Gola Kabab Recipe

Name: Gola Kabab
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Pakistani
Ingredients: 500 g minced beef; 1 tbsp ginger, grated; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 green chillies, finely chopped; 1 tsp ground coriander; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 tsp garam masala; 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander; 2 tbsp fried onions, crushed; 2 tbsp roasted gram flour (besan); 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp vegetable oil, for cooking; 1 lemon, cut into wedges

Gola Kabab

Round, juicy patties of minced beef mixed with ginger, garlic, green chilli, gram flour and garam masala, cooked in a pan until browned.

35 min prep and cooking plus 15 min chilling 50 min start to finish Serves 4 servings Medium

The Idea Behind Gola Kabab

Salt the mince and let it sit for ten minutes, and the whole mixture changes. Salt dissolves the muscle proteins, which turn sticky and bind the meat without the need for a lot of breadcrumb or egg. This is why a gola kabab holds together with only a spoonful of gram flour.

Use beef mince with about 15 per cent fat. Lean mince makes dry kababs. Mix it with grated ginger, crushed garlic, chopped green chilli, ground coriander, cumin, garam masala and chopped coriander leaves. Add a spoonful of fried onion, crushed, for sweetness and a little roasted gram flour to absorb moisture. Knead for two minutes until the mixture feels tacky. Do not skip it.

Shape into balls the size of a golf ball, then press them slightly to make thick discs. Wet your hands to prevent sticking. Chill for 15 minutes so they firm up.

Cook in a non-stick pan with 2 tablespoons of oil over a medium heat for 4 minutes on each side, until deep brown and cooked through. Rest for a minute and serve with mint chutney, onion rings and lemon.

Gola Kabab, Step by Step

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Mix the beef with the salt and leave for 10 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, chillies, spices, fresh coriander, fried onions and gram flour and knead for 2 minutes.
Chill for 15 minutes. With wet hands, shape into 12 balls and flatten slightly.
Heat the oil in a non-stick pan over a medium heat. Cook the kababs for 4 minutes on each side until deep brown and cooked through.
Rest for 1 minute and serve with the lemon wedges.

Related guide: Prep, cook and total time.

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Tips for Making Gola Kabab

Do not press down on the kababs in the pan.
Use a food thermometer: 75°C / 167°F in the centre.
Make the mixture the day before for deeper flavour.

Swaps and Variations

Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What Goes With Gola Kabab

Mint chutney
Naan
Sliced onion with lemon
Raita

Leftovers and Storage

Keeps in the fridge for 3 days and freezes for up to 3 months, uncooked.

Questions About Gola Kabab

How long does Gola Kabab take to make?

20 minutes of preparation and 15 minutes of cooking, plus 15 minutes of chilling, so allow 50 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 4.

Nutrition per Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

324Calories

27gProtein

9gCarbs

20gFat

2gFibre

2gSugar

670mgSodium

Dairy-Free Low-Carb Keto No Added Sugar

Gola Kabab

Gola Kabab, Step by Step

Tips for Making Gola Kabab

Swaps and Variations

What Goes With Gola Kabab

Leftovers and Storage

Questions About Gola Kabab

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

Gola Kabab, Step by Step

Tips for Making Gola Kabab

Swaps and Variations

What Goes With Gola Kabab

Leftovers and Storage

Questions About Gola Kabab

Nutrition per Serving

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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