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Chapli Kebab
Chapli kebabs, a popular South Asian street food, are not grilled skewers of meat. Rather, they’re patties of ground meat seasoned with bold aromatics and fragrant spices that are fried on a flat surface until well-browned and crisp on both sides. We add egg to ours to keep the texture rich and tender, plus a little starch to help with binding and browning. Chickpea flour, also known as gram flour, is commonly used in chapli kebab, but all-purpose flour works just as well, so use whichever you prefer. The kebabs get a little spiciness and color from Kashmiri chili powder, a vivid-red pure chili powder; cayenne pepper is a fine substitute, but since it runs hotter, you may wish to add the lesser amount. We discovered that if the ground beef is very fine, the patties are liable to puff up as they cook, but pressing on them with a metal spatula during frying helps keep them thin and flat. The kebabs are delicious tucked into warmed flatbread, along with fresh cilantro and sliced onion and tomato, then finished with cool, creamy yogurt.
4
Servings
Tip
Don’t cook the kebabs immediately after forming them. The patties are quite thin and delicate; refrigerating them for at least 30 minutes after shaping makes them easier to handle. Also, don’t crank up heat when cooking the patties. Medium heat works well for browning and crisping.
1 hour
30 minutes active
Ingredients
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1
pound 80 percent lean ground beef
-
1
medium red onion, half finely chopped, half thinly sliced, reserved separately
Directions
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01Line a rimmed baking sheet with kitchen parchment. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, chopped onion, chopped cilantro, garlic, chilies, coriander, garam masala, chili powder, ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Mix until well combined. Add the flour and egg, then using your hands, mix until the ingredients are thoroughly combined; the mixture will be slightly sticky.
Reviews
April 2, 2026
Chapli Kebab
So much fun. The beef patties are generously spiced and get nice crispy edges. The yogurt, flatbread, (I make my own, it's easy and so delicious) and some greens or herbs are all crucial components of this delicious meal. Especially if you make your own flatbread, you will spend some time assembling and/or cooking all the components, but it's definitely exciting enough to impress guests, if that's your goal.
January 8, 2023
A fantastic burger alternative
I wouldn't change a thing about this recipe. Rather than fixing a burger, this was a great way to spice up a weekday meal and it didn't take any more time than fixing my regular burgers.
November 30, 2022
Very good, but not knock you socks off good
I cooked them on a griddle, so I only needed to do one batch. Had some cucumber around, and added that to the build. Served them on some frozen tortillas that I had. Very simple to do, would certainly make again
My Pakistani mother taught me this recipe last year, and as her family migrated from Afghanistan, it's fairly similar to the version here. I'd recommend making it with green onions as they are less watery and will make your kabobs stick together better. If you're in a rush and can't wait the recommended 30 minutes to form the kabobs, use disposable gloves, slightly dampened with water (and re-wet as needed). Finally, don't forget the teaspoon of amchoor or anardana (dried, crushed mango powder and pomegranate seeds, respectively)! Their fruity and tart flavors play so well with the coriander, and traditionally whatever is in season is used (mango in the summer, pomegranate in the winter).
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Super flavorful. They held together perfectly after an hour in the fridge. Subbed parsley for cilantro as that was what in the house, but still delicious. Otherwise prepared and served as directed. I was hoping there would be leftovers, but three of us easily consumed the whole batch.