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Shikam puri Kebab

This recipe is perfect for those who have trouble getting their cutlets/meat balls to the right consistency or end up breaking and splintering when frying.

Ingredients:
250gms of mince
1/2 cup of bengal gram dhal (channa dhal/ split chickpeas)
1/2 inch ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of cinnamon
2 tsp chilli powder (use less if you want it less spicy)
salt to taste
4 cloves

Clean the mince, don't squeeze out too much water when drying as we will not be adding any water in the cooking stage.
Soak the dhal as long as you can (I did not have time to do this today and it became difficult at the grinding stage, so you will see a lot of whole dhal in the pictures, which is tasty but spoils the texture) at least a couple of hours.
Mix all these ingredients in a pan and cook without adding any water until it is dry.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...puri+Kebab.jpg
Once it is dry, turn the gas off and let it come down to room temperature.

Then grind the mixture to a fine paste adding
1 egg and
Juice of 1 lime
The finer you grind it, the better the kebabs will turn out.

Filling:
1 onion finely chopped
1 green chilli finely chopped (I used red and many of them as you can see below)
a few drops of lemon juice
a little salt to taste
Mix thoroughly.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%288%29.jpg
Take a lime size ball of the ground mince paste, hollow it out and stuff the filling into the hole. cover well and make a tight flattened cutlet.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%282%29.jpg
Deep fry in hot oil.
Tip:Because of the egg in the mince, the oil will froth, don't worry too much, but remember to leave space in the pan for the frothing oil.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%283%29.jpg
Serve hot with green chutney or sauce.

In this picture, you can see the effect of the filling in the stuffed cutlet. (kebab split in half) The crisp onion contrasts sharply against the smooth mince paste.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%284%29.jpg
Alternatives:
If you are not sure of your cutlets holding shape or you want mini appetisers, ignore the filling. roll the mince paste into little balls and deep fry.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%285%29.jpg
You can even skip the deep frying step completely and drop the mince paste balls into a bubbling gravy of your choice for a kofta curry.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_nwvtIHqOyM...ab+%287%29.jpg
Shikampuri kebabs/meat balls can be served as appetisers or as sides with Indian bread/roti or even rice.