Toothless Nawab Kebab

fx

Wed, 9 Mar 2016 05:49:20 GMT

Have you tried the recipe?

DEEPAK SAXENA

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:38:11 GMT

YOUR RECEIPE OF KABABS IS EXCELLENT.I MADE THE KABABS AND THEY TURNED OUT TO VERY SMOOTH.

niz

Sat, 2 Jun 2012 20:50:44 GMT

Hi FX, what an amazing recipe... I visited India about 6months ago and one of the cities I went to was Lucknow... I"d never heard of golauti kebabs before visiting Lucknow, but what I tasted was AMAZING!! Since then I"ve been looking for a recipe so I can make them at home here In england. Thank you so much for this, I"m so excited to make these great kebabs!

lili

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:53:25 GMT

Thank you for your recipe, so clearly explained. I made these yesterday and they tasted a lot like like those I had the pleasure of eating in Lucknow recently. My guests loved it.
I have 1/2 papaya left, I will freeze that to use in the future. The tenderising effect is incredible, even though mine was a rather ripe papaya. Can"t wait to buy hard meat and play with it again, LOL. Will do your recipe again! Namaste from Paris, France!

Suresh

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:01:46 GMT

Great blog FX. I live in Ottawa, Canada and about 3 weeks ago I found minced raw papaya being sold in jars in an Indian grocery store. This was a pleasant surprise and I bought a bottle. I have sinced used it numerous times for making kababs, burgers etc which turn out incredibly soft and with a wonderful texture. The only downside is that the bottle of raw papaya needs to be tored refrigerated after opening and consumed within a month. However, considering kababs are my favorite dish this should noty be a problem.

fx

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:06:56 GMT

Siddhartha, in fact we don"t get many raw papayas here, and it may well be that ripe papayas tenderize meat less readily than raw fruits, but European meats are waaaay more tender than the freshly killed meats sold by Indian butchers, so it may balance it out!

Siddhartha

Thu, 5 Feb 2009 06:33:15 GMT

Just taking Rajeev"s point further, could it be that you managed with a ripe papaya as you had made a paste of the meat itself. I am from Awadh, and mince is used at most places including the most famous "Tunde Kabab" in Lucknow. I was also suprised by the use of the ripe papaya, as we only talk of "raw papaya" as a tenderiser - but if your experiment is successful, means we have been blindly following tradition and papain in raw or ripe papaya is the same quantity with same effect. Other possibility is that ripe papaya may not suit Indian palate and hence the use of raw papaya. I really dont know (being from Awadh itself, I never asked these questions thinking the only way to make it is the way we made it - our stupid arrogance/ignorance!), so will be good to know what other"s think

fx

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 05:54:30 GMT

Angelo, indeed the papayas have plenty of time to ripen until they get to Europe and they never are green. However our meats are already very tender so we need very short tenderizing otherwise they turn to pudding. Thanks for your visit!

Angelo

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 09:38:04 GMT

Looks really good. I can"t wait to try it. My family is fond of Middle Eastern Cuisine.

In the Philippines we use green(unripe) papayas to tenderize meat. It actually has more papain than ripe papayas so you don"t have to wait so long to get results. It has a bland flavor and might serve you better if you are marinading/tenderizing meat. Unripe papaya has a crisp texture like cucumber though and it may show up in the meat patties. To avoid this I grate it really finely using the end of the cheese grater with the smallest holes.

Although you may have difficulty getting unripe papaya from where you are...

fx

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:26:10 GMT

Rajeev, thanks for visiting! The papaya did bring some sweetness but it was entirely welcome. There is not much needed by way of tenderizing for such tender meat!

Rajeev

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:08:13 GMT

Love you site ....
In India we typically eat Goat meat which does often need some kind of tenderizer. The surprise was your use of ripe papaya. Typically,I have always used raw papaya as a tenderizer. Just curious, did the ripe papaya add sweetness to the kebab ?

fx

Tue, 8 Apr 2008 14:39:22 GMT

Parshu, you are too kind! Just try go get more than 1000 pixels image width and no flash. If you can make pictures that show also the contexts or the people who cook or eat, it always makes more interesting pictures than close-up shots on the food. Thanks!

parshu.narayanan

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 10:13:58 GMT

Will definitely do so from the next one fx, a pleasure and an honour. Though its unlikely that even with auto focus and image stabilisation we will be able to generate an image good enough for your site :-)

fx

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 06:44:21 GMT

Parshu, what a delightful occupation this kebab man of yours has! Perhaps you might send me pictures of such a party one day, I"d be delighted to post it here.

parshu.narayanan

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 03:05:40 GMT

No fx, I dont make them at home, only a fearless and skilled master like you can pull them off at home ( and that too in another continent!). In my bachelor days when my kitchen was non-vegetarian, I would make its far humbler cousin, shammi kabab (deep-fried patties - mincemeat, gram-dal, ginger-garlic-chillies-spices, bound with egg/soaked bread ). I order in galoutis or call the kebab man home, who sets up his pan and charcoal stove (like the pic here) on my rooftop terrace. I have also called home a craftsman to make the equally popular skewer version, the kakori kabab. Calling the kabab-man home for parties is a common practice in North India.

fx

Sun, 6 Apr 2008 12:30:16 GMT

Parshu, do you make your own galoutis?

parshu.narayanan

Sat, 5 Apr 2008 21:11:58 GMT

Ah, galoutis ("melting things") on fx cuisine - it feels like you have just visited me at home fx! They are a favoutite with my whisky-swilling guests in Delhi.As they are often too delicate to pick up with your fingers and pop in, I stuff them into small canape shells, press a small bit of vinegared onion on top and serve them as more convenient finger food with the drinks. Bazaar legend has it that someone attempted to assasinate the the toothless nawab by slipping a tiger whisker into a kabab,so he would choke on it.

fx

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 15:14:56 GMT

Thanks Christine, let me know if there is anything I could change for the better on my website and good luck with making your first recipe!

Christine

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 01:30:01 GMT

Great site here - glad to have found it. The format and writing are really fun. Will be trying some of your recipes soon.

fx

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:10:10 GMT

Rose, thanks for visiting! I have a whole leg of lamb marinating in papaya-and-spices pur�e right now. I will remove it, then move to a yogurt marinade for a while, then in the oven, then finally in the tandoor. Worth every BTU!

rose

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:59:19 GMT

FX Cuisine, you reminded me of my parents tenderizing meat with papaya leaves. However they discarded the leaves before they used the meat for the recipe. It is the enzymes in the papaya and the leaves; that breaks the meat molecules down. As a matter of fact, I got some venison from my friend, and finding papaya or papaya leaves is hard, i used yogurt before I stir fried the venison, I also used a little cornstarch in the marinate. Your pictures work!

fx

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:38:46 GMT

Shari, thanks for visiting! You can click on the About page to know how my blog started, basically I wanted to share the magical moments I spend in the kitchen with as many people as possible. The dishes themselves only live for an hour and then they are a memory. Pictures, however, can be enjoyed by many for a long time!

Shari

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 21:03:45 GMT

WOW...your blog is amazing and your food looks wonderful. I"m really impressed and would love to hear more about how you started your blog and how it has evolved.

fx

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:06:36 GMT

Kim, thank you for your praise of my humble blog! I may have forgotten to mention salt and pepper as they are part of most savory dishes. Salt is definitely best added before serving, otherwise you"d end up with a bland inside and an extremely salty surface.

fx

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 14:05:04 GMT

Bryan, I am not sure what La p�tisserie de Pierre Herm� has been translated from. Beware, his pies can take you 3 hours to prepare, all sorts of different mixtures. Daunting! The recipe must be in PH10.

Beatrice

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 02:19:50 GMT

While I agree with cheesepuff (cute handle) that the large (sometimes 5 pounds) Mexican/Caribbean variety can be good, the small half-pound pear-shaped yellow-orange ones are tops in my book both for cooking and for eating out of hand. Just pull a Rangpur lime off your tree and sprinkle it with juice! The small ones seem to be more reliable in the flavour and texture of their meat, too. But to each his own. Francois, I think I will serve the kebabs with a Rangpur raita...Rangpurs are now being grown in Florida--if you can find them they are alternately called mandarine-lime. If you can"t find anything papaya, pepsin will do, but you won"t get that lovely flavour.

Kim

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 01:26:55 GMT

Your site is such a treat to enjoy literally. Your presentation of the recipes is a wonderful concoction of history, well thought out point of view, vivid photographs and great resources. It is like you are taking your readers along with you on your worldwide food journey. Thank you for sharing this one aspect of your passion. I notice as I read through your recipes that salt and pepper are mostly not used. Is it because these ingredients are truly not necessary to enhance the dish in your recipe or are they only added right before consumption according to taste?

Bryan

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:08:50 GMT

Hi Francois,Thanks for the quick response. I will look into the books you prescribed. Hopefully, someday PH10 will be in english for me. I also wanted to ask you two other questions in regards to Pierre Herme. The first is about a book. Do you happen to have any opinion of his book titled "The Patisserie of Pierre Herm�"? This seems to be the best book for Herme in english according to reviews I have read and I wanted to see what you thought. I also wanted to ask you if you are aware of any of his books which contain a recipe for Tarte Infinitement Vanille. I have been looking for this recipe for ages on the web and can"t seem to find it anywhere. Thanks again for the help.-Bryan

cheese_puff

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:18:32 GMT

I love papaya, especially huge ones! I never imagined it would go so well with lamb--a must try for me. We often mix it with rock sugar, forest frog oviduct (yes!) and silver ear(a type of fungus) to make soup. Rumor has it that papaya contains female hormone, so be careful, Francois. :)

fx

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:51:15 GMT

Callipygia thanks a lot for visiting!

fx

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:50:39 GMT

Bryan, for the cardamom you should really only use whole cardamom pods and remove the seeds right before use. The spice mix is a matter of judgement but I"ll try to post precise proportions later this week.

For Pierre Herm� the best bang for your bucks will be either the Larousse des Desserts or le Larousse du Chocolat, but neither offer very Herm�-specific recipes. For those you can have Secrets Gourmands for relatively simple recipes, or go the whole way with PH10 his book for professional pastry chefs. All of them are unfortunately - insofar I know - only available in French.

fx

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:44:51 GMT

Beatrice there is no need for an especially good papaya for this recipe, and you could even used dried papaya powder. I am new to papayas and couldn"t tell a good from a bad one!

fx

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:44:02 GMT

Joanna, thanks for visiting and I hope you"ll have a chance to try the Toothless Nawab Kebab!

Callipygia

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:32:50 GMT

Fascinating. I made Kashmir Meatballs which were quite tender with the addition of yogurt in the meat as well as a yogurt water slurry which finished the cooking. But the other layers of luxury in these kebabs...v interesting especially the papaya. My mother used to marinate her bulgogi in mashed kiwi- I believe it was her invention and not traditionally Korean! Thanks for another terrific post.

Bryan

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:02:31 GMT

FX,This recipe looks great. How much of the spices would you say you used? Can ground cardamon be substituted for the seeds? Also I wanted to ask you, if you could choose just one book by Pierre Herme, what would it be? Any recommendations? I, recently discovered Pierre Herme through your website and really want to try some of his recipes. Any suggested recipes? The website is really a fabulous tool and resource for foodies alike. Thanks alot.-Bryan

Beatrice

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:25:25 GMT

I"m having trouble finding good papaya in Europe; in California I used to get Hawaiian fruit that"s wonderful - just add lime juice. At the beach we"ve used papaya for years as an antidote to jellyfish stings. I"ll try this recipe soon!

Joanna

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:24:28 GMT

Wow that sounds AMAZING, can"t wait to try!Joanna