Ramzan recipes: Shami Kebabs and Galaoti Tarts

India's first Masterchef Pankaj Bhadouria's shares her special recipes for Iftar.

Shami kebabs stuffed with chopped raw mango, green chilies and onions

Recipe ingredients:

• Mince meat 500g
• Split bengal gram 125g
• Ginger 1"
• Garlic 8 cloves
• Whole red chilies 4-5
• Black pepper corns 1tsp
• Cinnamon 1"
• Black cardamom 4
• Garam masala powder 1tsp
• Mace powder 1tsp
• Green cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
• Kewra water 1tsp
• Salt to taste
• Ghee 250g

For the filling

• Mint leaves 50g
• Green chilies 10
• Ginger 1"
• Onion 3
• Medium sized raw mangoes 125g
• Salt 1/4 tsp

Recipe method

Clean the mince meat. Scrape and chop the ginger. Wash the bengal gram dal well and drain out the water. Put the mince meat, ginger, garlic, dal, red chillies, pepper corns, black cardamom and cinnamon sticks in a heavy bottom pan with 1/2 litre water and salt.

Cover and cook till the dal is done. Uncover and cook till the water evaporates. Remove from fire and grind to a fine paste leaving no grains in the paste at all. Mix in the garam masala, mace powder, green cardamom powder and kewra water. Divide into approximately 15 portions and keep aside.

For the filling, wash and finely chop mint leaves, onions and green chillies. Peel, de-seed and finely chop the raw mangoes. Finely julienne the ginger. Add salt and mix all the ingredients well. Divide the mixture into 15 parts.

Take each ball of the mince mixture and stuff with the filling. Gently shape into patties. Grease a tava with ghee and place the kebabs on it.

Cook on very slow flame adding more ghee as required. When the sides of the kebab turn golden brown, flip and brown the other side as well. Serve hot with green chutney.

Pankaj Bhadouria is India's first MasterChef. For more recipes from her, you can visit pankajbhadouria.com

Reader invite:

Send YOUR Ramzan photographs to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject: Ramzan pics). Don't forget to mention where you've shot the photograph and a little write-up describing the scene you've shot.

Have special Ramzan recipes you would like to share with us? Simply email your recipes (subject: Ramzan Recipes) to getahead@rediff.co.in.

We will publish the best ones right here on Rediff.com and India Abroad.

Galaoti Tarts

Traditional Awadhi gilaout kebabs served in tart shells.

Recipe ingredients

For the Galaoti paste:

• Mutton mince 250 g
• Raw papaya paste 50 g
• Ginger 5 g
• Garlic 10 flakes
• Cumin seeds 5 g
• Coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp
• Aniseed 2 1/2 tbsp
• Red chilli powder 1/2 tsp
• Khus khus 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder 1/2 tsp
• Onion 1
• Besan 25 g
• Cinnamon stick 1
• Nutmeg & Mace 1
• Desi ghee 5 g
• Cloves 3
• Coal 2—3 pieces
• Oil 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• For the short crust pastry
• Flour 250 g
• Butter 125 g
• Cold Water 4 tsp
• Baking powder 1/2 tsp

Recipe method

Galouti

Marinate the mince with raw papaya paste, ginger, garlic and salt to taste. Dry roast the cumin, anise and coriander seeds with poppy seeds separately.

Bring ghee to smoking point. Put in the nutmeg, cinnamon and mace and remove after 5 seconds. Finely slice the onions, fry till they become crisp brown. Make a paste of the roasted spices black pepper, red chilli powder, fried onions and 5 to 6 flakes of garlic, followed with cooked ghee.

Mix well into the marinated mince paste. Heat a piece of coal in a bowl. Place the mince in a bowl. Make a depression in the centre. Place the bowl of coal into the pot. Add the cloves and cover immediately for five to ten minutes.

In a hot pan add oil and the smoked paste and cook for three minutes. To prepare the tarts, mix the baking powder in the flour and sieve it thrice to ensure even mixing of the two.

Rub in the cold butter to make crumbs. Add 4 tsp of cold water to bind it together. Do not knead the dough. Refrigrate for 10—15 minutes. Remove from the fridge and roll out to a thickness of 1/4 inch.

Line the tart tins with the dough and remove the extra dough from the edges using a sharp knife. Poke with a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes till done.

Remove and allow to cool.

Fill the paste into the prepared tarts. Toss all the ingredients for the salad in a clean bowl. Add lemon juice and olive oil and place the salad on to the plate or on top of the mince. Garnish well with cheese and serve.

Reader invite:

Send YOUR Ramzan photographs to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject: Ramzan pics). Don't forget to mention where you've shot the photograph and a little write-up describing the scene you've shot.

Have special Ramzan recipes you would like to share with us? Simply email your recipes (subject: Ramzan Recipes) to getahead@rediff.co.in.

We will publish the best ones right here on Rediff.com and India Abroad.