Victorian Beef Tikka Kebab

Victorian Beef Tikka Kebab is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a for a classic kebab of pounded meat and spices formed on a skewer and barbecued or grilled to cook. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Victorian Beef Tikka Kebab.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

20 minutes

Total Time:

40 minutes

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry Spice Recipes Beef Recipes Fusion Recipes British Recipes

This is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe redacted from the volume: THE INDIAN COOKERY BOOK: A Practical Handbook to The Kitchen in India (author unknown), published by: WYMAN & CO., HARE STREET CALCUTTA circa 1869.

Original Recipe

46.—Tick-keeah Kawab

Take two pounds of fat beef, wash it, cut it into small pieces, and pound it to a pulp, remove all
fibres, &c, and then add to it one tspful of ground onion, a quarter of a tspful of ground
turmeric, one-eighth of a tspful of ground garlic, a quarter of a tspful of ground chilies,
half a tspful of ground peppercorns, a quarter of a tspful of ground ginger, half a
tspful of ground hot spices, and one tbspful of tyre or dhye.

Mix the whole well together, add salt to your taste, and the yolk and white of an egg well beaten up;
form into balls of equal sizes; flatten them, pass them on iron or plated skewers about eighteen
inches long, rub them well over with ghee, wrap them in plantain-leaf, and roast or broil them over a
charcoal fire. Serve them up hot, removed from the skewers. These are usually eaten with
chappatee.

Modern Redaction

This is what would be known today as a sheekh/kofta kebab; indeed, the seekh kebab in the book (a href="./fetch-recipe.php?rid=misk-seik-kawab">seik kawab) is more what I would call a tikka kebab. Perhaps the original names were transposed?

Ingredients:

1kg beef, chopped (remove any sinews, etc)
1 tsp onion, pounded to a paste
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp garlic, pounded to a paste
1/4 tsp chillies, pounded to a paste
1/2 tsp freshly-ground black peppercorns
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp hot curry powder
1 tsp curds or thick yoghurt
1 egg, beaten
4 tbsp ghee

Method:

Place the meat in a mortar and pund to a paste. Mix in all the spices and curds then pound again to combine.

Add the beaten egg and mix thoroughly. Divide into eight equal portions then shape these around skewers (flat metal skewers are best) making sure they are of even thickness.

Rub all over with ghee, then cook under a hot grill (broiler) or on a barbecue, turning frequently, for about 10 minutes or until evenly coloured and cooked through.

Serve hot with chapattis.

Find more Victorian Recipes Here and more Curry Recipes Here. For the original version of The Indian Cookery book see my The Indian Cookery Book main page.