Saturday, August 04, 2007

Zero Oil Kebabs



What's that again you say? Zero oil kebabs!! Why, and how and why again ?? Well, I have been gorging on some amazing food lately with recent visits to Bong Su (beyond amazing dining experience!), Cascals, Menara...you get the drift!! Given that, I decided to try a zero oil recipe from Nita Mehta's book, Zero Oil Cooking. This is a fantastic book, where every recipe is extremely well thought out. Especially, given how hard it is to make traditional dishes with little or no oil, she works wonders with this theme!

The book has a large variety of dishes, ranging from oil free Chocolate Sandesh to Baked Eggplant to Paneer Makhmali. I decided to try out the minty dal kebab recipe from her book as it was simple and I had all the ingredients ready at hand. And no, in case you are wondering, when the recipe said no oil, it also meant no butter, no margarine etc etc ;). This is truly without any oil or substitutes thereof..I know, hard to believe right!

This goes straight not to the stomach (no oil remember ;)), but to Nupur for her "Z" letter event in the A-Z of Indian Vegetables series.

Zero Oil Minty Dal Kebabs (adapted from Nita Mehta's Zero Oil Cookbook)
Ingredients
1. 1 cup chana (split chickpea) dal
2. 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
3. 1/4 tsp cardammom powder
4. 1-2 cloves crushed
5. 1-2 peppercorns crushed
6. 11/2 tsp ginger-garlic paste
7. 3-4 green chilies, grated
8. 7-8 mint leaves, finely chopped
9. 1 onion, finely chopped
10. 1/2 tsp garam masala
11. 1/2 tsp chaat masala
12. Salt to taste

Method
1. Cook the dal with salt, cumin, cardamom, cloves, peppercorn and ginger-garlic till its ready to be mashed.
2. Once cooked, mash the dal with a flat spoon. Make sure all the water is cooked off before you mash the dal.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the mashed dal.
4. Make small round flat rounds/kebabs
5. Grill at 450 degrees F for about 20 minutes.
Enjoy :)
I served this with some hot sauce and mint chutney.

Even without oil, the kebabs did not stick to the baking sheet after they were cooked. You almost didn't miss the oil in fact, given that the dal was already cooked and tasted more like a savory chaat!
However, next time if I am eating these kebabs by themselves, I think I will add some oil while grilling them. If I am making a ragda pattice or a chaat with yogurt and sweet date-tamarind chutney, I will use the recipe as is, with no oil.

14 comments:

Priyanka said...

Ohh....this is my kind of recipe.... just great...I have all the ingredients too... will try making it:)Thanks Dhana

FH said...

Oh, this is such oil free snack! Great job Dhana.I love Nita Mehta's books too.Looks yum!:)

Saju said...

that looks so delicious! Minty too.

Dhana said...

Priyanka, mine too! I liv that one can indulge in good healthy food without the excess fat!

Asha, thanksss ! Nita Mehta's books are really g8! She is so innovative and puts a lot of thought in her recipes and books.

Thanks Saju. Very minty!!

Nupur said...

This cookbook looks interesting, Dhana! I am easing towards low-fat rather than no-fat but I think this book will have lots of great tips!
The kebabs look delicious, and I love your idea of serving it chaat-style.

Cynthia said...

Ouuuuu a dal kebab I am adding this to my list of foods to make. I am a dal nut :)

bee said...

so how much butter did you smear while eating them? ;-)

Dhana said...

Cynthia, if u like dal, u will luv these kebabs. As mentioned, if I am eating them as is, I may spray a bit of oil next time :)

Hehe Bee, I was quite tempted!! If it wasn't for the Z series, may have even sprayed a bit of olive oil on them :D

Coffee said...

That sure is a keeper! I have always loved nita mehta's recipes and most of the times they are always a keeper. :)

Sharmi said...

hmm they sure look very oil deficient:)

Kajal said...

WOW......Zero oil is very healthy and tasty with ginger-garlic and Chanan dal....great going dish.:)

Dhana said...

Coffee, aren't her recipes so easy and innovative?

Sharmi, were surely deficient in oil but not on taste :D

Thanks Kajal! It sure was healthy and tasty to boot :)

Unknown said...

oh, that's very interesting post, Dhana. kebabs without oil! great to try.

Zeny said...

Hey Dhana!

Yesterday I tried the mint-daal kababs! I have to say they were big on flavor!
They were a little dry. I was wondering if we could add something to hold them together.
I want to try some variations with the ingredients next time.
Thanks for the recipe, will have to check the book too.

Swati