‘Chelo Kebab’ consists of Rice or ‘Chelo’ and Kebabs or grilled meat. It is considered as the ‘national dish of Iran’. A butter flavoured rice is accompanied with ‘cubed chicken tikka’, ‘minced mutton seekh kebab’, poached egg, grilled tomato and a scoop of butter.

Few famous restaurants in Kolkata make this dish popular to all Kolkatans. Thus it becomes a worth having dish during our visit in Kolkata. If you are not willing to have a spicy mutton or chicken gravy still want to have the meat then this dish can be one of your top choices. Again rice fulfills the carbohydrate need of this protein rich dish which presents a complete meal to you.

Ingredients to serve 2 :

For Rice (Chelo) :

1. Basmati rice – 1 cup
2. Salt – ½ teaspoon
3. Butter – 2 tbspoon
4. Chopped fresh coriander leaves or parsley – 2-3 tbspoon
5. Salt to taste

For Chicken kebab :

1. Chicken breast fillet – 400 gms.
2. Green capsicum – 1
3. Onion – 1 (large)
4. Tomato – 2
5. Ginger paste – 1 tbspoon
6. Garlic paste – 1 tbspoon
7. Green chilli paste – ½ tbspoon
8. Yogurt – 2 tbspoon
9. Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
10. Salt to taste
11. Mustard oil – 2 tbspoon + for greasing
12. Wooden/ metal skewer – 4-5

For Mutton Kebab :

1. Minced mutton or Mutton keema – 250 gms.
2. Grated green papaya – 2 tbspoon
3. Cashew nut paste – 1 tbspoon (optional)
4. Lemon juice – 1 tbspoon
5. Ginger paste – 1 tbspoon
6. Garlic paste – 1 tbspoon
7. Green chilli paste – ½ tbspoon
8. Sattu/ Chatu/ Roasted Chana dal powder – 2-3 tbspoon
9. Finely chopped onion – 1
10. Chopped fresh coriander leaves – 2 tbspoon
11. Chopped green chilli – 2-3 (optional)
12. Black pepper powder – 1 teaspoon
13. Butter – 1 tbspoon
14. Mustard oil for brushing
15. Salt to taste
16. Wooden/ metal skewer – 4-5

For serving :

1. Poached Egg – 2
2. Tomato – 2 halves, roasted into butter
3. Butter – 2 tbspoon
4. Slices of cucumber

Procedure :

Preparing the Chicken Kebab :

Clean and cut the chicken breast into medium cubes.

Marinate the chicken cubes with salt, yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, green chilli paste, black pepper powder and mustard oil for at least 2 hours (I marinated the chicken for over night).

Cut the onion and capsicum into squares. Also cut the tomatoes into squares after removing their seeds.

Now take one skewer and arrange one chicken cube, one onion, one capsicum and one tomato squares alternately.  Prepare the other skewers similarly until all chicken cubes are used.

Now place an aluminium sheet on a baking tray and grease with oil. Then place the chicken skewers on the tray keeping some space between them. Brush some oil on their top.

Preheat your oven at 250ºC / 480ºF.

Place the baking tray on the top rack and grill for 15 minutes. After that take out the tray, flip the chicken skewers and brush with some more oil. Again grill for 15 minutes placing the tray at top rack of the oven.

Now the chicken kebabs are ready to serve.

Preparing the Mutton Kebab :

Marinate the mutton mince/ keema with grated green papaya, ginger, garlic and green chilli paste for at least 2 hours (I marinated the mutton for over night).

Then add remaining listed ingredients to the mutton keema and mix well. Adjust the amount of sattu (chatu) to give the mixture a binding consistency.

Divide the mutton mixture into 4 -5 balls. Grease your palm with some oil and give that balls a cylindrical shape. Insert a skewer through one cylinder and press the mutton mixture tightly by your palm so that it can be hold properly by the skewer. Do the same for other cylinders of mutton mixture.

Now arrange the mutton skewers on a baking tray lined with a greased (by oil) aluminium foil keeping some space between them. Brush some oil on their top.

Grill in a preheated oven at 250ºC / 480ºF placing the tray at the top rack of the oven for 15 minutes. Then take out the tray, turn the skewers, brush with some oil and again grill for 15 minutes more.

Now the mutton kebabs are ready to serve.

Preparing the Rice :

Boil enough water to cook the rice. Add ½ teaspoon salt to the boiling water and then add rice.

Cook the rice till it is completely done and drain the water. Spread the rice on a large plate and let it dry.

Now melt the butter in a frying pan and toss the rice with it.

Also add chopped coriander or parsley leaves and mix well.

Now the rice is ready to serve.

Serving :

To serve ‘Chelo Kebab’ place half of the rice at the middle of the plate.

Then arrange the chicken and mutton kebabs along the two edges of the rice.

Place one poached egg, one half roasted tomato and one tbspoon of butter on the top of the rice.

Also place some sliced cucumber at one side of the rice.

You can also add sliced onion and lemon in the plate.

Note :

1. I have used machine cut mutton keema. If you are using only manually chopped mutton keema then, after marination, grind the keema in a mixer for a while. After that add other ingredients to make the kebab.
2. If you are using wooden skewers then soak them in water for 30 minutes before using.
3. Try to use thick skewers otherwise mutton may come out from it while flipping them on the baking tray. My skewers were thin, that’s why I had to face some difficulties.
4. If you don’t have oven then you can also prepare the kebabs on a pan. After cooking roast the skewers on flame directly using a wire rack in order to get the smokey flavour.