Seik Kawab (Seikh Kebab)
Seikh Kebab is a traditional Anglo-Indian recipe from the 1860s for a for a classic cubed beef kebab marinated and basted with a spiced curd blend. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Anglo-Indian version of: Seikh Kebab.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Additional Time:
(+1 hour marinating)
Serves:
4
Rating: 
Tags : CurrySpice RecipesBeef RecipesFusion RecipesBritish 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
45.—Seik Kawab
Is usually eaten with chappatee or hand-bread, and only occasionally with rice, and contains the
following condiments:—Two tbspfuls of mustard oil, four tspfuls of ground onions, one
tspful of ground chilies, half a tspful of ground ginger, a quarter of a tspful of
ground garlic, one tspful of ground turmeric, one tspful and a half of salt, a cup of thick
tyre or dhye, half a tspful of ground coriander-seed, the juice of one large lemon, and a little
ghee.
Take two pounds of beef, mutton, or veal; remove the bones, and chop the meat slightly, without
mincing or cutting through it; mix well together all the ground condiments, including the oil, tyre,
and lemon-juice, in which steep the chopped meat, turning it over occasionally to absorb the
mixture. After a while cut up the meat into squares of equal size, say two inches, and continue to
keep them in the mixture for fully one hour; then pass the squares of meat either on a silver, plated,
or other metal skewer, and roast or broil over a slow charcoal fire, basting the whole time with ghee,
to allow the kawab to become of a rich brown colour, without burning or being singed in the basting.
Remove from the skewer, and serve hot.
Modern Redaction
The modern version of this dish would, of course, be the Sheik Kebab, this being the chunks of meat threaded on a skewer version rather than the minced (ground) meat form shaped on a skewer. To me, with the yoghurt/curd marinade this is more what we would call a tikka kebab today and the recipe called a tikka kebab in the book is more like a shami kebab.
Ingredients:
1kg, beef or lamb, cut into 4cm (1 3/5 in) chunks
2 tbsp mustard oil
4 tsp onions, ground to a paste
1 tsp chillies, ground to a paste
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp garlic, ground to a paste
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp sea salt
250ml (1 cup) thick curds (tyre or dhye) or yoghurt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
juice of 1 large lemon
2 tbsp ghee
Method:
In a large bowl, mix together the oil, onions, chillies, ginger, garlic, turmeric, sea salt, coriander, curds, lemon juice and ghee.
Add in the pieces of beef, turn to coat in the mixture and set aside to marinate for 1 hour.
After this time, thread the meat onto skewers (if using bamboo soak in water for 20 minutes beforehand) then cook under a grill (broiler), on a barcue or on a griddle pan. Turn frequently, brushing with the left over marinade as you do so.
Cook until the meat is a rich brown colour and is cooked to your liking. Serve hot.
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.
