water is added only to the base of the cooker to steam the green peas and potatoes. 

2. While the potatoes and green peas are getting cooked, place around 3 cups of water in a sauce pan and allow it to boil. Add the cleaned and washed spinach leaves and tender stems to the boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Put off the flame and immediately transfer the blanched spinach leaves using a tong or two spoons to a bowl of ice cold water. This shock treatment step is optional but it not only cools the spinach leaves but also ensures further cooking of spinach leaves is stopped and thus help in retaining its green color.

3. Meanwhile, dry roast the chickpea flour in another wok on low to medium flame for 5-7 minutes or until the raw smell goes of and you get a lovely nutty aroma. Make sure you do not burn the flour.

                            

4. In a grinder jar, take drained blanched spinach, boiled green peas, green chilies, and ginger. Pulse it to a paste without adding any water.

5. Peel and mash the boiled potatoes in a mixing jar using a potato masher. add the roasted chickpea flour, crumbled paneer, the green peas spinach paste, garam masala , amchur powder and salt to taste. Mix everything very well and do a taste test at this stage and add the seasonings if required.

6. Pinch out small portions of the mix and roll it between your palms to give a cutlet shape. Make all the patties similarly. Place a halved cashew nut in the center of each kabab and press slightly. Prepare all the kabab balls similarly. You may refrigerate these kababs in zip lock bags for a couple of days and just pan fry before serving.

7. Grease the pan with little oil and heat it on low to medium flame. Place the kababs over it and cook until the kabas turn golden brown in color. Now flip the kababs delicately and cook on the other side as well.

8. Serve the delicius hara bhara kabab hot with some dip of your choice at tea time and enjoy with your loved ones. I have served the hara bhara kabab with coriander chutney and Dates and tamarind chutneychutney.

Recipe Notes:

• Spinach leaves can be sauted in little oil and used in this kabab instead of blanching it if you wish so. Fresh green peas can be steamed or boiled in a pressure cooker or microwave oven. Thaw the frozen peas before steaming them. 
• Some people prefer adding chopped cooked spinach leaves directly to the boiled potatoes. I prefer making a paste of it along with boiled green peas to get the uniform green colour of the kabab. 
• Regular potatoes can be replaced with Sweet potatoes in this recipe if you wish or to make it all the more healthier.
• Addition of paneer gives a rich texture and taste to the kabab. However its use if optional. You may skip it for a vegan kabab.
• Blanched spinach leaves are added to a bowl of ice cold water to stop further cooking and thus retain its lush green colour.
• These kabas have basic spices. I love it to be on the spicier side, so added 3 green chilies while making the spinach paste apart from the garam masala used. You may adjust the number of chilies used as per your spice tolerance.
• You may add more roasted chickpea flour if the kabab mix appears to be sticky and difficult to work. You may add little bread crumbs also if you wish to. I have not used any crumbs in this recipe. 

I hope a few of you would love to try out this recipe. If you do so, feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the comment section below this post. All your suggestions are also more than welcome. If you like my work and feel it is worth following, do hit the follow button at the top right corner of this blog. Your appreciation means a lot to me. For more recipes and new updates follow us on social media.

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