Chelo Kabab

Today we will learn a very famous Iranian Recipe 'CHELO KABAB'. It is national food of Iran as well. Chelo Kabab is generally served with steamed rice,kababs,egg and fried tomato. I never had a chance to go to Iran and have it there so I don't really know how they prepare it there,  but in Kolkata there is a very famous restaurant named Peter Cat and we used to visit that place quite frequently only for Chelo Kabab.Rather you can say Peter Cat is actually famous for it's Chelo Kabab. As I do not have the option to go to that restaurant now , I started preparing it at home and believe me it comes out really great. Though the ingredient list is a bit longer and it looks like a very long process but actually it is very simple to make. So let's get started. 

Ingredients:

     1.For making Chicken Kabab :

• Chicken Thigh Pieces 250gms(cut it in cubes)
• Ginger-garlic paste 1 teaspoon
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese 1/2 cup
• Whipping cream 1/2 cup
• Red chili powder 1/2 teaspoon.
• Garam Masala powder 1/2 teaspoon.
• Salt as per taste.
• Oil 2 teaspoon
• Bamboo skewers

     2. For making the Mutton Kabab:

• Mutton Keema /Beef Keema 250gms
• Finely Chopped onion 1/2 cup
• Finely Chopped Coriander(cilantro) 1/2 cup
• Ginger-garlic paste 1 teaspoon.
• Green chili paste 1/2 teaspoon.(optional)
• Turmeric Powder 1/3rd teaspoon.
• Salt as per taste.
• 2-3 teaspoon oil.
• Breadcrumb 2-3 teaspoon(optional)
• Bamboo skewers

     3.For making Rice

• 1 Cup Basmati rice
• Button 2-3 tablespoon
• Chopped parsley or coriander(cilantro)
• Salt as per taste

    4.Additional Item:

• 1/2 Tomato
• 1 Egg

Process:

1.For making Chicken Kabab :

• Take a plate and pour the shredded Mozzarella into it. Rub it with your palm till it become a smooth paste.
• Pour the whipping cream on top of it and mix it well. Then add ginger-garlic paste,red chili powder,salt and the Chicken cubes and mix it well. Marinate it for at least 30mins.

• Preheat your oven at 350 degree Fahrenheit which is 180 degree Celsius.
• Soak your Bamboo skewers in cold water so that it don't get burned while baking.
• Skew all the chicken pieces on the skewer. It completely depends on you how many chicken pieces you want to put on a skewer. I roughly put 10-12 pieces.
• Now place all the skewer on a baking tray.Spray some oil from top and let it cook for 10-15mins.Then turn it on the other side and let it cook for another 10-15mins.

  2. For making the Mutton Kabab:

• Take a bowl and pour all the Keema into it.You can take any meat but red meat is preferable for this.
• Add chopped onion,coriander,ginger-garlic paste,green chili paste,salt and turmeric and mix it well.If you are not comfortable with green chili then do not add it.

• Make a big dumpling with the mixture and put it on the skewer. Spread it evenly on the skewer in give it shape like a sausage.Again the size of it depends on you. I generally prefer to make it smaller.

• If your kababs do not stick on the skewer then you need to add bread crumbs as a binding agent.
• Take a griddle or any non stick pan. Place it on high heat and pour some oil.
• Add all the kabab into it and let it fry until it become light brown all over its body.You need to keep turning them around through out the process.

  3.For making Rice:

• Make nice long rice using rice cooker or whichever way you prefer.
• Then take a non stick pan and place it on medium heat.
• Add all the butter, rice and chopped parsley and give them a gentle mix.
• Add some salt and mix it well.

 4.Additional Item: 

• Take a round shape small oven proof bowl. Spray some oil into it.Break one egg directly into the bowl.
• Sprinkle some salt on top.
• Put it in the micro oven for 30 secs. Do not cook it for more than 30 sec other wise it might burst.
• For the tomato I generally cut it into half and place them in the chicken baking kabab tray and bake them along with chicken. After baking for 10-15mins I fry them with butter. Or the next option fry them in butter directly for 5-10 mins till it become little soft and change its texture.

Now its time to serve our dish. Though the process looks long ,it generally do not take for than 30mins to prepare the whole things if ingredients are ready and  marination was done because all the things runs together.But if you need to spend a little longer time as well for preparing this lovely dish that's also fine.One more important part of the dish is you need to serve it hot. So if you have already prepared your kababs a way before because of time constrains what you can do is take a nonstick pan or a griddle put all the kababs,tomato into it ,spray some oil and let it fry for 2-3 mins. But do not warm it in microwave.You can warm up the rice in microwave but not the kababs.
Now take a serving plate,place the kababs and fried tomato on the sides.Place the egg on top.You can add one cube of butter as well if you want. And serve it hot.