Tava Fried/Pan Fried Turkey Mince Seekh Kababs for Thanks Giving

With Thanks giving near us soon; these tava fried turkey mince seekh kababs are great as party appetizers or as sides with some boiled green peas, carrots and spiced new potatoes.Actually meal plans will vary with ones own personal choices of pairing up veggies and non-veg items.But I am sure these mince seekh kababs are great as sides or party appetizers and without turkey, thanks giving celebration is incomplete.

This is slightly going off track with the traditional cooking for thanks giving ,which is baking stuffed turkey.But turkey mince can also be used in this way or as keema – matar combo.Personally we have liked turkey mince,but if you can’t find them, then chicken mince is a great alternative, although taste wise it will vary slightly.

Now to the recipe

Pan fried/ Tava fried Turkey mince seekh kabab

Recipe requirements

450 gms of turkey minces

1 and ½ cup of chana dal

2 tsp of red pepper powder/cayenne pepper powder

For the basic spice powder for seekh kababs

2 tsp of coriander powder

3 heaped tsp of cumin powder

1 tsp of cardamom powder

½ tsp of cinnamon powder

2 tsp of any kabab masala or any other meat masala

2 tsp of freshly crushed black pepper

1 egg

1 tsp of vinegar

1 tsp of kewda essence

1 tsp of salt or as per taste

Method

• Soak chana dal in warm water for about 2-3 hrs.Now wash them thoroughly in running water.
• Wash the mince gently in water, try to do it when the mince is still cold and has been just taken out from the cold sealed pack, as this way the entire portion will stay together.Otherwise it’s not easy to wash and clean the mince.You may use a soft muslin cloth to collect the washed mince and squeeze out the excess water, just like you would normally do for paneer.Keep them aside so that they become little dry.
• It would be nice to pressure cook chana dal with a tsp of salt for one whistle and with just enough water to cover the level of dals in pressure cooker.Let the pressure subside after one whistle.Open and it should be like a dry cooked mash of chana dal but still each lentil grains can be seen separate from each other.Keep it aside to cool off.
• Now marinate the turkey mince with red pepper powder.We will use freshly churned cumin+coriander powder.I have a dry spice powder mix always in my pantry – made with coriander seeds+cumin seeds+green cardamom seeds+cinnamon quills+few cloves.This forms the base spice powder for these types of kababs that we make time to time.
• Add this spice powder about 4-5 tsp or you may use the quantity of other spice powders as mentioned above for this recipe.Imp-Tip- Knead the marinated mince for 3-4 mints to blend all the spices well with the turkey mince.This kneading helps to even out the mince and spices well.
• Add in 1 tsp of vinegar and kewda essence as well.Add freshly crushed whole black pepper.
• Keep the mince marinating for 3-4 hrs in fridge covered.
• Now we will pressure cook the mince with cooked dal.This way the dal and mince turns out a lovely mash sort of consistency ,which is easy to mash and then shape up.Once the turkey mince+ chana dal mixture is cooled , taste to adjust salt and spices, if required to add more, then do so.Now crack an egg and add this to the mince+dal mixture , mixing very well with hands.
• Knead the crumble for 5-6 mints and  check if it’s not too soft or way too sticky tip if you can roll a small portion easily then the crumble is ready to be shaped.If it turns out soft then add plain flour or chick pea flour to bind off well as required, start with working out with a tsp of flour and then keep on adding if required again.
• Divide the dough into equal portions.I ended up making 15-16 seekh kababs of about 4 -5 inches in lengths.
• Soak up wooden skewers in water and then break them into two equal portions. Divide the cooked mince crumble/dough into equal portions of 15-16 small balls.
• Clean your hand well with soap and water.Now put some oil generously over your palm and start slightly sliding into the skewers and shape them up.Meanwhile if your hand gets sticky, keep a bowl of water handy so that you can quickly clean up your hand and finish off the remaining job of shaping up other seekh kababs.Trick is to take a lump and then gently start sliding from bottom to top on the wooden skewers.Now rub some oil with your palms over these seekh kababs very gently without tearing the outer layer.
• I had two batches , and when made the other batch next day they turn out more flavourful and were easy to work with.
• Heat up a tava or iron skillet or cast iron skillet as this is what gives the real flavor not the non-stick ones , although if you are using non-stick pan you will need very less oil to shallow fry them up.
• Add in about two tsp of oil on heated tava/skillet.Fry each sides of these kababs till they turn out nice brown at medium flame or gas mark 4 or 5 .Carefully lift and flip them up with the help of a tong otherwise they tend to fall part.If you shape them up previous night and do the frying part next day they tend to soak up more flavor and plus point is they are firm so don’t fall apart while they are being fried.
• Serve immediately hot with other sides or with your choice of sauce.Tava fried turkey mince seekh kababs are ready to be enjoyed.Alternately you can bake them in oven, but oven baking makes the seekh kababs sometimes dry , that’s my experience so far.Otherwise there is barbecue or tandoor oven which is still available.
• Vegetarians can do this with paneer crumble or cooked soya crumb in place of turkey mince.

If you are interested in knowing more about other culture’s food and cuisine, travel tips and local cuisine, then you can have a look at this lovely food website.All about cuisine.......

And thank you readers for reading this blog and staying with me in this journey.

Happy Thanks giving everybody.