The Art of Feeding People Menus: North Indian Indian BBQ for Cool Evenings

 

Seekh kabab on flatbread


In Delhi, once the monsoon is over and the nights begin to turn cool.  Many households begin to crave Indian BBQ.  In my house we like to order a large variety of kabobs and finish the meal with Biryani, Black Dal, Raita,  and Naan.  The stomachs may ache from eating too much, but it is definitely worth it.  Since we live in a flat we usually order in for our BBQ nights, but if you live where you can grill out, I highly recommend trying to make some of these items at home, when you are getting together with close friends.


Between Dusserha and Diwali many Indians play cards regularly.  It’s an invitation for good luck throughout the new year.  The game is usually Teen Patti, otherwise known as  3 card poker.  Often friends and family will meet up around 9 or 10 pm and play until the early morning.  The host will keep serving heavy snacks until after midnight and then will lay a simple dinner, quite often Biryani, Dal Makhani, a vegetable, and Raita and a couple of desserts.  Sometimes these evenings are catered or perhaps the food is ordered from a favorite Mughlai Restaurant, but quite often the food is made in the house.  


Once the nights become very cold, sometimes friends will meet up for drinks and kabobs.  When possible everyone will sit outside on a balcony or garden.  Where possible a small bonfire will be lit to keep the chill away.   The scent of roasted meat fills the air and when the kabobs are brought they burn the fingers, the smoky flavor from the grill and the heat from the kabob make for a relaxed evening.  





BBQ NIGHT

(ordered from a restaurant)


KABABS
Various finger food snacks, usually roasted or grilled on a skewer..  Most commonly made with meat, but fish and  vegetarian kabobs made from paneer and various lentils can also be found.  They are most often served with Green Chutney, Onions, Lemon, and Green Chillies.

Chicken Tikka 
Cubes of marinated boneless chicken roasted in a tandoor.
(red if you like it spicy, malai chicken tikka if you don’t)

Shammi Kabab
Boiled meat, usually mutton,  mixed with Channa ka Dal and spices, ground to a soft mass but not into a paste. 

Seekh Kabob
Spiced minced meat wrapped around a skewer and cooked in a tandoor. 
(In India seekh kababs are usually made from mutton (goat), but other varieties ie., chicken, beef, and veg can also be found.  There are some varieties that are firm, but there are also varieties that are so soft that you could feed it to an infant.)

Amritsari Fish Tikka
Shallow Fried pieces of Marinated Fish (about 2”x2”) covered in chickpea flour (gram flour/besan) and spices.

Paneer Tikka
Cubes of marinated paneer roasted or grilled on a skewer with green capsicum (bell pepper and Onion)

Veg Seekh
A mixture of spices, lentil paste, gram flour, and sometimes paneer and/or vegetables roasted or grilled on a skewer.

MAIN COURSE
After such heavy snacks, serving a simple dinner for those who feel the need to have either rice or roti to actually feel like they’ve had a meal.  
FYI:  When ordered from a restaurant Biryanis are normally accompanied with Raita, sliced onions, green chillies, and lemon. 

Mutton Biryani
A spiced rice dish cooked with chunks of marinated mutton (goat).

Veg Biryani
A spiced rice dish cooked with a variety of vegetables.  One of my favorite veg biryanis is Katahal (jackfruit).  However, many vegetarians feel that jackfruit looks too much like nonveg and so often I just order mixed vegetable Biryani.

Mirch ka Salan
This is a spicy gravy dish with large green chillies that goes well with most biryanis.  

Dal Makhani
Whole Black Lentils (Urad Sabut) slow cooked with rajma and chana ka dal.  Flavored with butter and cream.

Naan
Yeast Flatbread cooked in a tandoor, can come plain, topped with butter, topped with garlic, stuffed.

ACCOMPANIMENTS     


Green Chutney

Ground coriander (dhania) leaves mixed with green chillies, lemon or raw mango and salt. Depending upon preference you can also add garlic, ginger, asafoetida,  amchur (raw mango powder), ground cumin seed.

Laccha Piaz

Onion cut into rings and separated and flavored with lemon and spices.  If you don’t like spicy onions you can also just slice the onion, separate the rings, salt and lemon juice.


Raita

Quite often the raita served with Biryani is just yogurt flavored with ground roasted cumin seeds and salt.  This is so the raita’s flavors don’t cover the biryani’s flavors.  


DESSERT   

Gulab Jamun 

Sweet deep fried dough balls made from milk solids and flour, soaked in a rose scented sugar syrup .


Gajar ka Halwa

Carrot pudding made from grated carrots cooked in milk garnished with raisins and almonds.

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