Beef Chapli Kabab Baps

 

I really wanted beef chapli kabab, but most Pakistani restaurants in Chicago only have chicken chapli kababs, so I made my own beef chapli kababs. That was quite labor intensive and time consuming. The patties fell apart a little more than I expected, but they have so much more flavor than regular hamburger patties. I'm ok with loose patties if they taste good.

Originating from Peshawar in Pakistan, the Peshawari chapli kabab is made with beef and is a popular street food throughout South Asia, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Bangladesh. Chapli kabab is also made with lamb in other countries, but I wanted to stick with the original.

I ordered via Instacart because the Chapli Kabab Masala isn’t available at any store near me. Guess what? The store I was trying to get it from had practically every spice mix on the shelves EXCEPT the one I needed! So I ended up ordering it from Amazon, which cost more than double and I had to wait a few more days. 

Almost everything else I could have gotten from Jewels, but the hottest green chili pepper Jewels carries is only serrano pepper. They had habanero, but it’s the wrong color. I got hot green Thai peppers because those were the hottest green chili peppers available (they're only one step above jalapeño and still below habanero). I did double the amount from raita recipes I've seen and from the Masala packet instructions as they were rather small. They still aren't that hot. Most recipes call for cilantro; I hate cilantro, raw or cooked.

I actually needed 8 oz of natural yogurt, but natural yogurt only comes in 16 oz or more, and I don't need that much yogurt, so I went with the 5.3 oz Greek yogurt. It's a bit thicker, but it spreads very well.

I like soft white baps more than hamburger buns. I think they taste better.

• ½ seedless cucumber, grated, then wrap in a tea towel and squeeze out any excess water
• large handful mint leaves, chopped
• large pinch Himalayan pink salt
• 2 hot green Thai pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped
• 5 oz Greek yogurt
• 2 large tomatoes, cut into thin rounds
• 1 3.5 oz Chapli Kabab Masala packet, mixed with ½ cup water
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced, wrap in a tea towel and squeeze out any excess water
• 12 hot green Thai pepper, finely chopped
• 2 tblsp ginger paste
• 3 tblsp garlic paste 
• 1.5 lb ground beef, 15-20% fat
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 3 cups oil
• whole lettuce leaves
• 1 small yellow onion, cut into rounds
• 8 soft white baps, warmed and cut in half

1. Make the raita by mixing cucumber, chopped mint leaves, salt, 2 deseeded and chopped hot green Thai pepper, and Greek yogurt. Set aside in the fridge.
2. Set aside 8 of the largest tomato slices. Remove the seed and pulp from the rest of the tomato slices and finely dice.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix Chapli Kabab Masala paste, diced tomato, diced red onion, 8 chopped hot green Thai peppers, ginger paste, garlic paste, ground beef, and eggs and knead well. Set aside and let rest for 30 minutes.
4. Make 8 thin patties with wet hands. Press a tomato slice on each patty.
5. Heat oil to medium and fry the patties for 6-8 minutes on each side until crisp and brown. Drain on paper towels.
6. Slather raita on each half of the bap, then layer the bottom half with lettuce leave, chapli kabab tomato side down, and onion slice. Top with the other half of the bap.